What is the original position of human beings in the creation, including the angels?
Human beings were created as God's children and heirs, bearing His image and holding dominion over creation, while angels were created as ministering servants. Lucifer, jealous that God loved Adam and Eve as children far more than him as a servant, inverted the order through the Fall. Salvation restores humanity's original position as perfected sons and daughters.
Understanding the original position of human beings in creation—and how we relate to angels—settles fundamental questions about human dignity, authority, and the cause of the Fall. Many traditions picture humanity as lowly and angels as our superiors. The Bible and the Divine Principle reveal the opposite: human beings were created as God's children and heirs, while angels were created as servants. The Fall tragically inverted this order.
The Biblical Foundation
Scripture assigns humanity an astonishing position. God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion... over all the earth" (Genesis 1:26). Humanity alone bears God's image, and to humanity alone God gave the blessing of dominion. The psalmist marvels: "Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands" (Psalm 8:5-6). This verse clearly illustrates humanity's exalted status in creation.
Angels, by contrast, are consistently described as ministering spirits. Hebrews asks of the angels, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14). Angels are God's messengers and servants; human beings are His heirs. Paul goes further, telling believers, "Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" (1 Corinthians 6:3). And in the story of the prodigal son, it is the son—not the servants—who holds the father's heart and inheritance (Luke 15:11-32). Even after the Fall, God's redemptive love is directed toward human children, not angels (Hebrews 2:16). For "verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham."
The Divine Principle Perspective: Children, Not Servants
The Divine Principle clarifies the creation order: God created the angelic world before humanity, and angels were created as servants and helpers—to assist in creation and to care for God's children. Lucifer, the archangel, was the chief of these servants, positioned to attend Adam and Eve and convey God's love to them.
God loved Adam and Eve immeasurably more than Lucifer—not because God's love toward Lucifer decreased, but because Adam and Eve were His children, while Lucifer was His servant. A parent's love for a child is categorically different from regard for a helper. Lucifer, however, misperceived this. Seeing God pour love upon Adam and Eve, he felt as though the love he received had diminished, and jealousy and a craving for greater love took root. This is the essential insight into his rebellion: the servant could not accept the children's position above him.
This also reveals why the Fall was so devastating. When Eve united with the archangel instead of growing to maturity and becoming one with Adam under God's blessing, the order of creation was inverted: the servant dominated the children, and humanity came under the dominion of an angel rather than exercising dominion over creation. Paul laments this inversion: "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are?" (Romans 6:16). Fallen humanity's lost authority explains both our bondage to sin and the groaning of creation itself, which "waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God" (Romans 8:19-22).
Restoration Reverses the Inversion
Restoration is precisely the reversal of this inverted order. Human beings, reborn through the Messiah as God's true children, must recover their original dignity—subjugating not other people but the fallen nature inherited from the archangel, and restoring loving dominion over all creation, including the angelic world. The servant is to serve, and the children are to inherit. This is why salvation history culminates not in humans becoming angels, but in humans becoming perfected sons and daughters—True Parents themselves. This reflects the ultimate purpose of creation for humanity.
Living the Principle
Live from your original position: you are a child and heir of God, not a servant of lesser spirits or circumstances. Refuse the fallen mindset of inferiority and servitude to temptation; exercise your God-given authority over habits, appetites, and the spiritual influences that once dominated you. And steward creation—people, resources, and the natural world—with the love of an heir who has inherited the Father's heart, caring for all things as God cares for them. "Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" (Galatians 4:7).
These answers explain the Bible in the light of the Divine Principle, the teachings of Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Read about the author, Sun Myung Moon.
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Sources and further reading
- The Holy Bible, King James Version — Scripture quoted and referenced throughout the answers.
- The Divine Principle (full text) — The complete text of the Divine Principle, the teaching of Reverend Sun Myung Moon that these answers explain.
- Unification texts library (tparents.org) — Large online library of Unification texts, sermons and collected speeches, including the Cheon Seong Gyeong.
- Short video lectures in English — Playlist of short English video lectures presenting these same principles.