Living Creatures
Revelation 4:8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”
There is a location right now where this is happening. There is an actual place where four LIVING creatures are gazing upon the source of all goodness and beauty, and as they do, they are releasing life to those around them. These four "living creatures" are the "most alive" created beings, because they dwell closest to the source of life. The Bible also calls these creatures seraphim....or "burning ones." These ones dwell so close to God...who is a consuming fire...that they are also on fire!
Daniel 7:9-10 “I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.
Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
God is the source of all life...the light of mankind and all of creation. We imagine we could not live without the small fire of the sun. This is actually untrue. There is a much bigger Fire than the sun...the One who made a billion suns. Where He dwells, all life gets its life from.
I was teaching about Revelation last summer, and after talking about the four living creatures, a lady approached me and told me she was disturbed by the existence of the four living creatures. She laughed and said it sounded like they had the most boring job. She said she had a hard time imagining heaven being interesting. I think her feelings are pretty common. If you don't know what the Bible has to say about heaven, it is really easy to imagine it "one-dimensionally." When I hear people say we will just worship God all the time, I imagine that secretly they are a little worried about being bored in heaven, too. Let me assure you, in heaven you will not follow God around singing continually...although, once you get a glimpse of God, you will wish you could!
Most Christians imagine heaven to be one endless church service where you wander from sanctuary to sanctuary singing songs to God, interspersed with banquets of heavenly food that somehow doesn't need to be prepared...huge hollow banquet halls filled with cornucopias and hymns...Thankfully, this is not anything like what the Bible describes heaven being like!
We have TON of information about heaven, because we live where heaven is coming right now. Once I understood the plan the Bible documents, heaven suddenly got way more interesting. In fact, once I wrapped my mind around the truth of the Bible as it concerns heaven and what I'll be doing for billions of years, life itself got way more interesting AND important.
Heaven isn't a location, heaven is a condition. Heaven "happens" where ever God is. When God made earth and put Adam on it, heaven was here. Adam was created to live forever in the conditions of heaven on earth. Adam was made with an infinite capacity to encounter the burning God and the conditions of the earth that came with God's presence. When Adam chose to say no to obedience to God...when he chose to gaze on darkness for a minute...darkness entered His frame. Adam's infinite capacity to encounter an infinite God became less than infinite. Anything less than infinite is infinitely less, and it was no longer safe for Adam to be in the presence of the infinite burning God, heaven left earth. God withdrew into the supernatural spiritual realm until His plan to fix what Adam had broken was complete.
The Bible says that when that plan is complete, heaven is coming to this earth. This is the whole point of the Bible, to fix earth so heaven can come back:
Revelation 21:2-4 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Earth will only get more interesting when heaven arrives. You were supernaturally created for a life in the conditions of heaven. According to the Bible, it is an unfortunate consequence of Adam's rebellion that the first 70 or 80 years of your existence had to begin outside of heaven. You were made to live in heaven. In fact, the whole earth was made to live in heaven. When heaven left, work became a chore, the atmosphere changed, death came in, loss, theft, pain...life, as designed, was no longer possible. God called Adam "dead":
Genesis 3:17-19 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
Mankind's very purpose was interrupted by the fall and the withdraw of heaven. The hope of a person who is reconnected to God through Jesus is that life, the purpose you were made for...the heavenly one...isn't lost...it is simply delayed. Getting saved is supposed to radically change your perspective on life and purpose. Jesus isn't supposed to be a life enhancer, He is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE!
This is why, for centuries, saved people died to the idea of life here and were willing to die physically in an all-out determination to do everything within their power to see heaven come back to earth. "Whatever it takes, God" is the attitude world-changing Christians have had since Paul wrote these words:
Philippians 3:8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
To gaze on what the living creatures gaze on is supposed to be the only thing worth living for and is supposed to radically change my heart about what I am willing to die for. In the current western comfort-soaked church, this idea is nearly dead. This has left most western Christians spiritually bored and looking to this world for life purpose. It is this loss of purpose that has left most of the world mostly dissatisfied with their lives. The only true satisfaction available to a person is found in the same place the four living creatures find it....wherever God dwells.
This is where life originates and, moment by moment, flows from. The living creatures have been allowed to position themselves next to the only spring of life that exists...you couldn't drag them away from this spot of endless beauty, fascination, and life if you tried. The living creatures dwell next to the origin of this river of fire:
John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
God made Adam and connected Adam's life to his own through the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Adam was continually fed the fire-water of life through the Holy Spirit, and from this connection was supposed to have dominion over the planet...to increase life by being an out-pouring of the river of fire coming from the throne of life. This is the only main purpose in life that will ever satisfy a person. This is the main heavenly purpose:
John 7:37-39 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
The Bible says God formed you because He dreamed up your heart to meet a desire in His to share life with you, all the while anticipating the day when you would ask Him to "network" you to His very heart by the Holy Spirit He promised to everyone who desired to reconnect with Him. The Bible says that as this becomes your life purpose, the living water flowing from you will begin restoring earth back to the place God has promised will be restored...this is where real life begins.
Life, the way you were made for, is not really even possible until then. Satan desperately tries to convince people that what they are experiencing NOW is life, and that to give up any part of this life for the sake of life the way God defines it isn't really worth it. This lie keeps people from life!! Jesus says that to know Him is to trade this less-than life for real life:
Matthew 16:24-27 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
There is a location right now where this is happening. There is an actual place where four LIVING creatures are gazing upon the source of all goodness and beauty, and as they do, they are releasing life to those around them. These four "living creatures" are the "most alive" created beings, because they dwell closest to the source of life. The Bible also calls these creatures seraphim....or "burning ones." These ones dwell so close to God...who is a consuming fire...that they are also on fire!
Daniel 7:9-10 “I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.
Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
God is the source of all life...the light of mankind and all of creation. We imagine we could not live without the small fire of the sun. This is actually untrue. There is a much bigger Fire than the sun...the One who made a billion suns. Where He dwells, all life gets its life from.
I was teaching about Revelation last summer, and after talking about the four living creatures, a lady approached me and told me she was disturbed by the existence of the four living creatures. She laughed and said it sounded like they had the most boring job. She said she had a hard time imagining heaven being interesting. I think her feelings are pretty common. If you don't know what the Bible has to say about heaven, it is really easy to imagine it "one-dimensionally." When I hear people say we will just worship God all the time, I imagine that secretly they are a little worried about being bored in heaven, too. Let me assure you, in heaven you will not follow God around singing continually...although, once you get a glimpse of God, you will wish you could!
Most Christians imagine heaven to be one endless church service where you wander from sanctuary to sanctuary singing songs to God, interspersed with banquets of heavenly food that somehow doesn't need to be prepared...huge hollow banquet halls filled with cornucopias and hymns...Thankfully, this is not anything like what the Bible describes heaven being like!
We have TON of information about heaven, because we live where heaven is coming right now. Once I understood the plan the Bible documents, heaven suddenly got way more interesting. In fact, once I wrapped my mind around the truth of the Bible as it concerns heaven and what I'll be doing for billions of years, life itself got way more interesting AND important.
Heaven isn't a location, heaven is a condition. Heaven "happens" where ever God is. When God made earth and put Adam on it, heaven was here. Adam was created to live forever in the conditions of heaven on earth. Adam was made with an infinite capacity to encounter the burning God and the conditions of the earth that came with God's presence. When Adam chose to say no to obedience to God...when he chose to gaze on darkness for a minute...darkness entered His frame. Adam's infinite capacity to encounter an infinite God became less than infinite. Anything less than infinite is infinitely less, and it was no longer safe for Adam to be in the presence of the infinite burning God, heaven left earth. God withdrew into the supernatural spiritual realm until His plan to fix what Adam had broken was complete.
The Bible says that when that plan is complete, heaven is coming to this earth. This is the whole point of the Bible, to fix earth so heaven can come back:
Revelation 21:2-4 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Earth will only get more interesting when heaven arrives. You were supernaturally created for a life in the conditions of heaven. According to the Bible, it is an unfortunate consequence of Adam's rebellion that the first 70 or 80 years of your existence had to begin outside of heaven. You were made to live in heaven. In fact, the whole earth was made to live in heaven. When heaven left, work became a chore, the atmosphere changed, death came in, loss, theft, pain...life, as designed, was no longer possible. God called Adam "dead":
Genesis 3:17-19 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
Mankind's very purpose was interrupted by the fall and the withdraw of heaven. The hope of a person who is reconnected to God through Jesus is that life, the purpose you were made for...the heavenly one...isn't lost...it is simply delayed. Getting saved is supposed to radically change your perspective on life and purpose. Jesus isn't supposed to be a life enhancer, He is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE!
This is why, for centuries, saved people died to the idea of life here and were willing to die physically in an all-out determination to do everything within their power to see heaven come back to earth. "Whatever it takes, God" is the attitude world-changing Christians have had since Paul wrote these words:
Philippians 3:8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
To gaze on what the living creatures gaze on is supposed to be the only thing worth living for and is supposed to radically change my heart about what I am willing to die for. In the current western comfort-soaked church, this idea is nearly dead. This has left most western Christians spiritually bored and looking to this world for life purpose. It is this loss of purpose that has left most of the world mostly dissatisfied with their lives. The only true satisfaction available to a person is found in the same place the four living creatures find it....wherever God dwells.
This is where life originates and, moment by moment, flows from. The living creatures have been allowed to position themselves next to the only spring of life that exists...you couldn't drag them away from this spot of endless beauty, fascination, and life if you tried. The living creatures dwell next to the origin of this river of fire:
John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
God made Adam and connected Adam's life to his own through the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Adam was continually fed the fire-water of life through the Holy Spirit, and from this connection was supposed to have dominion over the planet...to increase life by being an out-pouring of the river of fire coming from the throne of life. This is the only main purpose in life that will ever satisfy a person. This is the main heavenly purpose:
John 7:37-39 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
The Bible says God formed you because He dreamed up your heart to meet a desire in His to share life with you, all the while anticipating the day when you would ask Him to "network" you to His very heart by the Holy Spirit He promised to everyone who desired to reconnect with Him. The Bible says that as this becomes your life purpose, the living water flowing from you will begin restoring earth back to the place God has promised will be restored...this is where real life begins.
Life, the way you were made for, is not really even possible until then. Satan desperately tries to convince people that what they are experiencing NOW is life, and that to give up any part of this life for the sake of life the way God defines it isn't really worth it. This lie keeps people from life!! Jesus says that to know Him is to trade this less-than life for real life:
Matthew 16:24-27 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
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