Hebrews 1:10-14

Heb. 1:10-14. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest: and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years should not fail. But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

For Jonathan Edwards the great purpose of God in creation was the salvation of elect mankind. In the achievement of that purpose two places were made: heaven and earth.

The creation of heaven was in order to the work of redemption. It was to be a habitation for the redeemed. Matthew 25:34, "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Even the angels were created to be employed in this work. And therefore the apostle calls them, " ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation," Hebrews 1:14. As to this lower world, it was doubtless created to be a stage upon which this great and wonderful work of redemption should be transacted. And therefore, as might be shown, in many respects, this lower world is wisely fitted, in the formation, for such a state of man as he is in since the fall, under a possibility of redemption; so that when it is said that the work of redemption is carried on from the fall of man, to the end of the world, it is not meant that all that ever was done in order to redemption has been done since the fall.

And there were "two kinds of persons" especially used in the achievement of that purpose: ministers and angels (on which this text centers):

There are two kinds of persons that are given to Christ, and appointed and devoted of God to be his servants, to be employed with Christ, and under him, in his great work of the salvation of the souls of men; and they are angels and ministers. The angels are all of them, even the most exalted of them, subjected of God the Father to our Redeemer, and given to him as his servants, to be subservient to the great designs of his saving and glorifying his elect. Hebrews 1:14…. And doubtless they were created for this very end; God made them for his Son, to be subservient to him in his this great work; which seems to be the chief design of all God's works.

Shortly before his death as his own ministry was coming to an end, Edwards stated the same conviction in even more cosmic terms:

And the Scriptures represent as though every Christian should in all things he does be employed for the good of God's church, as each particular member of the body is in all things employed for the good of the body: Romans 12:4 ff.; Ephesians 4:15-16; 1 Corinthians 12:12; 1 Corinthians 12:25 to the end, together with the whole of the next chapter. To this end the Scripture teaches us the angels are continually employed, Hebrews 1:14.

Chapter 2

Heb. 2:1