A Vision of the Body of Christ
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We may reasonably conclude that the prophet Ezekiel and John in Revelation were seeing visions of four different aspects of Jesus. Here we might close our study, contented with viewing the amazing patterns of scripture, and rejoicing in the fresh light they cast on the character and person of our wonderful Saviour. Many, no doubt, have seen this far, but seen no further.
But Ezekiel saw four living beings, rather than just one. And the four were moving together in perfect unison. John saw four living beings in the centre and round the throne. Why not just on the throne? The answer is that these visions were not visions of Jesus alone, but of the whole body of Christ! Ezekiel and John were not simply seeing Jesus, but also men and women who had been transformed into his likeness and were sharing his attributes. The living beings represented people who had become just like Jesus! What a wonderful gospel it is, that the king-servant, man-God came into the world 2000 years ago. The added good news is that He is the first born of a multitude of others who are to become king-servants and man-Gods. This is a gospel within a gospel.
We too are to reign with him. We too are to be servants of God and of man. Human though we are, we too are to be sons and daughters of God and become ‘partakers of the divine nature’.
The Holy Spirit that indwelt our Saviour Jesus was the spirit that made him a king, a servant, a man and a god. The Holy Spirit in us gives us kingly power and authority. He gives us the humble attitude of servants, and the power to serve. By the Holy Spirit we too will manifest the nature of God.
Now we will consider these four living beings more closely, and with the help of the Holy Spirit see something of the glory that is to be manifested in the body of Christ. May the visions of Ezekiel and John become new transforming visions for us!
Kings
Jesus was and is the king of kings. Paul describes him as ‘King of kings, and Lord of lords’ (1 Tim 6: 15). John describes him as ‘Lord of lords, and King of kings’ (Rev 17: 14) and sees the name ‘King of kings and lord of lords’ written on his robe and on his thigh (Rev 19: 16). Originally, ‘king of kings’ was the title of the kings of Babylon and Persia. It is used of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon (Ezek 26: 7 and Daniel 2: 37) and Artaxerxes, king of Persia (Ezra 7: 12) These kings had great empires and ruled over many other kings, each of whom was the ruler of his own country. However, these lower kings were always subject to and dependent on the great central king of the whole empire.
This is a picture of the body of Christ. Jesus is the great King of kings, and each member of his body is a king under him. Each member is destined to have the power and authority of a king.
What does it mean then to be a king? We must look again at Jesus. What sort of a king was he? Like the ancient kings, he had absolute power. His every wish and command was obeyed. Everyone and everything were subject to him. Unlike the ancient kings, he exercised his power only for good. Also unlike them he willingly passed his power on to others.
Before starting on his public ministry, Jesus demonstrated complete authority over his own body. He showed that he ruled over himself. Matthew says, ‘After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry’ (4: 2). Only at the end of the 40 days was Jesus hungry. During the 40 days, it appears, he felt no desire for food. Real hunger pangs only begin when the body has used up all its spare fat. What we normally call hunger is no more than the body asking for its expected daily intake. When Jesus reached extreme hunger, he still refused the opportunity of food. He would not yield to any bodily appetite, however strong. Probably he faced death from starvation, but still he remained the master of his body.
Jesus also had authority over Satan. Following his fast, he was able to command Satan to depart from him. Throughout his ministry he had complete control over the spirit world. Jesus had this authority himself, and he made it plain that his followers would have it too. In Mat 10: 1, we read, ‘He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.’ In Luke He said, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you’ (Luke 10: 19).
Jesus also had authority over disease. ‘When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick’ (Mat 8: 16). No disease could stand before him. He gave a command, and the disease went. This authority also was not for Jesus alone. He passed it on to his disciples. ‘They will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well’ (Mark 16: 18).
Jesus also amazed his disciples by his control over the elements. ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!’ (Mat 8: 27). In this also he was not alone in the scriptures. Centuries earlier, Elijah had called for a 3 year drought and then prayed for rain and the heavens were opened. When Jesus had no boat, he walked on the water. Peter, when he had faith, was able to do that too! When the food ran out, Jesus fed a multitude from a few loaves and fishes, but even that he did through the hands of others.
Surprisingly there is one kind of authority that is less visible in the life of Jesus. We do not see his authority over man! He was not like an earthly king. He plainly said that his kingdom was not of this world. In his temptation, Satan offered him all the kingdoms of this world in return for a momentary act of worship. Jesus refused. That was not his Father’s way. His plan was to rule the hearts of his people by their willing cooperation; not to rule over their bodies by force.
Jesus will reign till all enemies are beneath his feet. But what are his feet? They are a part of his body! The feet are the last part of the body to be born, and symbolise those who overcome and reign with him.
Jesus passed all his kingly authority on to the disciples. Besides the verses previously quoted we also read the following: ‘I tell you the truth; anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father’ (John 14:12). ‘As the Father has sent me, I am sending you’ (John 20:21). Much later John wrote, ‘because as he is, so are we in this world’ (1 John 4:17). In Rev 3:21 we read the words, ‘To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.’
In the world, kings are not servants and servants are not kings. Earthly kings and rulers have ruled for their own pleasure and benefit. Many have brought untold misery to their subjects. We have just finished a century in which cruel tyrants tortured and killed and starved millions of people to death. Hitler, Stalin and Mao Tse Tung exceeded all who went before them in the depth and extent of their brutality and the suffering they caused to multitudes of innocent people.
The rulers in the kingdom of God will be immeasurably different. They will be servants of God, constantly doing his will, and on that basis, servants of others. For Jesus, his total obedience as a servant to the will of his Father was the basis of his total authority as king. So it must be for those who follow him. They will act continually in total obedience to their heavenly Father and thus be qualified to share the throne with his first-born son.
Servants
As I have said, a servant in ancient times was the exact opposite of a king. A king had absolute authority and power. A servant was nothing more than a slave and a possession of his master. He had no rights of his own. His master’s every wish was his command.
Jesus was the perfect servant of his Father. He said, ‘For I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me’ (John 6:38). Just as an ancient slave was available to obey the wishes of his earthly master 24 hours a day, so Jesus gave every moment to his heavenly Father. He was not led, controlled and ruled by his natural desires and ambitions. His Father’s will totally overruled his every thought, word and action.
Ancient slaves served their masters by compulsion. They had no choice. They did not want to spend all their time serving someone else. They would have preferred to live their lives according to their own desires and wishes. Sadly for them they had no rights and they were not free to choose.
Jesus served his Father by his own choice. He delighted to do his Father’s will. For him it was no problem or hardship, because in every situation his own wishes and objectives were the same as his Father’s.
This service to his Father was the foundation of his service to his fellow men. Wonderfully, service to his own creation is in the heart of the Father creator, and that same service is in the heart of his son. Jesus manifested his servant heart most beautifully when he washed his disciples’ feet. He instructed them that they also should wash one another’s feet.
His life was the pattern for his followers. He said to his disciples, ‘If you love me, you will obey (keep) my commands’ (John 14:15).
In many of his letters Paul introduced himself to his readers as ‘a servant (or slave) of Jesus Christ.’ In other letters he introduced himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ, but the original meaning of the word apostle is not too different from servant. It means simply someone who is sent. Peter, James and Jude also introduced themselves to their readers as servants of Jesus Christ.
By nature, we are not willing servants of God. We follow our own desires, wishes and ambitions in everything we do. We are slaves to our own passions and appetites. Jesus put it simply: ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin’ (John 8:34).
How can we be faithful servants of Jesus? We can never do it by struggling and striving. We can never do it by the efforts of our own wills. He is not a taskmaster who demands service from his followers. In Matthew 11: 28 he said, ‘My yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ His yoke is easy and his burden is light, because we want to do his will. Just as Jesus was one with his Father and delighted to do his will, so we become one with him and delight to do his will. We become his servants by an inner transformation, and change of heart.
In John 15: 15, Jesus even took away the title of servants from his disciples. He said, ‘I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.’ When we are one with him, we can simply do our own pleasure, and miraculously and wonderfully we are doing his pleasure. We do what we want to do in total freedom, and find that we are serving him.
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