Scripture Reading: Ezek. 1:5-6, 10, 26
Ⅰ
When we experience God as the blowing wind, the overshadowing cloud, the burning fire, and the glowing electrum, we become the four living creatures, a corporate entity expressing Christ—Ezek. 1:5-6:
A
In the Bible the number four is related to God's creation and signifies man as God's creature—Isa. 11:12; Jer. 49:36; Rev. 7:1.
B
The number four indicates that we are the people redeemed from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation—5:9.
C
The four living creatures are regarded as a group; they are counted as a single entity.
Ⅱ
The more we experience the cycle of the wind, the cloud, the fire, and the electrum, the more living we become—Rev. 1:18; John 6:51:
A
Through the experience of the wind, the cloud, the fire, and the electrum, we, who were dead, have been enlivened to become living creatures—John 5:25; Eph. 2:1, 5; Col. 1:13.
B
If we continue to experience the cycle of the wind, the cloud, the fire, and the electrum, we will become living and vibrant in our inner being—1 Pet. 1:23; 2:4-5.
C
There is a twofold proof by which we can know that we are living creatures:
１
The inward proof is the sense of life in our regenerated spirit—Rom. 8:6.
２
The outward proof is that we engage in a number of spiritual activities—1 Thes. 5:17; Col. 3:16; 1 Cor. 14:26; 1 Thes. 1:9; Heb. 9:14.
Ⅲ
The four living creatures bear the appearance of a man—Ezek. 1:5, 26:
A
The fact that the four living creatures bear the appearance of a man and that God on the throne bears the appearance of a man indicates that God's central thought and His arrangement are related to man—Gen. 1:26.
B
We need to have a proper appreciation of the Lord's humanity, and we need to see how marvelous it is that we are men.
C
The Christ whom the church must express is the man on the throne—Rev. 3:21.
D
In Ezekiel 1 there are three crucial matters concerning the four living creatures' bearing the appearance of a man:
１
God's glory is manifested upon them; apart from their bearing the appearance of a man, God's glory cannot be manifested—v. 28.
２
The living creatures are the means of God's move; God's move depends on them—vv. 12-21.
３
The living creatures are the means of God's administration—v. 26:
ａ
God's throne, the center of His administration, dominates everything on earth and everything recorded in Ezekiel—Rev. 4:2, 6.
ｂ
Because the living creatures bear the appearance of a man, there is the administration of God's throne—Jer. 17:12.
ｃ
Man is the means of God's manifestation, man is the means of God's move, and man is the means of God's administration.
Ⅳ
The four living creatures have four faces—Ezek. 1:6a, 10:
A
The face of a man—v. 10a:
１
The Lord's salvation is to make us proper human beings.
２
The more spiritual we become, the more normal, ordinary, and human we will be—Col. 3:4, 10-11.
３
We need to be human not by our natural humanity but by the humanity of Jesus; this is to be "Jesusly human."
B
The face of a lion—Ezek. 1:10b:
１
In the Bible a lion signifies boldness, vigor, strength, victory, and reigning—Prov. 28:1; Gen. 49:9.
２
If toward sin, the world, and Satan we are bold like lions, God will be able to establish His reign through us.
C
The face of an ox—Ezek. 1:10c:
１
An ox is one who is willing to labor, to bear the burden, and to sacrifice himself.
２
We all need to express the reality of serving others, of bearing responsibility, and of sacrificing our life—1 Cor. 9:9; 1 Tim. 5:18; Rom. 12:1.
D
The face of an eagle—Ezek. 1:10d:
１
In the Bible an eagle signifies the powerful, buoyant, transcendent God—Exo. 19:4.
２
As believers in Christ, we have God's life within us; this life is transcendent and causes us to have an expression of buoyancy and transcendence—Isa. 40:31:
ａ
We have the divine and almighty capacity to express God in every human situation.
ｂ
We are indestructible, unconquerable, and invincible for the carrying out of God's economy—Rom. 8:37.
Ⅴ
The four living creatures are a fourfold expression of Christ—Ezek. 1:10:
A
The four faces of the living creatures correspond to the four Gospels: Matthew—Christ as a lion; Mark—Christ as a slave; Luke—Christ as a man; John—Christ as an eagle.
B
The four living creatures are a corporate entity expressing Christ in a complete way, exactly as He was in His living on earth.