“He stood, and measured the earth: He beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: His ways are everlasting.” Habakkuk 3:6
When we consider the ways of God as opposed to those of man, immediately we are confronted with the issue of magnitude. And yet, when we delve into the minuteness of creation and the amazing way it is presented to man, with regard to how it functions, mankind is at a loss to truly be able to explain it. As the “everlasting ways” of God are amazing and overwhelming in their magnitude, so is the smallest, most minute detail a testimony to His greatness, holiness, wisdom and power. It is in this perspective that we look at what Scripture calls, “the new man.” Our concept of this new man in Christ must have its foundation and essence in the declared ways and means of God, and what He declares as the absolute truth, as opposed to the theories and philosophies of men. So, where to we begin in the consideration of this subject, and where does God desire and will to bring us according to the truth that is revealed to us in Scripture?
The first thing we want to see, and grasp, is that from heaven’s standpoint, there are but two “men,” one IN Adam, and one IN Christ. When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, seeking to learn if indeed Jesus was the Messiah, the Lord confronted him with the humanly impossibiltiy of being born again, of becoming a new man. Nicodemus, limited by his capacity to understand fully what Jesus was saying, was also unbelieving concerning it, as it appeared to him to be impossible. It is then that the Lord speaks to the true issue, that of God’s presence, power, and purpose. Nicodemus should have known that God alone speaks life into the dead, for Scritpure declares it. Had he truly believed at that moment, he would have been born of the Spirit, and become a new man, by virtue of the life-giving Spirit of Christ in the heart. This would be realized fully at Pentecost.
The second thing we need to consider about this “new man” is that he is a literal creation of God. He is a new creature. All that pertained to the “old man,” that old life in Adam has been crucified in Christ, and in the sight of God, has been buried. The new man, born of the Spirit, has been raised from the dead with Christ, and is now seated in Christ at the right hand of God. This has become his position. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatian believers that he was crucified with Christ, had been and still was. He, that old man in Adam, had died, as he was put to death in the eyes of God on the cross in Christ. God can never accept, and will never except, sin. Therefore, the Father through the Son, by the Spirit, did take all sin upon Himself on the cross. He also took the sinner, with all of his sin, faults, and unrighteousness. That old man was crucified with Christ, and buried. Paul continues by writing, “…and the life that I NOW live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20) The old man was Saul of Tarsus, unacceptable by God. The new man was Paul the Apostle, chosen, set apart, anointed, a new man in Christ, with a new purpose and power to live.
The third thing to see here is that it is the will of God for every believer, Christian, all who have been born of the Spirit, to “put on” the new man, to choose every day NOT to live according to the past where the world and its desires and lusts dominated the life, Satan holding captive the soul. The new man is free, empowered by the Spirit, and called to abound in loving service to Christ, for His glory.
Dear Father, Reveal Christ’s newness in us today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.