Scripture Reading: Eph. 2:15; 4:17-21; Col. 3:10-11
Ⅰ
Man is a great word in the Bible—Gen. 1:26; Psa. 8:4-6:
A
God's intention is with man, God's thought is focused on man, and God's heart is set upon man.
B
It is man who fulfills God's plan, expresses God, defeats God's enemy, and brings the kingdom of God into the human race.
C
Man is the means of God's manifestation, the means of God's move, and the means of God's administration—Ezek. 1:26, 5, 10.
D
God in heaven desires to gain man on earth for His expression by working Himself into man—Eph. 2:15; 3:16-17a.
E
God wanted a man, and in the old creation He created a figure, a type, not the real man; the real man—the one new man—is the man Christ created on the cross—Gen. 1:26; Eph. 2:15.
Ⅱ
The one new man is a corporate, universal man—4:24; Col. 3:10-11:
A
The one new man is a corporate God-man:
１
The first God-man, the firstborn Son of God, is the Head of this corporate God-man—the new man—Rom. 8:29; Eph. 4:15.
２
The many God-men, the many sons of God, are the Body of this corporate God-man—the new man—vv. 16, 24.
B
We, the believers in Christ, are all one with Christ to be the new man; we all are parts of the one new man.
Ⅲ
The living of the new man should be exactly the same as the living of Jesus; the way Jesus lived on earth is the way the new man should live today—v. 21:
A
We should "no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind"—v. 17:
１
The Gentiles, the fallen people, have become vain in their reasonings—Rom. 1:21.
２
The Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, being controlled and directed by their vain thoughts; whatever they do according to their fallen mind is vanity, void of reality.
３
It is possible for a saved person, who has the life of God (Eph. 4:18), to walk in the vanity of the mind.
B
We need to live a life that corresponds to the life of Jesus, a life according to the reality that is in Jesus—v. 21:
１
The life of the one new man must be that of the reality in Jesus:
ａ
The reality in Jesus is the real situation of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels.
ｂ
Jesus lived a life in which He did everything in God, with God, and for God; God was in His living, and He was one with God.
２
As a corporate person, the new man should live a life as Jesus did, a life of reality expressing God and causing God to be realized by man—v. 24:
ａ
Our standard of living must be according to the reality in Jesus, the reality lived out by Jesus when He was on earth; hence, the life of Jesus should be our life today in the church.
ｂ
For us to live according to the reality that is in Jesus means that we are taught in Him to live a life of reality, a life in the shining of light and in the expression of God—Matt. 11:29.
Ⅳ
In order to have the living of the one new man, we need to learn Christ—Eph. 4:20:
A
Christ is not only life to us but also an example; we learn from Him according to His example, not by our natural life but by Him as our life—Matt. 11:29; Col. 3:4.
B
The four Gospels show us the pattern of the life that God desires, the mold of the life that can satisfy God and fulfill His purpose:
１
During the years of His life on earth, the Lord Jesus set up a pattern, a mold, a model.
２
After He set up the pattern revealed in the Gospels, He was crucified and then entered into resurrection, becoming the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b); it is in resurrection that He comes into us to be our life.
C
To be saved is to be put by God into Christ—1:30; Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27:
１
To learn Christ is to be placed into Christ by God, to be put into Christ as the mold.
２
On God's side, He has put us into Christ; on our side, we have learned Christ by being put into Him.
D
To learn Christ is to be molded into the pattern of Christ, that is, to be conformed to the image of Christ—Eph. 4:20; Rom. 8:29.