My son is NOT an angel. Here's why.....

One thing that I have heard or read many times is people referring to my son as an angel. Each time something inside of me would cringe. I know in my heart that he is not an angel, but rather, this notion of people becoming angels a way to help people grieve. That being said, I felt the need to find out what God says about babies who die. I knew in my heart and mind that Jonathan is in heaven, praising God. Now I wanted to know why I believed that in heaven, they are human souls, not angels.

Whenever I have a theological question I ask my husband. He is great at taking the complexity of theology and making it practical. When I asked him this he simply handed me a systematic theology book and showed me the chapter on angels. That was perfect! So according to Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem this is evidence that angels and people are two separately created beings and people don't become angels.

First it is never said that angels are made in God's image. Grudem points out that since being made in the image or like God does describe humans, according to several passages, it is easily concluded that we are more like God than the angels.

One verse that troubled me in my search was Hebrews 2:7 "for a little while [we are] lower than the angels" Well, how can it be that we are lower than the angels? But the key here is "for a little while." When we are in heaven we will rule over the angels. Grudem points to 1 Cor.6:3 here "Do you know that we are to judge angels?"

Great evidence of God's love for humans is shown in 2 Peter 2:4 "For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment." God provided a way for us to spend eternity with him, but when an angel sins, the are sent to hell. There is no redemptive plan for them. How much does God love us? Certainly more then the angels. Read Hebrews 2:16.

With this in mind, I do have to believe that we are not reincarnated, if you will, into angels when we die. That also means that dear Jonathan is not my guardian angel or anyone else's. He is simply in the presence of God, worshiping our great creator. In the words of King David, "I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me." 2 Samuel 12:23.