The church as the new man fulfills God’s eternal purpose to express God and represent Him; dealing with Satan is for the benefit of God and satisfies God’s need.
The first man, Adam, who was created in the image of God and according to His likeness, has failed God – he failed to express God in His image and represent Him with His dominion. But Christ came as the second man, the last Adam, and on the cross He crucified the old man and created one new man in Himself.
This one new man is Christ Himself as the Head and the many believers in Christ as the many members of the Body of Christ, and this one new man is a new creation, having the element and nature of God.
The new man with Christ as its Head, life, and person, fulfills God’s purpose in creating man. The church as the new man is the corporate man in God’s intention, and this new man will fulfill the twofold purpose of expressing God and representing Him (see Gen. 1:26, 28).
Satan fears this man, for this corporate man will deal with Satan and will destroy him. The Lord rejoices when the one new man is being brought forth and perfected, for this new man fulfills God’s eternal purpose.
God’s purpose in creating man in His image and according to His likeness is that, positively, we would express Him with His image, and negatively, we would be those dealing with Satan, His enemy, so that we may recover the earth for God and bring in the kingdom of God.
Since God’s enemy, Satan, is a creature, God will not lower Himself to deal with him, but He created man in His image to deal with Satan. This was God’s intention in creating the first man, and this is His intention in the creation of the new man.
The new man is the real man, the fulfillment of the type of the old man, and the new man has God’s life and nature to express God in His image and represent Him with His dominion.
In particular, God wants man to represent Him by exercising His dominion over all things. God wants man to subdue His enemy, recover the earth, and exercise God’s authority over the earth in order that the kingdom of God may come to the earth, the will of God may be done on earth, and the glory of God may be manifested on earth.
God’s intention was not fulfilled in Adam as the first man but in Christ the second man, the new man, comprising Christ Himself as the Head and the church as His body.
This intention of God will be fully fulfilled in the believers who overcome and will have authority over the nations and reign as co-kings with Christ in the millennium.
Finally and ultimately, God’s eternal purpose in creating man will be fulfilled in the New Jerusalem for eternity, where God will be expressed with His image in glory, and His divine authority will be exercised to maintain God’s dominion over the entire universe for eternity.
The Church as the New Man is Dealing with Satan and Restoring the Earth from the Usurpation of Satan
God expressed His need when He created man – He needed man to not only express Him with His image but also deal with His enemy, representing Him with His dominion.
God wants man to rule and reign over all His creation and proclaim His triumph. God’s work is for man to deal with Satan and restore the earth from Satan’s usurpation.
Saving souls solves man’s need but dealing with Satan satisfies God’s need. If man has not restored the earth from the usurpation of Satan, he has not achieved God’s purpose in creating him (Gen. 1:28).
However, dealing with Satan requires that we pay a price, a price that is higher and deeper than any other price. When we preach the gospel, announce forgiveness of sins, care for the saints, teach the truth, and care for the churches, we may still hold back something of ourselves.
In doing the necessary works in the church life such as perfecting the saints, caring for the brothers and sisters, teaching the truth, and preaching the gospel, we may still hold something of the self. But in doing the work of God, that is, in dealing with Satan, the highest price needs to be paid.
The work of God is that God’s people on earth expressing Him and being one with Him exercise God’s authority to cause Satan to suffer loss on this earth. The Creator will not lower Himself to deal directly with a rebellious creature, but He wants man – the one new man in His new creation – to be the one dealing with Satan.
In dealing with Satan nothing is reserved for the self. In doing the work of dealing with the enemy and causing him to suffer loss requires that nothing is reserved for the self.
Our attitude should be as in Rev. 12:11, They did not love their soul-life even unto death. This is not a condition but an attitude and a decision we make through the Lord’s grace in response to this truth.
The price is exceedingly great, for we give the Lord the ground to work in us, on us, and direct our path, and He will hold nothing back – He will touch every aspect of our being, so that we may be the right persons to be part of the one new man dealing with Satan and bringing in the kingdom of God.
The Lord doesn’t want super-spiritual or “special Christians” – He’s not after the “navy seal Christians” or the “commando believers”; He wants to gain an army, those who offer themselves voluntarily to the Lord in the day of His warfare.
He wants to gain the church as the new man, a warrior, to deal with Satan and recover the earth back to God from Satan’s usurpation.
There’s only one kind of person that Satan fears: a self-less person, a person that doesn’t spare his soul life and his self but pays the price to participate in the one new man as the warrior to deal with God’s enemy.
In order to recover the earth from the hand of Satan, we must be wholly and absolutely for God and His purpose (Rom. 12:2; 8:28).
We do not minimise the importance and necessity of preaching the gospel as our great commission, teaching the truth and perfecting the saints, and caring for the churches and shepherding the saints.
But even when every soul on earth is saved, God’s work is not yet done. The Lord doesn’t return for many Christians – though the number has to be as high as possible, but for a bride, the new man, a corporate entity that expresses Him corporately and has paid the price of dealing with the enemy, being experienced in war.
Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You for the fulfillment of Your eternal purpose in creating man. We are one with You, Lord, in Your intention to deal with Your enemy and restore the earth from his usurpation. Lord, may we see Your eternal intention and may we make the decision to allow You to deal with every part of our being so that we may be part of the church as the new man dealing with Satan and restoring the earth to bring in the kingdom of God! Lord, we are here wholly and absolutely for You and for Your purpose, for You to obtain what You are after!
The Church as the New Man is the Corporate Warrior to Defeat God’s enemy and bring in God’s Kingdom
In Eph. 6:10-20 we see the church – the one new man – as a corporate warrior in dealing with Satan, the enemy of God.
The warrior is not a status of the church but an aspect of the church as the one new man. The church as the one new man has the obligation and responsibility to express God, deal with God’s enemy, restore the earth to God, and bring in God’s kingdom.
The new man in the new creation has the twofold obligation of bearing God’s image to express Him and of fighting against God’s enemy. The church as the new man is a warrior fighting against God’s enemy, for the one new man is now fulfilling God’s purpose to express God and to deal with God’s enemy for His dominion to be exercised.
However, our fight is not with flesh and blood; Eph. 6:12 makes this clear – our wrestling is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies, and not against flesh and blood.
There may be human beings who hinder the fulfilment of God’s purpose, but behind these are evil forces of the devil who fight against God’s purpose.
We need to see that there are some principalities, authorities, and world-rulers of this darkness, which are the rebellious angels who followed Satan in his rebellion against God; these now rule in the heavenlies over the nations of the world.
The whole world is now in darkness, under the dark ruling of the devil through his evil angels. But the church as the new man is a corporate warrior standing in the victory of Christ and dealing with Satan to fulfill God’s purpose and bring in the kingdom of God.
The spiritual warfare between the church and Satan is a battle between us who love the Lord and who are in His church and the evil powers in the heavenlies.
We must fight against these spiritual forces by standing in the Body, putting on the whole armor of God – which is in the Body, and proclaiming the victory of Christ in dealing with Satan.
The church as the new man is a warrior fighting against God’s enemy, for the new man fulfills God’s purpose to express God and to fight against God’s enemy for God’s dominion, God’s kingdom (Gen. 1:26, 28; Rev. 11:15).
May we see this, and may we cooperate with the Lord by not sparing our soul life but allowing the Lord to deal with us and make us part of the new man as the corporate warrior dealing with His enemy.
Lord Jesus, gain the church as the corporate new man to be the corporate warrior defeating God’s enemy and bringing in the kingdom of God. Gain us, Lord, as those who cooperate with You for Your purpose to be fulfilled. Grow in us, bring us to maturity, and perfect us to the extent that we are fully qualified to be part of the new man as a corporate warrior dealing with Satan, the enemy of God. Amen, Lord, may You have a way to recover the earth and bring in Your kingdom through the church as the one new man!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message given by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, The Glorious Church, ch. 1 (by Watchman Nee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Spiritual Warfare of the Church as the New Man (2018 Memorial Day Conference), week 1, The Church as the New Man Engaging in Spiritual Warfare to Defeat God’s Enemy and to Bring In the Kingdom of God.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Nevermore we fear the devil, / Christ destroyed him on the cross, / Stripping off the authorities; / Now we live His victory. / God of peace now crushes Satan / Under overcoming feet; / Our rejoicing overthrows him, / Shaming every enemy. (Song on, Living Christ, Our Victory)
# In the Body, by the Headship, / Sitting in the heavenlies, / Struggle with the wicked spirits / And the principalities. (Hymns #885)
# Fight, saints, for Jesus our Lord! / Take in His life, stand in one accord! / Never fear God’s enemy; / Tread on his head triumphantly! / Pray that the daily church life be strong, / That all the saints in spirit press on, / Fighting as the one new man, / Fulfilling our Lord’s great plan! (Hymns #1283)
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