In 3:11 Paul goes on to say, “Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.” The word where, which refers to the new man in verse 10, means in the new man. Not only is there no natural person in the new man, but there is no possibility, no room, for any natural person to exist. There cannot be Greeks, who were for philosophical wisdom, and Jews, who were for miraculous signs (1 Cor. 1:22). There cannot be circumcision—the observers of the Jewish religious rituals—and uncircumcision—those who do not care for the Jewish religion. Furthermore, in the new man there cannot be barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free man. A barbarian is an uncultured person, the Scythians were considered the most barbarous people, the slaves were those sold into slavery, and the free men were those who had been freed from slavery. No matter what kind of person we may be, as far as the new man is concerned, we must regard ourselves as nobodies. In the new man there is room only for Christ, not for any kind of natural person. Therefore, in the church we all are nobodies.
In the new man Christ is all. In the church as the new man, Christ is everything. This implies that He is every brother and every sister. This also implies that every brother and sister must be constituted with Christ. In the new man there cannot be Jewish members and Gentile members; there can only be Christ-members. If we would be constituted with Christ, Christ must be added into us more and more. We must be permeated with Christ, saturated with Christ, and have Christ organically wrought into our being. Eventually, we will be replaced by Christ. Then, in reality, He will be all and in all. He will be every member, every part, of the new man.
The new man does not come into existence by taking Christians from various countries and bringing them together. That would be a new organization, not the new man. The new man comes into being as we are saturated, filled, and permeated with Christ and replaced by Him through an organic process. The new man is Christ in all the saints permeating us and replacing us until all natural distinctions have been eliminated, and everyone is constituted with Christ.
In Colossians Paul presents the Christ who is the fullness of the invisible God. After mentioning aspect after aspect of such a Christ, he speaks of the new man. Between Christ as the fullness of God in chapter 1 and the new man in chapter 3 we have the experience and enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ. The issue of our experience and enjoyment of Him is the church as the new man. Hence, the new man comes out of our enjoyment of Christ as the fullness of God. As we enjoy Christ daily, He is wrought into us, constituted into our being. In this way Christ becomes our constituent. Day by day Christ is being constituted into us. Eventually, we all will be thoroughly constituted of Him. As a result of being constituted with Christ, we become the new man.
The only way Christ can be all and in all in the new man is for Him to constitute Himself into us. The process of being constituted with Christ takes place through our enjoyment of Christ. We need to say, “Lord Jesus, I love You, I treasure You, and I enjoy You. Lord, I am here on earth for You and for You alone.” The more we open to the Lord and contact Him in this way, the more He infuses Himself into us and fills us to the brim. As we call on the Lord, praise Him, and offer Him our thanks and adoration, we are filled with Him. Through such an enjoyment of Christ and experience of Him, we are gradually constituted with Christ. It is as we enjoy Him that He constitutes us with Himself.
In the new man Christ is all; He is all the members of the new man. He is everything in the new man. Actually, He is the new man, His Body (1 Cor. 12:12-13). In the new man Christ is the centrality and universality.
The word all in Colossians 3:11 refers to all the members who make up the new man. Christ is all these members. Since Christ is all and in all in the new man and we are part of the new man, we are part of Christ. Each member, each part, of the new man is Christ. He is everyone in the new man. In the church, the new man, there is nothing but Christ.
In the one new man there is room only for Christ. We may wonder how Christ can be all in the new man. For this to be a reality, we must take Christ as our life and live Him, not ourselves. If Christ is the living of all the saints, then only He will be in the new man. Those from America will no longer live an American life, and those from Japan will no longer live a Japanese life. All the saints, whatever their nationality may be, will live Christ. Then in a way that is real and practical, Christ will be all the members of the new man. Christ will be us. Because we all live Christ, not ourselves, Christ will be all of us, every member of the new man.