LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Message 5
THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES
WEEK 2 - FRIDAY
Scripture Reading: Exo 19:4; Matt 13:55; John 2:14-15, 4:9, 6:15; Eph 5:22─6:9; Phil 4:12-13; Col 3:4, 18─4:1
Read and pray: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.” (Exodus 19:4)
THE LIVING CREATURES HAVE FOUR FACES
Each of the four living creatures has four faces. If we were to see someone with four faces, we would be frightened, but that is exactly how it should be. We all need to have four faces.
The Face of a Man
The first face is the face of a man. We are men, and because we are men, we should look like men. We were created as men, but we were corrupted, poisoned, and damaged by the fall.
Therefore, we need the Lord’s redemption. Through the Lord’s redemption we are brought back to the proper humanity. Actually, the humanity we now have is not ours but His, for we have the humanity of Jesus.
Some say that it is difficult to be a man and claim that they are upset about being a man. Those who have such a view of their humanity need to see that their concept is absolutely different from the Lord’s concept in His salvation.
The Lord’s salvation is to make us proper men. If you are a husband, the Lord’s salvation is to make you a proper husband. If you are a wife, the Lord’s salvation is to make you a proper wife. If you are a father, the Lord’s salvation is to make you a proper father. If you are a child, the Lord’s salvation is to make you a proper child.
The Lord’s salvation is to make us proper human beings. Therefore, we all must have the face of a man. However, some Christians, especially certain sisters, do not seem to be human beings. Instead, they are so “spiritual” that it seems they have become strange creatures—half human, half angel.
We need the face of a man. We should not prefer to be something else, nor should we pretend to be something else. We should simply be what we are: a man. Instead of trying to be something other than human, we should simply be human. However, we should be human not by our natural humanity but by the humanity of the Lord Jesus (Jesusly human).
If we read the four Gospels again, we will see that Jesus was a person with a proper humanity. Many who read the Gospels pay attention only to the miracles performed by the Lord in His divinity; they do not pay proper attention to the things carried out in His humanity.
For example, John 4 records that the Lord Jesus was traveling with His disciples to a city of Samaria. He was tired and thirsty, and He asked the disciples to go into the city to buy something to eat. After they left, a Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well by which the Lord Jesus was sitting.
Although He was the Almighty God, in that situation He behaved as an ordinary man, without any indication or suggestion that He was God. When He asked the woman for water, He gave no indication that He was anything more than a man.
The woman questioned Him, saying, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (v. 9). He answered her question in a very human way.
The four Gospels record many similar stories that show us how the Lord Jesus behaved as a normal man, having the face of a man.
Unlike certain religious people today who dress in a very strange way, the Lord Jesus did not dress in a peculiar way. His clothing was not strange or different from others. On the contrary, His life was that of a common human being.
His life was so common that some said, “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” (Matt 13:55). In the eyes of the people, the Lord Jesus was the son of an ordinary carpenter. Far from being strange, He was a common man and possessed the face of a man. Today we also need to possess the face of a man.
Some believers think that once they begin to seek the Lord, they must be special or different from others. We need to realize, therefore, that we should be common, that is, the same as ordinary, normal human beings.
Although we pray, read the Bible, attend meetings, and serve God, our appearance is still the appearance of a man, and our face is the face of a man. In our clothing we are proper, yet we are common, neither peculiar nor eccentric.
Yes, we experience the Lord as the wind, the cloud, the fire, and the electrum, but the issue of this experience is that we possess the face of a man. As living creatures, we are not angels but very human. In fact, the more spiritual we become, the more normal and human we will be.
The more we have Christ as our life (Col 3:4), the more we will have the face of a man. In the Epistles we are taught by the apostles to be proper human beings, especially how to be proper husbands, wives, and fathers (Eph 5:22─6:9; Col 3:18─4:1). God’s salvation brings us to be proper men for His manifestation, move, and administration.
The Face of a Lion
We also need to possess the face of a lion. In the Bible, the lion signifies courage, vigor, strength, and victory. In our Christian life we first need to be a man. Wherever we are—at school, in the office, or among our neighbors—we must be a man.
But we must also be a lion. If in the office you are a good man, others will be attracted to you. However, those who are attracted to you may be “germs” that can degrade you. Because they like you, they may invite you to join them in a certain kind of worldly amusement.
At such a time you must behave not as a man but as a lion. This means that toward anything sinful or worldly, we should be bold as a lion. All who work in your office should know that if they speak to you about worldly things, you will behave like a lion.
People often considered the Lord Jesus to be gentle and meek. However, at least on certain occasions, He was not meek at all. For example, when He entered the temple and found “those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting,” He became angry and made a whip of cords and “drove them all out of the temple, as well as the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned the tables” (John 2:14-15).
Furthermore, in Matthew 23 He severely rebuked the religious ones, saying, “Serpents! Brood of vipers!” (v. 33). In those situations He was certainly as bold as a lion. In Revelation 5:5 He is even called “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” There are times when we also need to have the face of a lion.
In the Bible a lion represents not only courage, strength, vigor, and victory but also kingship. The lion is the king of the animals. We, who have become living creatures through regeneration, should not only be men to manifest God but also lions to reign for God. If toward sin, the world, and Satan we are strong and courageous like lions, God will be able to establish His kingdom through us.
The Face of an Ox
We need not only the face of a man and the face of a lion but also the face of an ox. The face of a lion is balanced by the face of an ox. If in your office you have the face of a lion, that alone will not convince others; you need to be balanced by having the face of an ox.
An ox is one who is willing to bear the burden, do the work, and even sacrifice himself. We all need to have such an appearance and express such a reality of serving others, bearing the burden, taking responsibility, and even sacrificing our life.
If while working in an office you are a good man, brave as a lion, and also faithful in bearing responsibility, you will make a good impression on others. In order to make such an impression, you need to behave not only as a man and as a lion but also as an ox who serves and suffers.
When the office needs to be cleaned, you should take the initiative to clean, doing more than the other employees. In this way you will show your colleagues that you are willing to sacrifice, help others, and serve them. Then you will have the reality of the face of an ox. When others see you with the face of a man, of a lion, and of an ox, they will say, “That is a real Christian.”
The Face of an Eagle
Furthermore, we also need, at the back, a hidden face—the face of an eagle. After God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt and led them into the wilderness, He said to them, “How I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself” (Exo 19:4). This indicates that in the Bible an eagle signifies the mighty, transcendent God.
God is transcendent, soaring, and powerful. Nothing can suppress Him, oppress Him, or depress Him. The more you try to suppress Him, the more dynamic and transcendent He becomes. A Christian has the life of God within, and this life is transcendent, giving us an expression of soaring and transcendence. This is the meaning of the face of an eagle.
We need to be like an eagle, not allowing anything to detain us, repress us, or depress us. This means that we must be able to overcome both persecution and praise. Sometimes it is more difficult to overcome praise than to overcome persecution.
Some may overcome persecution but are unable to overcome people’s praise. This should not be our case. Whether we are persecuted or praised, we must be able to fly away on eagles’ wings.
We should be soaring and transcendent. This is exactly what the Lord Jesus did in John when the people tried to make Him king after He fed five thousand with five loaves and two fish. Concerning this, John 6:15 says, “Jesus therefore, knowing that they were about to come and seize Him to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain, Himself alone.”
He could not be detained, for He had the power of an eagle and was therefore transcendent. A Christian should not be detained by anything. However, it is possible for us to be detained by many different things.
One believer may be detained by poverty and another by riches. If we are proper Christians, we should not be detained either by poverty or by riches. Like Paul, we should be able to say, “I know also how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to hunger, both to abound and to lack. I can do all things in Him who empowers me” (Phil 4:12-13).
Paul’s word reveals that he had eagles’ wings. He had the appearance of a man, of a lion, of an ox, and also of an eagle.
THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES ARE
A FOURFOLD EXPRESSION OF CHRIST
These four faces—the face of a man, the face of a lion, the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle—portray the life of Christ. These four faces correspond to the four Gospels, which may be considered four biographies of the Lord Jesus, each presenting a particular aspect of Christ.
Luke shows Him as a man, Matthew as a lion, Mark as an ox, and John as an eagle. This fourfold life is the life of Christ.
The four living creatures are a corporate expression of Christ. They express Christ in four aspects—as a man, as a lion, as an ox, and as an eagle. This is the expression of the life of Christ in a corporate way.
As Christians, we should be the living creatures, those who are a corporate entity to express Christ exactly as He was on the earth. When He was on the earth, He lived in the four aspects of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. Today we should be the corporate expression of such a Christ.
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