Message Ten

The New Man
(1)
Putting On the New Man and
the Constitution and Renewing of the New Man

Scripture Reading: Col. 3:5-11, 17; Eph. 2:15; 4:22-24

1. The ultimate goal of God in His economy is to gain the new man constituted with the all-inclusive, extensive, preeminent Christ wrought into a corporate people—Col. 1:27; 2:2, 9, 16-17; 3:4, 10-11.
2. The new man equals the Body of Christ—vv. 10, 15; Eph. 2:15-16:
   1. The new man and the Body are synonyms and may be used interchangeably:
      1. The emphasis on the church being the Body of Christ is on life; the emphasis on the church being the one new man is on the person—1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:4; 2:15; 4:24.
      2. As the Body of Christ, the church needs Christ as its life; as the new man, the church needs Christ as its person—Col. 3:4; Eph. 3:17a.
   2. Christ and we together form a universal man; as the One in heaven, Christ is the Head, and as those on earth, we are the Body—Col. 1:18a.
   3. The new man is the corporate God-man, with Christ, the firstborn Son, as the Head and the believers, the many sons of God, as the Body; for the new man as the corporate God-man we need to live the life of a God-man—3:10; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10; Phil. 1:19-21a.
3. Although the new man was already created in Christ, we still need to put on the new man—Col. 3:10; Eph. 2:15; 4:24:
   1. Since the new man is the Body of Christ, to put on the new man means to live a life by the Body, not individually but corporately:
      1. Individualism is hateful in the sight of God; if we would know the Body, we need to be delivered from our individualistic life—1 Cor. 12:18-20.
      2. The strongest proof that we have seen the Body is that we can no longer be individualistic—Acts 9:4-6; Philem. 14.
   2. Before our salvation we were living in the old man, in the old society, but now we are members of Christ, living in His Body; thus, we should put off the old man with the old social life and put on the new man, the church—Col. 3:10, 15; Eph. 4:4, 22-24.
   3. In order to put on the new man in an experiential way, we need to take Christ as our person—3:17a; Gal. 2:20:
      1. The church is the new man, and in this new man there is only one person—Christ—Matt. 17:5; Col. 3:10-11.
      2. The old man must be put off, and we must live by our new person—vv. 5-9; Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:22-24.
      3. When we live by taking Christ as our person, especially in making decisions, our living will be the living of the new man—John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; Rom. 15:32; James 4:13-15.
   4. If we would put on the new man in a practical way, we need to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus—Col. 3:17:
      1. The name denotes the person, and the Lord’s person is the Spirit—2 Cor. 3:17a.
      2. To do things in the name of the Lord is to act in the Spirit; this is to live Christ—Gal. 5:16; Rom. 8:4; Phil. 1:21a.
4. The new man is Christ constituted into us—Col. 3:10-11; Eph. 3:17a; 4:24:
   1. As the One who indwells us and who is our life, Christ is the constituent of the new man—Col. 1:27; 3:4.
   2. The Christ we enjoy as our God-allotted portion becomes the constituent of the new man—1:12; 3:10-11:
      1. Through enjoying the all-inclusive, extensive, preeminent Christ we experience Him as the content and constituent of the new man.
      2. The issue of our experience and enjoyment of Christ is the church as the new man; as we enjoy Christ, He is constituted into us, and we become the new man—1:27; 3:10.
   3. Because Christ is all and in all, in the new man there is room only for Christ; there is no room for the natural man—v. 11:
      1. Since Christ is all and in all in the new man and we are part of the new man, we are part of Christ.
      2. Christ is everyone in the new man, and He is in everyone in the new man—v. 11.
      3. The only way Christ can be all and in all in the new man is for Him to be constituted into us—Eph. 3:17a.
5. Concerning the new man, we need to be “renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him”—Col. 3:10:
   1. Because the new man was created with us, who belong to the old creation (Eph. 2:15), as his constituents, he needs to be renewed; this renewing takes place mainly in our mind as the mingled spirit spreads into our mind and saturates it—Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23.
   2. The new man is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—Col. 3:10:
      1. This image is Christ, God’s Beloved—the wonderful, glorious, all-inclusive Christ—as the expression of God—1:15.
      2. We need to be renewed in our mind unto full knowledge according to the expression of God, according to what Christ is.
   3. The renewing of the new man depends on our seeking the things which are above—3:1-2:
      1. If we turn to the heavenly Christ with all His activities and set our mind on these things, the renewing of the new man will take place spontaneously—Heb. 8:1-2; 12:2; Col. 3:2, 10.
      2. When we set our mind on the things above, the way is open for the divine element to spread from our regenerated spirit into our soul; this spreading of the divine element within us is according to Christ, who is the image of God, God’s expression.