Every believer has two natures, and if we desire to grow in the divine life, we must have a clear knowledge of these two natures. Every brother and sister, especially the younger ones, must pay attention to this crucial truth.
1. “Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground” (Gen. 2:7).
Every believer has two natures because every believer is related to two men. While a believer is in Adam of the old creation and also in Christ of the new creation, an unbeliever is only in Adam. Consequently, an unbeliever has but one nature. However, every believer has two natures because every believer is also part of the new man with its new nature. Every believer has two natures—one that is old and one that is new. God, however, did not create the old man. The old man came into being only after the man formed by God became fallen and corrupted.
In the beginning the man in God’s creation was good and upright (Gen. 1:31; Eccl. 7:29). He became the old man due to the corruption of the fall (Gen 3:1-7). When the man of God’s creation was corrupted by the fall, he became the old man. Although man was created by God, God did not create the old man; rather, the man of God’s creation became old through the corruption of the fall.
2. “You are of your father the devil” (John 8:44; see also 1 John 3:10).
In the beginning Satan, the devil, tempted man with his speaking and with the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He injected his life and nature into man. When man received Satan’s speaking and ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Satan’s life was injected into him. Thus, the good and upright man whom God originally formed became the corrupt and evil man of the old creation, the creation made old by the injection of Satan’s life and nature into it. In the beginning man was pure and clean, but through the fall Satan and his life were injected into man, making him something of mixture and corruption. Thus, man became the old man. The man who was created by God has the life of Satan because of the fall. He belongs to Satan, and every descendant of Adam has the life and nature of Satan. This is the reason that the Bible speaks of the devil as being the father of corrupted man. All of fallen humanity are of the devil and are his children. The corrupted man is the old man, and the old man is of the devil. Everyone in the world is part of the old man.
3. “In Adam” (1 Cor. 15:22, see also vv. 45-48).
Adam was formed by God in the beginning. After his fall and corruption, he became the old man. Furthermore, since the life and nature of the devil were injected into Adam, the old man who comes out of Adam is also corrupted with his evil life. As descendants of Adam, we are related not only to Satan but also to Adam, the old man. Since we are born in Adam, we are in Adam and of Adam.
First Corinthians 15:45-48 says that Adam was a living soul, soulish, and earthy and that those who are out of Adam are the same as Adam. Since the old man is in Adam and of Adam, the old man is the same as Adam. The old man is soulish and earthy, not spiritual and heavenly. This is the reason that those who are in Adam cannot understand spiritual and heavenly matters.
4. “Born of the flesh” (John 3:6).
When man was in the garden of Eden, he lived before God according to his spirit. The spirit with its capacity for fellowship with God directed the body through the soul in relation to man’s living and actions. At that time man’s body was pure; it did not have any corrupting element in it. However, Satan’s life with its element of sin was injected into man’s body after man ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This corrupted his body with sin (Rom. 7:23). When man followed the desires of the soul according to the lust of his corrupted flesh, his soul came under the control and direction of the flesh to such an extent that the old man is altogether flesh in God’s eyes. Thus, our old man is of the flesh.
5. “Out of the earth” (1 Cor. 15:47).
Adam was formed out of dust, so he is out of the earth. Since Adam is out of the earth, the old man is out of the earth. Therefore, the old man is also out of the earth and earthy.
There are five matters related to the origin of the old man: (1) the old man comes from the old creation, (2) the old man is out of the devil, (3) the old man is in Adam, (4) the old man is born of the flesh, and (5) the old man is out of the earth. The old man is of the old creation, the devil, Adam, and the flesh, and it is earthy.