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In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth.

(Gen 1:1 NIV)

God is Creator

The Bible tells us God is the creator, he is the maker of all things, and nothing exists apart from him. The Bible tells us this creation happened “in the beginning.”

The Beginning

What is “the beginning?” The beginning is defined as the initial creation of time and space. Too often, we think of time and space as some sort of preexisting, eternal elements—but they are not. Until God created time and space, they did not exist. Time and space are in fact the physical fabric of creation, they are the canvas upon which the rest of creation was made. Time and space were created by God first, before he created anything else.

Time had a Beginning

Second Timothy 1:9 testifies to the fact that time had a beginning when it tells us: “. . . This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (NIV). We are told here that time had a “beginning.” We, as creatures of time and space, cannot comprehend the concept of the creation of time, nor do we even have the language to speak of such a thing since all of our language, as well as our nature, is completely subject to time. Yet, it remains true that time is as much a created thing as is the moon or a rock. When 2 Timothy 1:9 talks about “the beginning of time,” this is, in fact, the same “beginning” as outlined in Genesis 1:1. The creation of time is “the beginning.”

Time and Space: The Fabric of Creation

Existing hand in hand with time is space. Time and space are united elements, the one is inextricably tied in its nature to the other. Time is as much the nature of space as space is the nature of time, and together they act as the fabric of God’s creation.

The term “fabric of creation” means the physical foundation upon which all the rest of creation would be constructed. This concept of the fabric of creation, the foundation upon which all creation was to be laid, is affirmed throughout Scripture:

He stretches out the Heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in (Isa 40:22 NIV).

The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the Heavens like a tent (Ps 104:2 NIV).

The Lord your Maker, who stretches out the Heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth (Isa 51:13 NIV).

In each of these verses, as well as in many others, God’s creative act is described as a “stretch[ing]” out of the heavens—these are the heavens of Genesis 1.1—with those heavens being spread out like a “tent” or a “canopy.” These are words and images of fabric and material. All the heavens exist only within and upon the foundation of time and space, so as God “stretches” out the heavens, and “spreads” them out like a tent, it is implicit that includes the foundational fabric upon which the heavens are laid, and that foundational fabric is the fabric of time and space.

The Fabric of Creation Created First

Since time and space are the foundational fabric of creation, they were created before the heavens and the earth that were to be laid upon that fabric, and therefore the creation of time and space constitutes the beginning. In Genesis 1:1, the “beginning” precedes the creation of the heavens and the earth. Since “the beginning” precedes the creation of the heavens and the earth, and since the creation of time and space constitutes “the beginning”, this again affirms that time and space was created first, and then, as stated in Genesis 1:1, the heavens and the earth were created next.

Time and space, as the foundational fabric of creation, are themselves wholly physical and, as such, define the physicality of God’s creation. All of God’s creation as created in Genesis 1.1, including all the heavens, is constructed upon the foundation of time and space and, as such, is therefore just as physical as is time and space. The entirety of God’s creation is a physical creation.

The Heavens

In Genesis 1:1, after the “beginning,” after the creation of time and space, God then created the heavens. Why is the word “heavens” plural? If we contrast Genesis 1:1 with Revelation 21:1, we see a slight difference:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1 NIV)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. (Rev 21:1 NIV)

In Genesis 1:1, God is described as creating the “heavens,” while Revelation 21:1 describes a new “heaven.” Why is “heavens” in Genesis 1:1 plural while in Revelation 21:1 it is not? What does this difference mean?

The Three Heavens

Genesis 1:1 is an account of the initial act of creation by God, while Revelation 21:1 is not. As a result, Genesis 1:1 is describing a different event than is Revelation 21:1, and the Genesis 1:1 description is a very specific and exact description of the initial creation.

In the Bible, the term “the heavens” is a collective term that refers to three types of heaven. From the perspective of standing on the earth, when we look up, we see the heavens as follows: First, we see the sky that surrounds the earth, which is defined as the first heaven. Second, when we look beyond the earthly sky, we see what we call outer space, where the sun, moon, stars, and galaxies reside, which is the second heaven. Beyond outer space is the place where God has established his throne within his creation, the place which we call Heaven (referred to here as “Heaven” to distinguish it from the other two heavens)—the Bible calls this, the place of God’s throne, the third heaven. As a result, the plural term “heavens” referenced in Genesis 1:1 encompasses all three types of heaven, and describes each of the three types of heaven as being created in “the beginning.”

The Third Heaven

The third heaven, the place where God has established his throne, which we commonly refer to simply as “Heaven,” is specifically referred to by Paul as the “third heaven” in 2 Corinthians 12:2, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven” (NIV). The third heaven, referred to here by Paul, is the same heaven where God has established his throne. Paul’s use of the term “third heaven” affirms the Bible’s description of three different types of heaven—the earthly sky, outer space, and Heaven—with the three different types of heaven collectively referred to in Genesis 1:1 by the term “the heavens.” As a result, when Genesis 1:1 tells us God created the “heavens,” this plural term is referring to, and includes, all three aspects of that term: it includes the creation of Heaven, the place where God has established his throne within his creation, and which is the home of God’s holy angels; it includes what we call outer space, the place where the sun, moon, stars, and galaxies reside; and it includes the earthly sky, or the atmosphere around the earth. All of this is included in the term “heavens,” and it was all created in Genesis 1:1.

The Third Heaven—The Seat of God’s Throne

From the perspective of standing on Earth, when we look up at the sky, we see first the earthly sky, the first heaven, and then we see outer space, the second heaven, and then, from our perspective, the third heaven is beyond that. However, from God’s perspective, this order is reversed, and when Genesis 1:1 tells us God created the “heavens,” God in fact created the heavens in that reversed order. What we call the third heaven, the place where God established his throne within the creation, was actually the first of the heavens God created, and what we call the second heaven (outer space) was created second, and what we call the first heaven, the earthly sky, was created third, created in conjunction with the earth.

As a result, after God created time and space—the foundational fabric of creation upon which he would create the entire universe—the next thing God created was Heaven, where God would establish his throne within his creation.

Too often we think of God’s Heaven, the place of his throne, as some sort of preexisting, eternal abode of God, that it has always been and that, like God, it is eternal and uncreated. This is not true. Heaven, the place where God decided to temporarily establish his throne, is a created place within creation and is as much a part of God’s physical creation as is the sun or the moon. Like all of God’s creation, Heaven had a beginning. As a created place, Heaven is also subject to—and was created both within and upon—time and space. In fact, Heaven is just as physical as everything else in creation.

The Physicality of Heaven

Time and space are physical elements, and together they define the nature of God’s creation—all of God’s creation is physical, since all of God’s creation is subject to time and space, for the very definition of “physical” means to be subject to time and space. Heaven is a created place within God’s creation, created as one of the heavens in Genesis 1:1, in “the beginning” and is therefore subject to time and space. As a created place within time and space, Heaven is just as physical as is all the rest of God’s creation, no less physical than Earth, and as a part of God’s physical creation Heaven itself has a physical location within the universe.

The Physical Location of Heaven

Hebrews 4:14 testifies to the fact that Heaven has a physical location within God’s creation when it tells us of Jesus Christ’s ascension to Heaven: “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens . . .” (NASB). Hebrews 4:14 describes the ascension of the resurrected Jesus Christ to (the third) heaven, to take his seat at the right hand of God the Father. We are told here that as Jesus ascended to Heaven, he did so by first passing through the heavens. Once again, the word “heavens” here is plural. “Heavens” refers to the fact that, in order for Jesus to ascend from Earth to reach the third heaven, the seat of God’s throne, Jesus had to first pass through the other two heavens, having to pass through the earthly sky (the first heaven), and then the rest of space (the second heaven) before reaching Heaven (the third heaven)—the earthly sky and outer space are the heavens through which Jesus Christ passed as he ascended to the third heaven. Just as the first heaven and the second heaven are unquestionably physical, and have measurable locations, and since Jesus had to pass through those two physical heavens in order to reach the third heaven, this tells us the third heaven—Heaven itself—is also just as physical as the other two heavens and, as a result, also has a measurable location in the universe. In fact, based on Hebrews 4:14, we can understand the physical location of Heaven as being just past, or outside, the edge of the universe (that is, just past the second heaven—outer space—since Jesus had to pass through the second heaven in order to reach the third heaven).

In addition, there are numerous verses that further describe the location of Heaven, describing it as being physically beyond, or above, the first and the second heavens:

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. (Ps 57:5 NIV)

The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. (Ps 113:4 NIV)

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. (Ps 148:13 NIV)

Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. (Heb 7:26 NIV)

In each of these verses, God’s glory and splendor are referred to as being “above the heavens.” This is not just a metaphorical statement of exaltation, rather it is an actual description of physical reality. The term “the heavens” here refers again to the first and second heavens, which are the same heavens through which Jesus Christ passed as he ascended to Heaven to take his seat at the right hand of the Father in Hebrews 4:14. Just as Hebrews 4:14 implicitly tells us the third heaven—the place where God has established his throne—is beyond the first and second heavens through which Jesus ascended, likewise the verses in Psalms further affirm this when they describe God’s glory and exaltation as being located “above the heavens.” This is a description of physicality, a description of location, and again affirms the third heaven has a physical location in the universe. According to the verses in Psalms, this third heaven is not only located at the edge of the created universe, but is also located in an upward direction, or above the earth, beyond the other two heavens (Ps 148:13). All of this testifies to the physicality of the created heaven.

God’s Throne Established

Further affirmation that Heaven is a created place—rather than an eternal, uncreated place—is found in the numerous Scriptures that describe God as establishing his throne in Heaven:

The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. (Ps 9:7 NIV)

Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity. (Ps 93:2 NIV)

The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. (Ps 103:19 NIV)

To establish something means to set it up, or to create it, as seen in these alternative examples:

But I will establish my covenant with you. (Gen 6:18 NIV)

Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. (2 Sam 5:12 NIV)

These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the Lord established at Mount Sinai between himself and the Israelites through Moses. (Lev 26:46 NIV)

To establish something means to bring it into being, which means that until a thing is established, it does not exist. The various Scriptures quoted above all affirm this truth. For example, in Genesis 6:18, God establishes, or “brings into being,” his covenant with Noah to never again destroy the earth with a flood. Prior to God establishing this covenant with Noah, that covenant did not exist. To establish the covenant means to bring it into being.

Likewise, in 2 Samuel 5:12 we are told that David knew his earthly throne was now “established” by God, meaning it was now “brought into being”—put into place, as a certainty to unfold. Until God had established David’s throne, David had no throne; to establish his throne is to set it up, or to bring it into being.

In Leviticus 26:26 we are told how God gave his laws and regulations to Israel, and in doing so, he “established” these very laws and regulations. Once again, prior to God establishing his laws and regulations with Israel, those laws and regulations did not exist in Israel. The act of establishing the laws and regulations is what brought those laws and regulations into being in Israel. In every instance throughout the Bible, to establish something means to bring it into being.

Likewise, when Psalms 9:7, 93:2, and 103:19 tell us God has “established” his throne in Heaven, it is telling us God created his throne, or brought it into being in Heaven. This means until God established his throne in Heaven, it did not exist. Heaven was created to be the seat of God’s throne within his own creation. The fact the Bible repeatedly tells us God established his throne in Heaven affirms God’s throne had a beginning, which likewise implicitly affirms Heaven, as the seat of God’s throne, itself had a beginning. That beginning of Heaven is the same “beginning” referred to in Genesis 1:1. Once God created Heaven within the fabric of time and space, he then chose Heaven as the location where he would establish his throne within his own creation.

The establishment of God’s throne in Heaven was an important event, for with the establishing of God’s throne in the created Heaven, within God’s creation, God himself came to fully and physically inhabit his own creation.

God Inhabits His Creation

God is certainly greater than time and space since he is the creator of both. However, God is not outside of time and space; rather, since “the beginning,” God is fully within time and space, fully inhabiting both time and space—he is in his creation.

A clear analogy to this is found in a man who builds a house. Since the man is the builder of the house, the man is always greater than the house which he has built, for he is the maker of the house. But once the house is finished, the man then goes to live inside the house and inhabits the house. The man is always greater than the house, since he is its maker, but he is now living within the house of his making, inhabiting it. Once he inhabits his house, he is no longer outside his house, but within it.

It is exactly the same with God and his creation. God created time and space, as well as the rest of all creation, including Heaven. He created Heaven as the place where he would establish his throne within his creation so he himself would fully and physically inhabit his own creation, not remain outside of it. Just like the man who builds a house, God is always greater than his creation, for he is its maker. But just like the man who builds a house and then enters into it to inhabit the house, God has come to dwell within his creation, to inhabit it fully. So it is not true to say God is outside of time and space; rather, he dwells within it. As a result, God is always greater than time and space and is always greater than his whole creation, but he is not outside of it, rather he is in it, inhabiting it fully. The establishment of God’s throne within the created Heaven is a testimony to the fact that God inhabits his own creation.

The Ascension and Resurrection as Evidence

of the Physicality of Heaven

We know the resurrected Jesus Christ is God incarnate, who, ever since his incarnation, is eternally a physical human being with an eternal, resurrected human body of flesh and bone. His incarnation was not temporary—only lasting thirty-three years—but it is eternal; Jesus Christ is incarnate forever. Jesus himself describes his resurrected body: “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39 NIV). Jesus makes it clear his resurrected body is a physical, human body of flesh and bone, and not a spiritual body. Throughout the New Testament, the physicality of Jesus Christ is affirmed, clearly telling us he is incarnate God in human flesh:

Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. (1 John 4:2 NIV)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. (John 1:14 NIV)

It is with this same incarnate physical human body that Jesus ascended into Heaven in Acts 1:9, to sit at the right hand of the Father (Heb 1:13; 4:14). This resurrected, physical, human Jesus is now sitting at the right hand of the Father, sitting there as a resurrected, physical flesh-and-bone man.

If Heaven, the seat of God’s throne, is not a physical place, but rather some sort of spiritual dimension, then the question remains how and where is the physical, resurrected, flesh and bone Jesus sitting? Is he floating in some alternate dimension or in some spiritual state? The Bible does not say Jesus ascended into Heaven to float at the right hand of the Father, rather, we are told the physically resurrected Jesus is actually sitting on an actual seat at the right hand of the Father. Since the resurrected Jesus is a physical flesh-and-bone human being, the seat upon which he is sitting must also be a physical seat.

Since the physical Jesus is sitting, in Heaven, upon a physical throne, then upon what is Jesus’ physical throne itself sitting? Is his physical throne floating in some cosmic dimension? No, rather, the physical seat itself, the actual throne upon which Jesus is sitting, must rest upon an actual physical platform; this physical platform must itself be sitting upon an actual physical base which, ultimately, is itself sitting upon an actual physical world.

As a result, not only is God’s Heaven an actual physical place in the universe, a created place subject to time and space, but Heaven must certainly be a physical world, or what we would describe as a planet, just as is Earth. All of this must be true because the resurrected Jesus Christ is a physical, flesh-and-bone, resurrected human being who is right now sitting in Heaven at the right hand of the Father, upon a physical throne. Heaven itself must be just as physical as is the resurrected Jesus Christ.

The Creation of Angels

After creating time, space, and Heaven, and after establishing his throne in Heaven, God then continued with the rest of his creation by creating the angels. We know the angels were created by God before he created the earth, but also after he created Heaven. When God created the “heavens and the earth,” the angels were created between the creation of the heavens and the earth. We know this from Job 38:4–7: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding, who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (NIV)? The angels watched God as he laid “the foundation of the earth.” What is the foundation of the earth?

Just as the Bible refers to three heavens, it also refers to the earth in three different ways. Throughout the Bible, the earth is referred to by the following terms: “the foundations of the earth,” “the earth,” and “the world.”

The Foundations of the Earth

The term “the foundations of the earth” means the actual physical planet itself, which is eternal and everlasting, as seen in Micah 6:2: “Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth” (NIV). Further, when Job 38:4–7 tells us of God laying the foundations of the earth, he is describing God’s creation of the planet itself. The “foundations of the earth” is the planet Earth.

The Earth

The term “the earth” means the physical surface of the planet—this is how we are to understand Genesis 9:11: “. . . Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth” (NIV). In Genesis 9:11, God specifically tells us the flood destroyed the earth, but obviously Planet Earth is still here. Is this not a contradiction or an error? No, since the term “the earth” refers only to the surface of the planet, not to the planet itself. The flood completely destroyed the surface of the planet, but the planet itself, the foundations of the earth, remains eternal, as is clearly affirmed in Micah 6:2 when he writes of the “everlasting foundations of the earth.” There is no contradiction between Genesis 9:11 and Micah 6:2—Planet Earth itself is eternal, but the surface of the planet can be, has been, and will be destroyed, and when we are told in Genesis 9:11 that the flood destroyed the earth, that is an accurate description, for the flood did destroy the surface of the earth.

God Created the Earth

When Genesis 1:1 tells us God created “the earth,” it is referring specifically to the creation of the surface of the earth, but in this case, since it is also at the time of “the beginning,” it is implicit that the foundation of the earth­—that is, the planet itself—is also created at that same time. This is further confirmed in Psalm 102:25, which tells us the foundations of the earth were laid, or created, “in the beginning”: “In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth” (NIV). This “in the beginning” referred to in Psalm 102:25 is the same “in the beginning” as Genesis 1:1. As a result, when Genesis 1:1 tells us God created the earth in the beginning, it includes the creation of the foundations of the earth, the planet itself, upon which the surface of the earth was created. In Genesis 1:1, God created Planet Earth.

The World

The term “the world” refers to all that exists and takes place upon the surface of the earth. This refers to all life, people, and civilization. When we are told in John 3:16 that God “so loved the world,” the term “the world” is referring to the people who inhabit the surface of the earth.

Angels

It is in this context that we approach Job 38:4–7, where we encounter the term the “sons of God.” In the Old Testament, the term “sons of God” is always and only used in reference to angelic or heavenly beings, as is made clear in Job 1:6: “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them” (NKJV).

There is no question the “sons of God” of Job 1:6 are angelic beings. These are the same angelic beings referred to in Job 38:4–7, which specifically tells us the sons of God watched God as he laid the foundation of the earth, that is, the angels watched God as he created Planet Earth itself.

This creation of Planet Earth occurred in Genesis 1:1, occurring after the creation of the third heaven (heaven) and the second heaven (outer space). Since the angels watched God as he created the earth in Genesis 1:1, we know the angels were created in Genesis 1:1 before God created the earth.

Heaven, the Home of Angels

We also know the angels were created after God created (the third) heaven, since the Bible tells us specifically that Heaven is the home of angels. Since Heaven is the home of angels, Heaven was certainly created before the angels were created.

For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. (Matt 18:10 NIV)

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Matt 24:36 NIV)

We know from Matthew 18:10 and 24:36 that angels live in Heaven, which is to say Heaven is the home of angels. As a result, we know when God created the angels, he created them in Heaven, their home. When Job 38:4–7 tells us the angels, the sons of God, watched God as he created the earth, we know the angels were in Heaven with God as they watched God create the earth. This of course means after God created Heaven, but before God created the earth, God created the angels.

In the sequence of creation, we therefore know that after God created time and space first, he then created Heaven, where he established his throne, and next he created the angels, the sons of God, who watched God as he created the earth, singing and shouting for joy as they witnessed that event. The creation of time and space, of Heaven and of angels, is all included in Genesis 1:1.

Creation of the Earth

After God created time and space, Heaven, and the sons of God (angels), he created the earth, creating first the foundations of the earth, which is the planet itself, and then the surface of the earth upon it.

The Earth was created full and complete in Genesis 1:1, in the beginning, and we are told the creation of the earth was witnessed by all the angels. Genesis 1:1 specifically gives the order of creation as “the heavens” first, and then “the earth”. This same account of the order of creation, the order of “heavens” first and then “the earth,” continues throughout the Bible:

That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. (Isa 51:13 NASB)

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. (Gen 2:1 NIV)

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth. (Exod 20:11 NIV)

In these verses, and throughout the Bible, the order of creation is always given as “heavens” first and then “the earth,” which is exactly consistent with the order of creation as given in Genesis 1:1.

The Physicality of Angels

God’s entire creation is a physical creation, which means everything God created was made within and upon the fabric of time and space, and as a result is subject to time and space. This includes both Heaven, where God established his throne, and the angels. Heaven and angels, as created things, are subject to time and space, and are therefore physical.

Often we use words like “spiritual” or “spiritual realm” or “spiritual beings” when talking about angels. Such terms carry with them an implication that angels are somehow not subject to the physical creation, as are we, and are not subject to time and space; this is false. Angels, as created beings, were created within the fabric of time and space and, like us, or the earth, the moon, or Mars, are fully subject to time and space.

What does it mean for an angel to be subject to time and space? Put very simply it means this: if an angel wanted to get from point A to point B, then that angel must physically move through both space and time to get from point A to point B, just as would we.

For example, if an angel was in London and wanted to get to New York City, he would have to travel from London to New York by physically moving across the earth, moving through physical space, in order to get to New York. Furthermore, this travelling through space, across the earth, to go from London to New York, would also involve time—as the angel moves from London to New York, there will be the passage of time. All of which is to say that, as creatures of time and space, angels are subject to the restrictions of time and space. Just like you and I, an angel can only ever be in any one place at any one time, and to get from one place to another place, an angel must physically move through space and time to get there. The Bible gives us a specific account of exactly such a situation in Daniel 10:12–14:

Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come. (NIV)

In this passage, Daniel is visited by an angel who was sent by God to explain to Daniel the meaning of a vision God had given him. The angel tells Daniel he, the angel, was sent by God on the first day he, Daniel, was seeking wisdom to understand the vision. We are told in Daniel 10:2 it took that angel twenty-one days to reach Daniel. The angel then tells Daniel he, the angel, was resisted, or held up, by a powerful fallen angel, here described as the Prince of Persia, and that this fallen angel prevented him from getting to Daniel. Next, the angel tells Daniel that one of God’s great angels, Michael, here described as one of the chief princes, came to his aid and, implicitly, defeated the fallen angel called the Prince of Persia, at which time Daniel’s angel was able to continue and finally come to Daniel. This angel tells Daniel this whole episode took twenty-one days.

This entire account teaches us, and affirms, some very specific qualities about the nature of angels. First, they have to physically move through space to go from point A to point B (in this case, to go from Heaven to Daniel). Second, it shows us as an angel moves through space it also moves through time—in this case, it took twenty-one days for the angel to reach Daniel. Third, it shows us, as an angel moves through space and time to reach his destination, the angel can be held up, or can be met with obstacles on his journey.

In every respect, this account in Daniel clearly shows that angels are creatures of time and space, and as such are subject to it. The definition of being physical is to be subject to time and space. Since angels are very clearly subject to time and space, we know angels are physical beings. An angel may be able, for now, to move through time and space a lot faster than you and I currently can, but they are, no less, still subject to it.

A Different Kind of Physical

Although angels are physical beings, they are a different kind of physical than are human beings. You and I are creatures of flesh, bone, soul, and spirit, whereas angels have a different kind of physical nature.

Why, then, would anyone teach that angelic beings, or spirits, are not physical? It is the result of a wrong understanding of what it means to be physical, being the result of a Greek philosophy understanding of physical. The argument, stated in a very basic, colloquial way, would go something like this: “Angels, or spirit beings, are invisible, we can’t see them, and they can go through walls, and as a result, they are not physical beings.” Again, that argument is based on a wrong understanding of what it means to be physical.

If it is true that something is defined as “spiritual” because it is invisible and can go through walls, then we have to ask about x-rays and gamma rays. Both x-rays and gamma rays are invisible—we cannot see them with our eyes. Also, both x-rays and gamma rays can go through walls, and yet we know for a certainty both gamma rays and x-rays are absolutely physical things, even though they are both invisible and can go through walls.

Yet no one, anywhere, describes x-rays or gamma rays as spiritual entities. Why not? It is because we have discovered ways to measure and observe x-rays and gamma rays and therefore we can, indirectly, see they are a part of the physical creation. They are a part of the physical universe that we, for now, in our current physical state, are not able to perceive without the aid of equipment and machinery, but they are nonetheless physical. Both gamma rays and x-rays are absolutely physical, being fully subject to time and space as are we, but they are part of the physical realm which, for now, without machinery or equipment, we cannot perceive.

Angels are exactly the same kind of thing. Like x-rays and gamma rays, they are invisible to us, and they can do things you and I (for now) cannot—such as go through walls, travel at great speed, and more. But that is only because they are, like x-rays and gamma rays, a different kind of physical than are you and I—no less physical than you and I, just a different kind of physical. Our physicality is one of flesh, bone, and spirit—that is what defines a human being, whereas angels would have a physicality whose substance is something other than flesh and bone, just as gamma rays and x-rays are a substance that is something other than flesh and bone. This is further affirmed when we consider Heaven is itself a physical place—if the physical Heaven is the abode of angels, then the angels themselves must also be just as physical as Heaven.

For the time being, we cannot perceive that particular physical realm of angels, just as we, for now, cannot perceive the full spectrum of light. Light is, in fact, made up of a whole spectrum of different colors, and it is also a spectrum that includes radio waves and the infrared spectrum. With our eyes, we cannot see radio waves, the color spectrum of light, or the infrared spectrum of light. The reason is currently we are not physically tuned to see those physical spectrums—our perception is limited. For now, we are limited to seeing only white light. We experience the same limitations in regards to the physical realm of angels. For now, we are not currently tuned to see that physical realm of angels. The Bible speaks of these limitations of our perceptions in the following verses:

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. (1 Cor 13:12 NKJV)

For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Cor 4:16 NKJV)

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. (Heb 11:3 NKJV)

Each of these verses describes things which are seen and things which are unseen, and 1 Corinthians 13:12 specifically tells us that, for now, when we look at the universe, at God’s creation, we see it only dimly, unclearly, that is, our perception of it is limited. Together these verses affirm there are whole aspects of God’s physical creation that, for now, we are just not tuned to perceive. One day, however, that will change and we will be able to perceive what is currently imperceptible to our eyes. This is in fact contained within 1 Corinthians 13:12 when it continues to tell us that, for now, we only know, or perceive, in part, but later we shall perceive, or know, even as we are perceived. All of this affirms that in our full redemption we will see God’s physical creation in all of its fullness, including those aspects of God’s physical creation that currently are invisible to us, which includes the realm of angels.

The day is coming when we will at last see the physical creation for what it actually is, in all of its fullness. We are given a glimpse of this in 2 Kings 6:1–17, when the prophet Elisha and his scribe were surrounded by an armed force, facing what seemed like certain death. Elisha’s scribe was fearful for his life, and then we are told: “And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kgs 6:17 NIV).

When God opened the eyes of Elisha’s servant, he saw that he and Elisha were surrounded by a great host of mighty, angelic warriors and chariots of fire, ready to do battle on their behalf. That great host of God was always there, but until God opened the eyes of the servant they were invisible to him, he could not perceive them, even though they were physically all around him. The angelic army was the physical reality that surrounded them, but Elisha’s servant was not able to see it because it was part of the physical realm that is currently beyond our perception. When Elisha prayed God would “open his eyes,” Elisha’s servant was given the ability to perceive that aspect of the physical creation that is invisible to us, but which is no less real and no less physical. As a result, we know every aspect of God’s creation, including what we call the spiritual realm—Heaven and angels—is a part of God’s physical creation, being itself physical and subject fully to time and space.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, creating them perfect in every respect, a glorious creation without blemish or fault. Yet, in the very second verse of the Bible, we encounter a creation under a curse.