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In Colossians 3:10 there are the creation of the new man and the renewal of the new man; the creation of the new man was completed on the cross, but the renewal of the new man is still going on.
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The new man was created by Christ, but the believers need to partake of this creation—Eph. 2:15; Col. 3:10:
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To bring forth the new man, first Christ's creating work on the cross was needed, and this has been accomplished—Eph. 2:15.
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In order to partake of this creation, every day we need to put off the old man and put on the new man through the renewing—4:22-24; Col. 3:10.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 2:15 Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.4:24 And put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.
According to Ephesians 4:24, the new man is created in righteousness and holiness of the reality, but according to Colossians 3:10, the new man is being renewed. How can the new man be both created, which has nothing to do with anything old, and renewed, which is related to something old?…From Christ's side, the new man has already been created. But from our side, our experience, the new man is being renewed. According to the new creation, the new man has been completed by the work of Christ. But according to our experience, the new man is in the process of being renewed daily….This renewing is actually the putting on of the new man….The new man has been created, but now our need is to put him on in our experience. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 217)
Today's Reading
The Greek word rendered “put on” [in Colossians 3:10] is used with respect to clothing. Suppose a brother has a suit of clothes tailor-made for him. We may say that the suit has been completed. Now the brother must put on this suit in a proper way. He cannot put it on all at once; rather, it is a gradual, step-by-step procedure. The putting on of a suit of clothes, however, is not a fully accurate picture of the putting on of the new man. The putting on of a suit is objective, whereas the putting on of the new man involves an inward renewing. We do not put on the new man in an outward, objective way. On the contrary, the putting on of the new man begins from within; it is related to an inward, subjective renewing.On the cross Christ has slain the ordinances in order to produce the one new man in resurrection. Hence, in the resurrection of Christ, the new man was created and brought forth. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, the life-giving Spirit came into our spirit, bringing with Him the new man as a finished product. In this way the new man was born into our spirit. Therefore, since the time of our regeneration, the new man has been in our spirit. Now the new man must saturate every part of us. This spreading is both the putting on of the new man and the renewing. As Colossians 3:10 says, we need to put on the new man, which is being renewed. How much of the new man we put on depends on how much we are renewed.
Our former manner of life, our heritage from Babel, and even the Jewish ordinances have been abolished in the flesh of Christ by His death on the cross. Instead of treasuring our heritage, we should disown it. On the positive side, we need to see that the new man has already been created and, by regeneration, has been put into our spirit. The need now is for our spirit to become the dominant part of our being. This means that our spirit mingled with the Spirit of God must become the spirit of our mind (Eph. 4:23). If our spirit is the spirit of our mind, then all our living will be by the spirit. Whatever we do will be according to the spirit. This spirit of our mind will then become the renewing spirit. As we are renewed by this spirit, we put on the new man.
This renewal takes place by the putting away of the former manner of life and by our living according to the spirit. In the past we have spoken a great deal about our spirit. However, we should not separate this from the matter of putting off our former manner of life. If we would have the new man as our living, we must first put off our former manner of life. Then we must allow our spirit to become the leading, dominating, directing, and governing element of our whole being. If we live in this way, spontaneously the process of renewing will take place within us. Such a continual renewing is the putting on of the new man. This is the church life, the life and living of the new man. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 217-218, 221-223)
Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 25; Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 28, 52, 62