The one new man has been created by Christ on the cross to be the entity that fulfills God’s purpose, and today we need to live the church life with the consciousness of the one new man.
We need to realise that our living of the church life in the locality and country where the Lord has placed us is with the one new man in view.
For the one new man, we all need to spend time with the Lord both personally and corporately to be infused with Him, saturated with Him, and permeated with Him, until He replaces us organically so that Christ may be all and in all in the one new man. In the one new man, Christ is all the members and He’s in all the members (Col. 3:10-11).
He is everything and everyone in the one new man. In the one new man there’s no room for slaves, free men, race, culture, or any difference – Christ is all and in all in the one new man.
We need to be aware that our practice of the genuine church life is with the Body of Christ and the one new man in view. We need to practice the church life with the consciousness of the one new man.
It is easy to just meet with the saints, enjoy the Lord, and have a personal time with Him, yet not realise that all the things we do in the church life and in our Christian life is for the bringing forth of the one new man.
The one new man is what the Lord is after, for this corporate man will fulfill His purpose to express Him and represent Him, and he will bring the Lord back. We need to be reminded to come to the Lord and have the awareness of the one new man when we practice the church life.
We need to care not only for our own things, for the things of our family, and for the things related to the church life in the locality where we meet, but care for the things of Christ Jesus, that is, care for the church as the one new man – care for all the churches on earth.
May the Lord give us such an awareness, such a consciousness of the one new man, so that, no matter where we are and what we do, we have the one new man in view.
Paul not only saw the vision of how the one new man was created and what is the one new man, but he also practiced the church life and encouraged others to practice the church life with the consciousness of the one new man.
A Practical Illustration of Practicing the Church Life with the Consciousness of the One New Man
In Col. 4:7-17 we have a practical illustration of the revelation of the one new man and the consciousness of the one new man. This portion is Paul’s concluding word to his epistle to the Colossians, and here he names many different kinds of people, which are representative of different sectors of the human race.
Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful slave in the Lord, was to make known to the saints all the things concerning Paul. Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of the saints in Colossae, will also go to them and report concerning Paul and the things concerning him.
Aristarchus, the fellow prisoner, greets the saints, and so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom the saints received instructions to receive when he comes to them.
Epaphras, a slave of Christ Jesus, greets the saints, always struggling in their behalf in his prayers, and he labors much for the saints in Colossae and in Laodicea. Luke the doctor also greets the saints, as well as Demas.
All these ones were of different social class, status in society, education, race, and background, but they were together, and Paul mentions them by name.
Onesimus was a runaway slave (whom Paul later sent back to Philemon), Luke was a doctor, Mark was one who left Paul on one of his previous gospel journeys but now has been recovered, some of the ones around Paul were of the circumcision while others were Gentiles, but they together were in fellowship and oneness.
All these names indicate that, as he was writing this epistle, Paul had a sense, a consciousness, of the one new man.
The new man is not only in the spiritual realm as the one corporate man created by Christ on the cross and composed of all the believers in Christ who take Christ as their life and person; the new man can and should be practiced on earth among us in the church life.
The new man lives on earth in a practical way and is constituted of many believers who according to culture may be American, British, Philippino, Jews, Greek, Romanian, Polish, etc – but they take Christ as their life and person, they are replaced with Christ by being saturated with Him, and they live Christ.
Christ is the unique constituent of the new man, so there should be no differences among the believers who are part of this new man. Both the saints in Colossae and Paul and those who were with him were members of the one new man in actuality, and they had the consciousness of the one new man.
In those days they had very few means of transportation and communication, but today we have Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, Line, Facebook, Messenger, email, text, and many other ways to communicate.
How much more should we use the present means of communication and the advancements in technology to fellowship, blend, and be in the reality of the one new man in the church life.
Lord Jesus, may we be those who practice the church life with the consciousness of the one new man. May we realize that in the church as the one new man Christ is all and in all, and no matter the race, color, background, social status, or ethnicity, Christ is our life and person! Amen, Lord, we take You as our life and we take You as our person, and we want to practice the genuine church life in the local churches having the one new man in view, so that You may gain what You are after: the corporate new man who fulfills Your purpose!
In Spite of All the Differences between us, all the Churches are the One New Man
Toward the end of his greeting to the saints in Colossae, Paul encourages the saints to send this letter to the saints in Laodicea to read it, and that they would also read the letter to Laodicea (Col. 4:16).
We don’t know what Paul wrote to the church in Laodicea, but we do know that in Paul’s eyes there was no difference between the church in Laodicea and the church in Colossae; his word implies fellowship, oneness, harmony, and intimate contact.
In spite of all the differences among nationalities, races, and classes, there was on earth in a practical way the one new man created in Christ Jesus; there were not merely local churches in various cities, but there was the one new man in a real and practical way (Eph. 2:15; Col. 4:7-17).
Our heart aches for the present situation in human society today as we see the inhumanity, the enmity, the way people treat one another, and their attitude toward one another; we need to appeal to the throne in heavens for at least the violent part of this to be subdued.
In the midst of this situation in society, may the Lord have a splendid opportunity to manifest a counter testimony to the chaos and enmity today with us, the ones who practice the church life with the consciousness of the one new man.
May there be in all the countries on earth the one new man expressed in a practical way. We should care not only for the saints in our locality or in our country, but for the saints all around the world, interceding for them, seeking to fellowship with them, and practicing the church life with the consciousness of the one new man.
We shouldn’t be sectarian individually (by dividing ourselves from the saints) or corporately as local churches (by not fellowshipping with the other churches around the world).
Rather, we all – all the saints in all the local churches – should practice the church life with the one new man in view. If we all are conscious of the one new man, we will realize that all the local churches in the different countries are one new man (Eph. 2:21-22).
The one new man is brought forth by Christ saturating us. We need to let Christ saturate our inner being until we are no longer found in our culture, religion, background, or ethnicity, but others will see Christ in us, and we will live the church life with the one new man in view.
It may not be easy for this to happen, but when we’re in our own culture and country and live the church life there in our locality, the others should be conscious not of a “typical American” / “typical Chinese” / “typical Romanian” (that is, what you may be by birth) but that you are part of the one new man.
The Lord has to saturate us to such an extent that we lose the things that make us different, and we are blended with the saints no matter where they’re from and who they are, and all the saints and all the local churches are just the one new man in reality on earth.
Lord Jesus, saturate us to such an extent that, in spite of the differences between us, all the churches and all the saints are just the one new man in reality! Grant us to have the consciousness of the one new man as we practice the genuine church life in the locality where You have placed us. May we appreciate and be in the fellowship among the churches. May we learn to blend and care for the needs of other saints and other churches, not being preoccupied of our own needs. Lord, may we focus on You, let You work Yourself into us and replace us, and live the church life with the consciousness of the one new man!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 28, 31-32 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Genuine Church Life (2017 Thanksgiving Conference), week 6, Practicing the Church Life in the Consciousness of the One New Man.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Now in all the churches flowing, / Brotherly love. / Light and life and love bestowing, / Brotherly love. / In the oneness all believing, / Fellowship with all receiving, / Nevermore the Spirit grieving, / Brotherly love. (Hymns #1277)
# Oh, how we need the churches, / All of them, great or small! / We need their many portions / To profit us withal. / Yes, Lord, enlarge the churches; / We love their needs to bear. / Enlarge our hearts, Lord Jesus, / In fellowship and prayer. / The churches, the churches, / Upon the earth today; / Lord, stir our hearts for Thy desire, / And build us, oh, build us, / Lord, we pray. (Hymns #1265)
# We see what God is recovering / What a sight it is to see! / What a treasure He is building, / It’s His Body corporately: / Hallelujah for the blending! / It’s the way to live today. / So we’re standing and proclaiming, / “In the church is where we’ll stay.” (Song on, Oh, how we enjoy the blending)
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Amen! O Lord saturate us!
Yes Lord do it, do grant us such a consciousness through Your saturating to practice the genuine church life. Thank You for speaking to us such a word, increase our vision and our practice so You can have the one new man.
主に感謝します! アーメン
[Thank you Lord! Amen.]
In 4:7 Paul says, “All the things concerning me, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow slave in the Lord, will make known to you.” Paul had charged Tychicus to make known to the Colossians all that concerned him. If Paul did not have the consciousness of the new man, he would not have regarded it necessary to give Tychicus such a charge. Rather, he may have thought to himself, “Why should I tell those in Colossae the things that concern me? They are in Asia Minor, and I am here in Rome, far away from them.” Paul, however, had the sense of the new man.
Those in Colossae also had the consciousness of the new man. If they were not conscious of the new man expressed at that time in the Mediterranean area, they would have considered Paul’s affairs his own personal business and would not have been interested in hearing of them. But both the saints in Colossae, and Paul and those with him, were members of the one new man in actuality.
If we are conscious of the one new man, we should no longer think that the churches in our country have nothing to do with the churches in other nations. Instead, we shall realize that all the churches are the one new man today. May we look to the Lord that we may not be sectarian in any way. We would not be sectarian either individually as believers or corporately as local churches. On the contrary, all of us, all the saints in all the churches, are just one new man. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 259-260, 262, by Witness Lee)