All angels were good originally. However, there was rebellion in heaven that led to a split into two groups of angels: good angels and evil angels.

​

Long ago in heaven, the dwelling place of God and his angelic spirits, a spiritual being called Lucifer wanted the power that belonged only to God. He said, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” (Isaiah 14:13, 14). He wanted the power and position that only God could have. This desire to have what is not yours and is someone else’s is called covetousness, and it is a sin because it breaks one of the precepts of God’s law: “thou shalt not covet” (Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21). Hence, in being covetous, Lucifer became a sinner. Notably, if God did something wrong, Lucifer’s desire and decision to want and take God’s place and power would have probably been justified, but “[a]s for God, his way is perfect:”, so Lucifer’s heart longings were unjust. He knew this, and this knowledge made him all the more guilty.

​

This sin of Lucifer changed him from being a good spirit and changed him to being an evil spirit. Because of this, God said to him “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” (Ezekiel 28:14,15). This decision taken by Lucifer made him Satan or “the adversary”.

​

Eventually, this cherub’s desire to usurp God’s authority resulted into outright rebellion and war ensued. The bible says, “there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan … he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:7-9). A careful analysis of these scriptures tells us that while Satan had angels on his side there was another set of angels who sided with one called Michael. It would appear then that in his rebellion against God, Lucifer got angels to join forces with him and fought the angels who did not. The angels who refused to fight alongside the evil spirit Lucifer can then be classified as the good angels.

​

Therefore, good angels are the group of angels who decided to stay loyal to the Creator despite Lucifer’s rebellion and who fought alongside Michael in the war in heaven. Additionally, they were not cast out of heaven like the evil angels. Instead, they have a place in heaven, and it continues to be their home. They will live forever and keep following God. The good angels’ decision to pledge their allegiance to God is the best thing they could have done for themselves.  Notice, they were not cast away from his presence like the other evil ones? Like these good angels, you too can have a relationship with God and spiritually dwell in his presence, today. And in the future, you can have the blessing of physically being in his presence as the good angels. You only have to choose to have a relationship with him. Will you do so today?