The Tetramorph Gospel - The God Who Saves

2.22.15
The Book of John (The Eagle) 

When God speaks, to paraphrase the old E. F. Hutton commercial, people should listen. In Genesis 19:4, God shares with the newly freed people of Israel that they should realize what he has done by bringing them out of Egypt: "You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself." God is a god of salvation. He could have chosen any number of animals or inanimate objects such as a boat or chariot to give as an illustration of his carrying them to freedom. He chose an Eagle. God is a god of consistency. I believe that he selected this animal with the foreknowledge of the appearance of Christ in his Tetramorph form as seen by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 1 and by John in Revelation 4.

Jesus explained that he was the very essence of the Eagle in his description of himself as the means by which we would have access to Heaven. Jesus gives this explanation to Nathaniel in John chapter 1 when calling his first disciples. Philip had already agreed to follow Jesus and he ran to invite Nathaniel who was resting under a tree. When Jesus describes seeing Nathaniel  under the tree as Philip ran up to him (who wasn't in the vicinity of Jesus at the time), Nathaniel is astounded and declares Jesus as the true Son of God! Jesus tells him that he should not be too amazed by this and "then adds" the bible tells us... "then adds" that Nathaniel will  see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man [that is, Jesus himself].

What an odd statement from our Lord. Why would the sight of angels climbing on him be the deal maker in calling Nathaniel to follow him as a disciple? Sure, angels walking up and down a person visibly would be intriguing, but also a little creepy if we are honest. I believe that Jesus is referencing a story told by Jacob in the Old Testament of a dream he had in which he saw a great staircase from the earth to Heaven (Genesis 28:12). Angels were traveling on this staircase up from earth and down from Heaven. And at the top was the LORD God. So Jesus is a staircase? Metaphorically, yes. He is the means by which access is granted from earth to God in Heaven.

Jesus told this to his disciples later in his ministry which is recorded in the Book of John, chapter 14: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus is the way. No one can get to God the father except through Jesus. He is affirming his role as Eagle - means of salvation. Miraculous supernatural means of salvation in the form of Jesus the Christ! You may see Jesus as a Lion King proud and ready to lead. You may see Jesus as a servant Ox, healing and giving hope to hopeless that there is an end to their suffering. You may see Jesus as the Man, humble and willing to stoop low enough to die in our place on the cross. But there are other men willing to die to temporarily save us. And there are men who are willing to spend a lifetime in service to others, denying themselves and their wants. And certainly we have seen those who would be king or ruler who imposes their will on the masses to his benefit and the detriment of his people. But if the statement of Jesus being the ONLY way to God is true, then belief in and allegiance to any other means of salvation is a waste of time.

When we put the four elements of the Tetramoprh Christ together we find a clearer picture of a Jesus who is as bold as a Lion, Strong and serving as an Ox, Humble and understanding as Man, and most of all a God who is the one true path to eternal glory! Four images. One God. This is the awesome experience of Jesus and the Gospel (Good News) of his love and salvation!

2.15.15 Additional Reading

Ruth: A Story of the Kinsman Redeemer
Read Chapters 1-4

Tucked in the Old Testament Books of History is a small four chapter story of Ruth. This literary gem is a beautiful picture of a gentile woman (Ruth) who is redeemed and loved by a Jewish nobleman (Boaz). The image of the church being one day redeemed by Jesus is clear in the telling of this romance.

In Ruth 3:9, she clearly asks to be redeemed because Boaz is her Kinsman Redeemer. Jesus Christ is our Kinsman Redeemer. Have you asked him yet to redeem you? As our redeemer you should recognize four simple truths:

1. God desires good and not evil for us (Jeremiah 29:11).
2. But we have all separated ourselves from God with our sin (Romans 3:23; 6:23).
3. Jesus died to restore our relationship with God (1 Peter 3:18).
4. Believe in your heart that this is true and pray to God a prayer of confession and acceptance of his gift of salvation and you will be saved (Romans 10:9,10).

This is the Gospel - The Good News - of Jesus: that he came to set us free from death and sin. The even greater news is that whoever Jesus sets free is "free indeed"! (John 8:36)

The Tetramorph Gospel - The God in Human Form

2.15.15
The Tetramorph Gospel: Luke (The Man)

Luke 2:7 - She [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn, a son." Jesus was born into this world. He came in the form of a child. He could have manifested himself as a full grown man. He had mad the first man, Adam, in that way - from dirt to adult in one easy step. But Jesus did not enter as such. He took the time to experience life as we do. Luke 2 tells us that he took the time to grow and matured in the sight of men and God (2:52). He played as a child, struggled through teen angst, and sat in the classroom of apprenticeship to become a carpenter like Joseph. He truly is a high priest who understands our lives and our struggles (Hebrews 4:15).

While on earth, his human body was the same as ours. He was thirsty and hungry (Luke 4:2), grew physically tired (Luke 8:23), was tempted by the devil with physical satisfaction, power, and twisting of God's word (Luke 4), and his body was lifeless once the spirit left (Luke 23:44-55).

He was fully God in the man suit he wore while here on earth. He did on one occasion reveal his inner nature (Luke 9), and his disciples were left speechless.

But why come to earth at all? And why as a man? God had revealed himself as fire and smoke and thunder in the Old Testament, why decide now to come in the form of flesh? Perhaps there is an answer in the name he chose to use while here on earth? Luke tells us that Jesus was given his name as his parents were instructed before his birth (2:21). But why Jesus? Why not Fred, or Harold, or David in honor of his kingly ancestor? Jesus is the English version of the Greek form of the Hebrew root name Yeshua. It is this name, Yeshua, which was most likely called out in the house of Mary and Joseph come supper time.

It's Hebrew roots derive from two words: YHVH (meaning God) + Yasha (meaning who redeems). The name chosen by God for his son gave testimony of his mission: to be a God who redeems. Long before the arrival of Jesus, God established the principle of the Kinsman Redeemer (Leviticus 25). In this principle, God declared that anyone who sold their things or even themselves could be set free or redeemed by the nearest relative who could pay the price of their freedom.

In order to redeem us, God had to first become one of us. He became a relative of ours through Mary. Luke establishes that all of us are related to Jesus because we all share a common ancestor: Adam. Hebrews 2:10-15 tells us that Jesus calls us his brothers and we are all children of God. Verses 14 of that chapter tells us that "since the children were of flesh and blood, he too had to share in our humanity" so that he could break the curse of death and set us free!

"But I'm not a slave!" or "I don't need to be redeemed." may be going through your mind right now. Before we jump to conclusions, consider what Paul writes in Romans 6 - "you are slaves to the one you obey - whether slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness." We have all sinned (Romans 3:23) and have served as slave to sin. Jesus came to pay the price and set us free from that slavery we sold ourselves into! This is the Good News or Gospel of Jesus Christ! "For Christ also suffered once for sin, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." (1 Peter 3:18)

We can be inspired by the image or Jesus as the Lion King, and challenged to act by Jesus the Servant Ox, but we can take comfort in knowing that we have a spiritual brother in Jesus the Man who truly understands when we share our concerns and struggles.

2.8.15 Additional Reading

Romans 12:1
Live To Serve

"Therefore I urge you dear brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."

Paul's appeal to the church in Rome is just as applicable to us as it was to the men and women of the first century church. In our study of the Tetramorph Gospel, we studied the role of Christ as the Ox, the servant, who gave his live up to and including death to ransom many. His call for us to follow his example is a similar pattern: die to ones self and live for others. In the verses that follow Romans 12:1, we read Paul's plea for us to live in unity as the body, serving one another as God has equipped us. When we serve in the capacity that God formed us, we fulfill the living embodiment of Christ as the servant Ox. We show the world one of the four faces of Christ.

Where will you serve today? Who will you serve? And how can you perform that service and share the Gospel - the Good News - of Jesus?

The Tetramorph Gospel - The God Who Served

2.8.15
The Tetramorph Gospel: Mark (The Ox)
Scripture Focus: Mark 10:35-45

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve." Jesus' statement in verse 45 is amazing. It is life changing when we consider who is making the statement; Jesus, the co-Creator of the the universe, is here to serve man. While on this earth, Jesus did serve man in a number of ways. He healed the sick, raised the dead, gave back sight, and hope to the hopeless. But all of these things are nothing compared to his true and greatest service: the "ransom of many". Jesus concludes this mind blowing statement in verse 45 with the clear purpose of his service - to give his life in order to save others. Wow. While other religions throughout time have asked their believers and followers to die and give their life in service to their gods, here we see where the God of  Christianity is different. The God of the Bible steps in and gives his life in service to his followers.

In Mark we see the picture of Jesus as the Ox. An ox is a beast of burden. He is a servant whose purpose is to serve. It exists to accomplish a goal. The book of Mark is a fast paced summary of Jesus in action. The servant of God accomplishing his task set before him: the ransom of many. Proverbs 14:4 tells us that where there are oxen, there is a harvest. The Ox is not the most glamours animal, but without it the ancient harvest was impossible. Jesus tells his disciples that the harvest is ready, but there is a lack of workers - or oxen - or servants - or people willing to follow the example of Christ and lay down their needs and wants and live a life in service to save others.

The great news, or as it is referred to in Mark Chapter 1 - the Gospel of Christ - is that God has a plan to bring in the harvest. The exciting news for us is that WE are that plan. WE, the church, have been tasked with the responsibility to share the Gospel with a lost and dying world.  Are you willing to be an ox? Are you willing to serve as Christ showed to us through his life?

2.1.15 Additional Readings

The Tetramorph in the Old Testament

Read Ezekiel chapter 1. Here we see the image of God on his throne described much in the same way John explained it in Revelation chapter 4. Ezekiel describes an awesome and terrifying God on his throne, and preceding that throne are the four faced creatures foreshadowing the Christ.

Throughout the Bible we see that God is constant. He is the same today and yesterday and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8). Throughout the bible the image of Lion as king, Ox as servant and sacrifice, Man as the summary of human kind, and the Eagle as the height of spirituality is prevalent and consistent. It should be comforting to know that we can trust the Gospel (Good News) of a Christ who will never change his love for us!

The Tetramorph Gospel - The King Has Arrived

2.1.15
The Tetramorph Gospel: Matthew (The Lion)
Scripture Focus: Revelation 4; Matthew 1, 16, & 21

We read in Revelation 4 where John uses images of color, sounds of thunder, and brilliance of light all working together in an attempt to depict the greatness and awesomeness of God and his throne. Today, February 1st, there will be a football game played. There are hundreds of games played every year. From the simple few bleachers of a small town corn field in the Midwest, to the gargantuan man made wonder of AT&T Stadium in Texas, boys and men play the game every Fall and Winter. But today, there is a game that surpasses them all: the Super Bowl. Try to imagine yourself on the 50 yard line of the field and then describe everything, and I mean everything that is going on at that moment. Hard to imagine, right? Now imagine being John trying to take it all in: the majesty and wonderfulness of the presence of the living God.

Just when John is comprehending the sight of God on his throne, he sees something that is beyond belief: four creatures which have unique faces and characteristics. One is a Lion, another an Ox, a Man, and finally an Eagle. But what do these creatures represent? What part of the glory of God do they show us? It is believed to be a representation of the four faces or purposes of Christ. There is the Lion, symbol of Kingship of Jesus; Ox, symbol of his service; Man, symbol of the humanness of Jesus; and Eagle, symbol of his Spirit. These four image form what is historically called the Tetramorph. Tetra, meaning four and morph, meaning to shape together.

Image One: The Lion

The Gospel of Matthew provides the following insight in Jesus as King.

Matthew 1 - His heritage is established; both founder of faith through Abraham and as the promised eternal king through David.

Matthew 16 - His identity is confirmed by Peter in the declaration that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One (King). This insight did not come from Peter's earthly desire to be on the winning team, but from the Holy Spirit revealed by God the Father.

Matthew 21 - Jesus declares his authority as King with his entry into Jerusalem; exercises his authority in the Temple; offers to share that authority to his disciples, and finally silences those who would try and question his authority.

Genesis 49:9-10 foreshadows the tribe of Judah being identified as a lion. And in Revelation 5:5 we read that Jesus is the Lion of Judah. One way to read this statement is that among kings, he is THE KING. among leaders, he is THE LEADER. C.S. Lewis used this image of a lion for his Narnia Chronicle's savior: Aslan. In the Narnia books, Aslan represents Christ. He is a lion who is majestic, powerful, and eventually sacrifices himself to save others.

Of all the things Lewis writes about Aslan, one of my favorite quotes is the warning given in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe concerning Aslan: "He is wild you know. Not like a tame lion." Remember that when you petition the King to do things in his authority as he sees to share it with us. Remember it as both a warning to us that we cannot place God in a box to be understood and used simply as a tool. And remember that Jesus is a wild lion in the respect that we are not to fear the things of this world - after all, we have a Kingly Lion by our side!