The four living creatures in Ezekiel 1 are the unique and complete expression of Christ; they have the face of a man (a genuine and proper man), of a lion (boldness, vigor, strength, victory, and reigning), of an ox (willing to labor, bear the burden, and sacrifice), and eagle (powerful, buoyant, and transcendent).
The appearance of the four living creatures is of a man, showing us that God desires nothing else but a genuine, proper, and corporate man who would express Him in His image and represent Him with His authority.
Even though man fell and now all men are born in sin, the Lord Jesus came as the second Man, died on the cross to redeem man, became a life-giving Spirit in resurrection, and now He comes into us to save us organically and make us proper human beings.
The Lord Jesus, God incarnated as a man, was not a super-natural or extraordinary human being, with majesty and splendor; He was a normal and proper man, not standing out in anything, but He lived out not His human life but the life of the Father.
The Lord Jesus lived a new kind of humanity: a proper humanity, the humanity which God intended to have for all men; now this One is in us as the Spirit, and we can eat and drink His humanity to live His humanity in our human life.
The Lord’s salvation is to make us proper human beings – not “angelic” or strangely “spiritual” beings but normal, ordinary, and human, men who live by the humanity of Jesus to express Christ. We need to be human not by our natural humanity but by the humanity of Jesus; we need to be Jesusly human.
If we are a child, we should obey our parents in the Lord, and we should respect them in every way, in the Lord. If we are a husband, we should love our wife and care for her even as Christ loves the church, being willing to sacrifice for her.
If we are a wife, we should obey our husband and take him as the head, even as his head is Christ. If we are an employee, we should do our work not as in the eyes of men but as in God’s eyes, obeying our employer.
If we are a parent, we should not provoke our children to anger but deal with our anger and raise them up in the admonition of the Lord.
We need to be proper husbands, wives, parents, employees, and children, as the Bible teaches us (Eph. 5:22-6:9; Col. 3:18-4:1). Today we want to see what it means for us to have the face of a lion and the face of an ox.
The Face of a Lion: being Bold and Victorious like Lions toward Sin, the World, and Satan
The appearance of the four living creatures was a man, which is approachable, normal, and proper; however, the face of a man was balanced with the face of a lion on the right (Ezek. 1:10). If we are a proper human being by being Jesusly human among our workmates, in the church life, and our family life, others will appreciate us and want to be with us.
However, sometimes our workmates, liking us and desiring to be with us, may invite us to get a drink together or join the office party for Christmas, for example. In cases like this we need to not only be a proper and genuine man expressing Christ, but we need to have the face of a lion, that is, be bold as a lion against Satan, the worldly things, and sin.
In the Bible a lion signifies boldness, vigor, strength, victory, and reigning (Prov. 28:1; Gen. 49:9). On the one hand we need to be ordinary, normal, and regular men who live by the humanity of Jesus in our spirit, and on the other hand we need to be full of boldness, vigor, strength, victory, and reigning.
When those around us take a way that is opposing God, engage in activities that are sinful, and participate in worldly things, and they also invite us to join them, we need to exercise the lion-life within us: we need to stand one with the Lord and be bold to reject what God rejects.
We need to take a stand and tell others, I belong to the Lord! I am not my own! I cannot engage in such activities.
The Lord Jesus Himself was in general gentle and mild, not aggressive and rough; however, at least in a few occasions, He was bold and not at all gentle.
When He went into the temple and found those selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money-changers sitting there, He became angry, made a whip out of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, as well as the sheep and the oxen, and He poured the money of the money-changers and overturned their tables (see John 2:14-15).
On another occasion, the Lord severely rebuked the religionists, saying, Serpents! Brood of vipers! (Matt. 23:33)
And in Rev. 5:5 the Lord is called, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”, the One who overcame, is full of strength and vigor, and is bold in victory. We believers have become living creatures through regeneration, and we should be not only men who express God but also lions to reign for God.
We need to be as strong and as bold as lions toward sin, the world, and Satan, and God will have a way to establish His kingdom through us.
We need to allow the Lord to reign in us and bring us to the throne to reign with Him over everything (Rom. 5:17); if toward sin, the world, and Satan we are bold like lions, God will be able to establish His reign through us.
Lord Jesus, may we be proper men manifesting God and at the same time be bold like lions toward sin, the world, and Satan, so that God would be able to establish His kingdom through us. We want to learn to exercise the lion-life of Christ within us, standing one with the Lord to reject what God rejects. Oh Lord, save us from being unbalanced. We want to experience Your life within to be full of boldness and vigor, be strengthened within to stand with the Lord, and reign with Christ in His victory.
The Face of an Ox: being willing to Labor, bear the Burden, and Sacrifice Ourselves
The picture of the four living creatures in Ezek. 1, each having four faces, is so wonderful, for it presents the complete expression of Christ in man; on the one hand we need to be a genuine and proper man, on the other we need to be like a lion toward anything sinful and worldly, and yet still we need to be like an ox, one who is willing to serve and bear the burden.
An ox in the Bible signifies one who is willing to labor, to bear the burden, and to sacrifice himself. Paul testified that it is by the grace of God that he is what he is, and he labored more abundantly than all the others (1 Cor. 15:10).
When it comes to serving God and serving others, we need to be like an ox, willing to labor and bear the burden, even at the price of sacrificing ourselves. We need to be so one with the Lord in the ministry and service that we are willing to even give up our life for Him (Acts 20:24; Phil. 2:30).
We don’t just express God in our normal human living or reign over anything negative, but we also need to labor. When we are at work and there’s a need to clean the office or do some assignments, we need to not skip this but be faithful and labor diligently, even taking the lead in this.
We not only should reject anything evil but display the testimony that we are like an ox, laboring faithfully.
In the carrying out of the God-ordained way we need to take the way of laboring; if we are willing to labor, bear the burden, and sacrifice ourselves, the Lord will have a way.
When we have such a spirit of laboring and bearing the burden, not excusing ourselves when there’s something to do, others will be touched in their heart, and they will see in us not something religious but Christ Himself living in us.
We need to bear such a testimony that we don’t make excuses for ourselves but are willing to labor, serve, and even be willing to sacrifice our life.
Paul likened himself to an ox who is laboring twice (1 Cor. 9:9; 1 Tim. 5:18), and he also encouraged us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice for the church life (Rom. 12:1). The church life – just as the family life – is wonderful, full of enjoyment; however, to enjoy it to the uttermost we need to be willing to serve, labor, and sacrifice ourselves.
The more we present our bodies as a living sacrifice – which is our reasonable service to God – the more God is expressed through us, and others see a complete expression of Christ.
The Lord wants to gain not only a unique expression of Himself but also a complete expression in humanity so that, from every direction and toward every side, we would be the four living creatures expressing Christ in an adequate and complete way.
Lord Jesus, we want to be those who are willing to labor, bear the burden, and even sacrifice ourselves as we live Christ in the church life, family life, at work, and in our daily life. Save us from excusing ourselves when there’s something to do, and save us from living a comfortable and easy life – yet without living You. Lord Jesus, may we have the face of an ox, that is, may we express the reality of serving others, of bearing responsibility, and of sacrificing our life. We present our bodies to You, Lord, in the church life, to be a living sacrifice for Your purpose.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by brother James L. for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ezekiel, msg. 5 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Ezekiel (1), msg. 3 (week 3), The Four Living Creatures.
- Hymns on this topic:
# We express Him as a lion / Conquering every enemy; / As an ox obedient, lowly, / Faithful in His ministry. (Hymns #1201)
# Joined unto Christ the Conqueror, / His Calv’ry triumph, too, / Assures me in the darkest hour / That He will take me through. (Hymns #480)
# Let me love and not be requited. / Let me serve and not be rewarded. / Let me labor and not be remembered. / Let me suffer and not be regarded. (Song on serving)
About aGodMan
We also need to bear the face of a lion. In the Bible a lion signifies boldness, vigor, strength, and victory. In our Christian life we first need to be a man. Wherever we may be—at our school, in our office, or among our neighbors—we should be a man. But we should also be a lion. If in the office you are a proper man, others will be drawn to you. However, those who are drawn to you may be “germs” that can corrupt you. Because they like you, they may invite you to participate with them in a certain kind of worldly amusement. At such a time you should behave not like a man but like a lion. This means that toward anything sinful or worldly, we must be as bold as a lion. All those who work in your office should know that if they talk to you about worldly things, you will behave like a lion. (Life-study of Ezekiel, p. 53, by Witness Lee)
Amen. The righteous are as bold as a lion. Lord, do recover this boldness in me. Make us so intolerant towards the worldly things that beckon on us daily, because it is written in the holy Scriptures that a little leaven leavens the whole lump and evil communication corrupt good manners. Amen.
Amen…