FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE

Introduction: The Faces of Humanity

By Pastor Delbert Young

Life Gate Ministries

204 North Main Street, LaFayette, GA 30728

706-638-7620, www.lifegatechurch.com

Over these next several weeks we will be doing a series that will tell us how wonderful God says we are. This is a personality temperament teaching. I don't know if you have ever had one before, but I know you have never had one like this. You are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psa 139:14). There is no one like you. There's never been, and there can never be again, anyone like you. It is impossible for there to ever have been anyone like you. God spent thousands and thousands of years to design you specifically. God does not do encores. You have a unique finger print, retina layout, DNA structure, and jawbone structure. You may be a twin conceived at the same moment, born only minutes apart from your sibling, still you have your own DNA, fingerprint, retina layout, etc. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Let me show you this in scripture.

Psalms 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

Psalms 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

King David was talking to the Lord in Psalm 139. David said, "Lord I don't understand? You know all about me. You know how I stand up and how I sit down. You know and even understand my thoughts. You know what I do and where I go. You know what I say. Knowing all this about me, your hand is still on my life. Such knowledge is too high for me to attain unto. I can't go any place that you don't want to go with me. Why do you desire hanging out with me? If I go to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, you are there. If I go to the depths of the sea, you go with me. In my dark times you are there and in my light times you are there. I don't understand why you like me. I can hide some things from people, but I can't hide anything from you. Why do you like me?" Have you ever thought that?

It was at that point that a revelation came to King David. David said, "I wasn't hid from you when I was being formed in my mother's womb. In fact, it was you that designed me. You have the schematic on me. You brought all the lineage together from my mother's side and all the lineage together from my father's side to make me. You spent thousands of years making me." David was not the way he was by fault. David was the way he was by purpose. Then David said,

Psalms 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

David realized that he was the way he was because that was the way God made him. David was "fearfully and wonderfully made." So are you and I fearfully and wonderfully made. God spent over six-thousand years making you. It took him that long to get enough of this and enough of that to come out with you. God likes us because he made us and we are "fearfully and wonderfully made."

I want us to read and look at some scriptures that are the base of our study. If I am able to communicate this with us, we will begin to see things the way things should be in perfection.

Ezekiel 1:1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

Ezekiel 1:2 In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,

Ezekiel 1:3 The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.

Ezekiel 1:4 And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

Nearly six hundred-years B.C. Ezekiel had a vision. Ezekiel was a priest of God. Before he was a prophet, he was a priest. Though he was a priest and a prophet, he was in bondage. This was the time of the Babylonian captivity. Something happened to Ezekiel that was so monumental that he remembered the exact day. He remembered exactly where he was standing. Ezekiel was allowed to look into "the heavens." He was allowed to look into perfection. This is similar to what happened to John in the Revelation chapter four. John also saw perfection. It is seeing things as things ought to be when God is on the throne. Ezekiel looked into perfection, yet was a captive. He was in bondage.

Here is my point. Every one of us has some sort of bondage. Paul had a thorn in his flesh. Every person has something that they struggle with and wrestle with. We experience some sort of bondage. At the same time you can be a priest unto God. At the same time the hand of the Lord can be upon your life. What God wants to do is come to you in a cloud and open himself up to you so we can see things as to how they should be. It does not matter where you are in life. God desires to come to you and allow you to see his glory and the way things should be.

Ezekiel saw a cloud coming. It was not a black cloud like a tornado coming to destroy. It was amber in color because it was like a fire. It was a yellow and orange cloud on fire coming to Ezekiel. This was not just any cloud. It was the cloud. It was the cloud that led God's people out of Egypt to the Red sea. This was the cloud that stopped Pharaoh's chosen chariots all night as the Red sea was opened. This is what God want's to do with you and me. He will stop that which is attempting to destroy us and open a way where there is no way so we can cross into our promise and see the salvation of God. He will lead us through and then take care of our enemies. Out of that cloud came the instructions for manna, water, and quail. That cloud sat on the mount and Moses went into that cloud receiving instructions. So much of what we understand about God today came from that cloud to Moses. That cloud led God's people through their time of wilderness. Jesus warned the high priest that he would come on the cloud. It was at that statement the high priest rent his garments and ordered the death of Christ. It's the cloud of the kingdom. It was the cloud that Jesus ascended upon to his throne. This was the cloud that Ezekiel experienced. I pray that we also will experience this cloud. I pray that we see things the way they should be.

Ezekiel 1:5 Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

What kind of creatures were in the cloud? It says, "living creatures." What do we think of when we think of living? We think of life and breathing. These are not statues. The word translated "living" is the Hebrew word chay (Strong's #2416) and means "alive; hence raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; life (or living thing)."

living - 2416 chay

alive; hence raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; life (or living thing)

Ezekiel saw "four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man." They had the likeness of what? They had the likeness of a man. This is so crucial for our study. If we don't get this point, we could doubt some of what we want to see. The word translated "man" is the Hebrew word 'adam.

man - 0120 'adam

a human being, an individual or the species, mankind

Ezekiel saw humanity as it is in perfection. He saw people the way people are to be seen, as they are in the cloud. This Hebrew word adam is used 543 times in the scriptures. Only 14 of those 543 literally speak of the first man named Adam. Every other use is referring to people like you and like me. I will show you a few scriptures. My point is these living creatures are mankind.

Genesis 6:1 And it came to pass, when men ['adam] began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

Exodus 4:11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's ['adam] mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

Leviticus 1:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man ['adam] of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.

2 Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men ['adam] must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

These four living creatures were in the likeness of mankind. We could say they were like humanity. So what Ezekiel saw was something far surpassing four angels. Ezekiel saw something that was like humanity made perfect.

Ezekiel 1:6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.

How many faces did every one have? Each living creature had four faces. Humanity has four distinct faces.

Ezekiel 1:10 As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

I have drawn this creature. Have you ever seen a man that looked like this? Yet, this is the likeness of mankind. Have you ever seen a man that looked like that? Not in the natural, but if we can get into the cloud and have the eyes of our understanding enlightened, we begin to see people this way. This is my prayer for you. I want each of us to enter the glory cloud and see these four faces.

Every one of us has four dimensions to our temperament. Every one of us has four dimensions to our being. Every one of us has four aspects to our thought process.

How do I project that this is mankind? Does the Bible substantiate that statement? That is the easy part. When the Bible speaks about a lion, an ox, or an eagle, it's not speaking about an animal or a bird.

Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Revelation 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda . . .

Numbers 24:9 He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.

Lion scriptures speak of the Lord, a type of people, and a temperament. They are aggressive people. Fight anyone. They don't think twice about confrontation. In fact, it stimulates them. They die alone in prison like the Apostle Paul. Everyone forsakes them. I wonder why?

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

This isn't speaking about literal eagles. It's speaking about a person that needs to be renewed because they have stored up stuff in their souls. They have become brittle and mean. These people hold grudges for fifty years and will die with them unless renewed. They are the natural critics. Yet, these people can fly higher than any other creature. They can see great distances and have extreme intellect. These are the geniuses like Moses. Yet no one in scriptures became as angry as often as did Moses. Moses did not sanctify the Lord before the people. It was his anger that kept him from entering his promise. These people love to learn and see things and accomplish things that the rest of us never even think about. They too can die lonely deaths because they will smite the rock instead of speaking to it.

1 Corinthians 9:9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." Is it about oxen that God is concerned?

1 Corinthians 9:10 Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us . . .

This is the most loving and gentlest of all the temperaments. They are slow paced people, but will work and work and work for their master. God hates it when the other temperaments take advantage of these wonderful people. They hate confrontation. Anyone can walk up to a thousand-pound ox and wack it with a stick. The ox will just move out of the way. They sort of say, "I'm sorry. If you want this space then I will move." Don't wack a lion unless you want to be bitten. Abraham was this temperament. The Lord said to Abraham to get out of Ur. Twenty five years later Abraham got out. Why did it take Abraham so long? The Lord told Peter to come follow me and Peter immediately dropped his nets and followed. Why did it take Abraham so long? The ox is so very relational. Abraham's dad was alive and Abraham was not going to leave daddy. After daddy died, Abraham left. Even then Abraham took Lot. Nothing is more important to this person than loving people and feeling their love back.

We see that when the Bible speaks of the lion, ox, and eagle, it's not actually speaking about the animals and a bird. It's talking about people. It's mankind or humanity. It's the faces of humanity the way it is in the cloud. Ezekiel saw mankind in its living form. We are not the way we are by accident. We are this way by purpose. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We must stop trying to change ourselves and learn what we are purposed to be. We must stop trying to change others and learn what they are purposed to be.

Side Effects

Every personality temperament has side effects. Every medication has what is called a "side effect." For example, an aspirin can relieve a headache and thin the blood. If that is what is needed at that moment then the effects the aspirin has on the stomach is overlooked. Blood pressure medication has side effects, but they are overlooked to keep the blood pressure from causing death. The lesser is received for the benefits of the greater.

Every personality temperament has side effects. Every person has side effects. It is when we understand that the good so outweigh the side affects that we accept the side effect to get the good. We really need different temperaments in our lives to bring us healing and the abundant life. However, if we can't accept the temperament there will be no healing or an abundant life.

In Revelation chapter four, John has an experience much like Ezekiel's experience. A window in heaven opens and John enters. John saw exactly what Ezekiel saw. As Ezekiel, one of the first and primary things that John saw were these creatures.

Revelation 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

It's important to note where these creatures are. They are "in the midst of the throne" and "round about the throne." Paul writes in the book of Ephesians,

Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

The Bible says that we are now seated with Christ in heavenly places. In the dimension of the Spirit, we are seated in the throne because that is the location of Christ. The point is that we are in and around the throne now.

These creatures are "full of eyes before and behind."

Revelation 4:7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

Revelation 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

John is impressed with the eyes these creatures have. Verse six said the eyes were looking in front and behind. They were looking outward. Verse eight says the eyes were looking within. Eyes in the scriptures speak of understanding.

Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

If our study is successful, we will have eyes opened to us. We will understand our past as our eyes are opened behind. We will grasp why things happened the way they happened. We will see it really wasn't the devil after all.

I remember my early years of ministry before my eyes were opened to this teaching. I had eagles as elders and leaders. I am a lion. I would want to do something and the eagles would begin questioning me. I interpreted that as coming against me. They would ask, "How much will it cost? Who is going to do it? How long will it take? Where is the water fountain going to be?" I didn't care about any of that and I would pounce like a lion and my eagles were flying out the door. I know now they were not coming against me. They needed information like I needed the challenge. I lost many of my eagles and that was really bad. These are the really smart people, the thinkers and planners. Usually they make a lot of money and any pastor knows how important that is for a successful church. However, I was making them fly away. What we will see now is that we have as many eagles as we have lions. Why? Because I understand them and they understand me. It wasn't the devil. We simply did not understand each other. I would not accept their side effects.

The eyes are also within. You will understand yourself so much better. Soul restoration is of the Lord, but once we understand some things about ourselves, we can present them to the Lord. It doesn't give me the right to go around roaring at people because I am a lion. My eyes within allow me to see my dents, scratches, and flaws. I not only see the medication I have for the body of Christ. I also see my own side effects. Therefore, I can now temper them.

The eyes are before. I promise you that life will be better for you. Your future will go much smoother. You will have much less friction with people. Things that used to upset you about people will cause you to giggle. The abundant life is much more accessible when we understand temperaments.

Finding your primary temperament is important for two primary reasons. First, it is how we face life. It is the face we address life with. Secondly, God deals with us according to our primary temperaments. Ezekiel saw four faces on each creature. John saw one face on each creature. John saw the primary face. As we will see, each of us has a combination of all four. However, one of those faces will take you in the direction your life will go.

Also, God will deal with us according to our primary temperament. God dealt with Cain and Abel differently. If you are a parent with more than one child, you will understand what I am saying. You know that you deal with your children differently. We will talk about this next time.