Sons of God, Daughters of Men

Long before man's creation, angels were created, yet sin was unknown until Adam's day. The beginning of sin, according to the Bible, was in the Garden of Eden. Lucifer, an angel of very high rank, had long cherished in his heart ambitious designs. If opportunity ever offered he would show God and the angels his grand schemes. His thought is expressed by the Prophet: "I would ascend above the stars [angels], I would be as the Most High"--an Emperor. When Lucifer beheld the first human pair, he was tempted to try his experiment. They were a new order of beings in God's moral image. They had procreative powers, which no angel possessed. Their offspring filling the Earth would be his subjects, through whom he would work out his ambitious schemes. Thus Lucifer became Satan--God's opponent.--Isaiah 14:12-14.

All the holy angels were bewildered. His was the first rebellion against the Almighty's laws. No punishment followed, and the angels queried whether or not God was able to enforce His laws. Centuries rolled on; the human family was wasting; God's penalty, "Dying, thou shalt die," was gradually being enforced. Satan realized that his kingdom of dying subjects would make but a poor showing ever. He conceived a plan to outwit God and develop a new order of beings--hybridized humans, infused with superior vitality.

The angels possessed a God-given power of materialization. They could appear in human bodies resembling those of men. The Bible attests this. (Genesis 18.) The angels were permitted contact with the fallen race to prove whether they could bring mankind back to God.--Hebrews 2:5.

The record of Genesis 6:2-5 is that the "sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took unto themselves wives of all they preferred." Thus the angels became the fathers of a new race, distinct from Adam's. The record is that these were giants, physically and intellectually--"men of renown," who filled the Earth with violence.