- The Four Living Creatures
The first living creature was like a lion. The second was like an ox. The third had the face of a man. The fourth was like a soaring eagle. Lion—king of beasts. Ox—beast of burden. Man—what we are. Flying eagle—at home in the heavens. Do you perceive a larger picture developing? Did you know that for centuries Christians have seen these same “faces” in the four Gospels of the New Testament? Matthew’s is the gospel of the King. Mark’s, the gospel of the suffering Servant. Luke’s, the gospel of the Son of man. John’s, the gospel of the Son of God.
God has put Jesus Christ’s picture everywhere! Four living, immortal creatures before the throne. Four loving, adoring, worshipping beings, faithfully and forever devoted to the purpose of praising God and the eternal Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Make no mistake about it. The imagery is plainly the gospel of Christ. He is what Christianity is all about. The characteristics of the lion are power and dominion. The lion is king. The glory of a king does not lie in his own person but rather in the character of his people. The glory of this noble and kingly Person, Christ Jesus, pictured as the lion, lies in the fact that He rules a people who are supremely and perfectly happy. The ox is the willing burden-bearer, obedient even to sacrifice. In the Old Testament system, there was little for the ox to look forward to except sacrifice, blood and death. The ox is a symbol of God’s great plan of atonement and redemption through Jesus Christ. The third being, John testified, had a face like a man. The symbolism of the Son continues, for Jesus became Man and lived among us that He might die for us: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
Finally, the eagle like fourth living creature was a flying, soaring being. Earth may be the eagle’s resting place, but the heavens are its habitat. Jesus was the Son of man, partaking of our humanity, but He was also the Son of God—”very God of very God,” as the fathers phrased it in the Nicene creed.