LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Message 8
THE COORDINATION OF THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES (2)
WEEK 3 - THURSDAY
Scripture Reading: Ezek. 1:11-14, 22; Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:12; Col. 3:4; Rev. 5:9
Read and pray: “For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.” (1 Cor. 12:12)
With regard to the vision in chapter one of Ezekiel, we have paid detailed attention to the wind, the cloud, the fire, and the electrum, to the four faces of the living creatures — the faces of a man, a lion, a calf, and an eagle — and to the eagle’s wings, the hands of a man, and the calves’ hooves.
In the previous message we began to consider the coordination of the four living creatures, and in this message we will consider this matter further.
It is crucial for us to realize that Ezekiel 1 shows us the desire of God’s heart and reveals the purpose that God wants to accomplish. As we read this chapter, we may think that it merely speaks about four living creatures.
However, if we read it carefully, we will see that it speaks of God’s desire to be expressed in His Son. The four faces of the living creatures represent the complete and proper expression of Christ.
Furthermore, the four living creatures with their four faces typify a coordinated, corporate entity, the corporate Christ (1 Cor. 12:12). This corporate Christ is the corporate expression of God among human beings.
The four living creatures exist for at least three reasons. First, these living creatures are for God’s expression. God in the Son wants to express Himself among men.
Second, the living creatures are for God’s move. When they coordinate together, they are full of burning, shining, and enlightening, and the great and high wheel, which is for God’s move, follows them. This unique entity composed of four living creatures is both for God’s expression and for His move. Their expression of God is for God’s move.
Third, the living creatures are for God’s administration. Above their heads there was something like an expanse, or firmament (Ezek. 1:22), and “above the expanse that was over their heads there was something like a throne” (v. 26).
The throne is for God’s decision, God’s government. When God has His expression, move, and administration, He can manifest Himself in His glory and complete His eternal purpose and plan.
Today many Christians think that the reason they believe in the Lord Jesus is so that they may have peace and well-being at present and that in the future they may go to heaven to enjoy eternal happiness. This thought falls far short of the divine revelation.
In Ezekiel 1, God reveals that He needs a group of living creatures who can coordinate together as one entity for His expression, move, and administration. When God obtains such a corporate expression, His purpose will be accomplished.
In the church life, God’s plan is fulfilled on a small scale. We, who have received grace and have experienced the wind, the cloud, the fire, and the electrum, are a group of living creatures with four faces to express Christ.
We have the grace and power of God as the wings that are both for moving and for covering. We also have the calves’ legs, and thus we have a walk full of discernment, enlightenment, and freshness.
Now we can be coordinated together for God’s expression, move, and administration. If this is our situation in the church life, then when others contact us, they will say, “God is among you.” There must be such an expression of Christ in the church life today.
With respect to the coordination of the living creatures, there are five points we need to consider: the base of coordination, the need for coordination, the prerequisites of coordination, the practical condition of coordination, and the result of coordination.
THE BASE OF COORDINATION
The base of the coordination of the living creatures has a number of aspects.
All Are of Christ
The base of our coordination as living creatures is, first, that we all are of Christ. You are of Christ and I am of Christ; therefore, we can coordinate together.
By His blood the Lord purchased us for God “out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9). No matter what our race or nationality may be, we all are of Christ and can coordinate together as one entity in Christ.
If we were not of Christ and were not in Christ, we could not coordinate together. But although in Adam we have many differences, in Christ we can be blended and we can coordinate together.
Having the Same Life
Not only are we of Christ, we also have the same life, the life of Christ. Outwardly we are quite different, but inwardly we all have Christ as our life (Col. 3:4). Therefore, we have the same life.
In 1933 I visited some Japanese brothers and sisters in the Lord. I could not understand Japanese, and they could not understand Chinese. However, when we knelt down to pray together, we had a sense of freshness and sweetness in our spirits.
This indicates that we, the living creatures, all are of Christ and that we all have the same life, the life of Christ. If we reject everything that is not Christ, we will be one entity in Christ and will be able to coordinate together.
Having the Same Heart to Express Christ
Another aspect of the base of coordination is having the same heart’s desire to express Christ. Deep within many believers, including those who have drifted away from Him, there is the desire to express Christ and to glorify Him.
To glorify the Lord and to express Him is to live Him. As a genuine living creature, every Christian who has experienced the wind, the cloud, the fire, and the electrum has such a desire to express Christ.
The base of our coordination is that we are of Christ, that we have the life of Christ, and that we desire to glorify Christ and express Christ. Now, because of this, we can coordinate together.
A proverb says, “Each sheep with its mate.” Since we all are of Christ and have the same life and the same desire to express Christ, we are “flour from the same sack” and we “fly together” to become one entity in Christ. This is the base of our coordination.
🌿Enjoy more:
Hymn: Praise the Lord - “In Memory of Him”
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