The One New Man was Created in Christ to Bear His Image, and the New Man is Christ!

The new man was created in Christ on the cross; Christ is the element of the new man, Christ is all and in all in the new man, and the new man is Christ.

The first main aspect or status of the church is that it is the Body of Christ, and the second one is that the church is the one new man. The Bible states that the church is the one new man, but do we understand this merely mentally, or is this a vision in us?

The enemy hates the one new man, for it is this new man that will defeat him; the new man – created according to God on the cross by Christ – fulfills God’s purpose to express Him and defeat the enemy.

The first man, Adam, has failed God – he failed to express God in His image and represent God with His dominion. Therefore, Christ as the second man came, fulfilled God’s purpose in creating man through His living on earth, and on the cross created in Himself the new man.

On the cross Christ abolished all the ordinances and created the Jews and the Gentiles in Himself into one new man, and this man is the church, who will fulfill God’s purpose.

The one new man was created by Christ with two kinds of materials, one being the redeemed created man, and the other the divine element. These two materials were put together in Christ to produce a new man.

No matter who and where we were born physically, as soon as we are regenerated we are part of the one new man, God’s new creation, to fulfill God’s eternal purpose.

Hallelujah, we were all crucified with Christ on the cross – our natural man was crucified by Christ, and then Christ imparted the divine element into us, causing us to become a new entity, the one new man! Wow!

As the one new man we need to have a certain kind of living and expression. Merely by being together in peace with saints from different cultures and countries doesn’t make us the new man.

First we need to see the vision of the creation of the one new man, then we need to see what is the constitution of the new man – the new man is Christ! – and then we need to see the application and consummation of the church as the one new man.

May we be in reality the one new man that the Lord desires to gain today, so that He may have a way to fulfill His purpose through His church!

May we realise through much prayer over God’s word with the shining of His light, that on the cross our natural man has been crucified by Christ, and then through the crossing out of our old man, Christ imparted the divine element into us, causing us to become a new entity, the new man!

The One New Man was Created in Christ to bear His Image – the New Man is Christ!

The new man was created in Christ to bear His image, and the new man is just Christ, for Christ is all and in all in the new man.

Apart from us being in Christ, we could not have been created into one new man, because in ourselves we don’t have the divine essence, which is the element of the new man (see Eph. 2:15).

The old man – the first man, Adam, and we all after him and included in him – was created according to the image of God outwardly; the new man was created inwardly according to God Himself with His life and nature.

The Lord had the element of redeemed humanity; He terminated the fallen part of humanity, redeemed the God-created part, and in Himself He created the one new man.

Christ created the one new man in Himself – He is the essence of the new man, the divine life and nature. When we see this as a vision, we will see the new man according to God’s view; the one new man is according to God to bear His image, and the new man was created in Christ with His element.

May this new man be manifested all over the earth so that, no matter the cultures and languages, the new man will be brought forth.

We need to be profoundly impressed with the fact that we, the believers, have been created into one new man in Christ. In the new man there’s no more cultural or national distinctions between the believers; here we don’t have any Jew or Gentile, slave or freeman, cultured or uncultured (see Col. 3:10-11).

In the new man there’s no British, Japanese, Chinese, German, American, French, or Mexican. In the new man Christ is all – He is the essence with which the new man was created – and He is in all. The new man is Christ.

Because the new man was created in Christ and with Christ according to God, the new man bears God’s image.

Gen. 1:26 says that man (Adam) was created in God’s image of God outwardly; Eph. 4:24 tells us that the new man was created according to God in holiness and righteousness of the reality to bear the image of God.

When we are being renewed in the governing spirit of our mind, we put on this new man that has been created in Christ Jesus, and we express God. We need to first see a vision of the fact that the one new man was created in Christ with His element and essence to bear His image, and so the new man is Christ.

Then, we need to enter into the experience and application of this fact. The church as the Body of Christ is the new man; Christ Himself is the essence of the new man, and in the new man Christ is all and in all. Hallelujah, the new man is just Christ (Col. 3:11).

Hallelujah, in Christ as the element and essence we have been created to be the one new man, and this new man is Christ! Lord, may we see this vision. May we realize that the one new man exists in the universe, and this new man is Christ! Praise the Lord, Christ terminated the fallen part of humanity, redeemed the God-created part, and created the one new man in Himself as the essence and element! Lord, work Yourself into us more and keep us in You so that we may be in reality the one new man, which is Christ – the corporate Christ!

In the Church as the One New Man Christ is All and in All – and We have No Place!

The church is the one new man, and in this new man Christ is all and in all; therefore, in the church as the one new man, we have no place (Col. 3:10-11).

In the book of Colossians Paul’s purpose was to show that in the church nothing should be allowed to be a substitute for Christ; rather, Christ should be everything in the church.

The church life should be constituted uniquely of Christ; this Christ is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation, the Firstborn from among the dead, and the body of all the shadows, the reality of all the positive things in the universe.

In the church as the new man there’s no possibility to have Greek or Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian or Scythian, slave or freeman; rather, in the new man Christ is all and in all. This means that Christ is in every one of us – He is in us all His believers as our life and person, and Christ is us.

Christ has to be wrought into us until we become Christ; then, we are part of the church as the one new man.

Christ must be everyone and in everyone; Christ must become us, we must become Christ, and Christ must be in us; this means that we have to go, our culture has to go, and everything that makes us distinct outwardly has to go.

In God’s eyes what counts is just Christ; Moses came and gave the law as a child-minder until Christ came, Elijah was a type of Christ, but Christ is the only One we should hear, listen to, and pay attention to (see Matt. 17:5).

In the church as the one new man we receive all the believers just as God has received us; however, there’s no room for anyone here – for the church as the new man is just Christ. The new man is Christ, and in the church as the new man there is only Christ – Christ is in everyone and Christ is everyone.

This has to actually become our experience, and as we see others in the church life experiencing this, we need to follow in their steps.

We need to be brought into the reality of being the one new man, and we need to be saved from being in culture or nationality; every aspect of our being needs to be touched, and our culture, opinions, philosophy, and self must be denied and put aside.

If Christ is to be everything in the church as the new man, then we are nothing! And, contrary to what we may think, it is so good to be nothing, for this replaces the way for Christ to be everything! God’s intention in His economy is that Christ would be everything.

Therefore, it is crucial for us as believers in Christ to see that God wants nothing but Christ, and in God’s eyes nothing counts except Christ (see Matt. 17:5; Col. 1:18; 2:2, 17; 3:4, 10-11).

In the church life Christ must be all and in all. In our experience Christ must be all and in all. The new man is Christ; we have no place in the new man. May we see this, and may we be this!

Lord Jesus, cause us to realize that in the church as the new man Christ is all and in all, and we have no place here! Have mercy on us, Lord, and save us from anything that hinders us from being the church as the one new man, where Christ is everyone and in everyone. May we realize that God’s intention in His economy is that Christ must be everything, and God wants nothing but Christ! Lord Jesus, work Yourself into us, replace us, deal with what needs to be dealt with in us, and cause us to be the new man You desire, where Christ is everyone and in everyone!

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 Ephesians, msg. 24 (by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Recovery of the Church (2017 fall ITERO), week 8, The Status of the Church – the New Man.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Christ is God’s centrality / And His universality; / He is God’s delight and joy / Throughout all eternity…. / God intends in everything / Christ should have preeminence, / and that such a Christ of all / We should now experience. (Hymns #495)
  # The Lord doesn’t need more individuals, / He’s got too many now, it’s plain to see; / All He wants is One New Man forever, / And that doesn’t leave any room for you and me. (Song on the Lord putting us in the Body)
  # And now the corporate life we live— / Christ in His Body known; / Where every portion adds more Christ, / Until the whole is shown. / O Hallelujah, one new man! / Our portions blend as one; / In one accord, express the Lord, / And He will quickly come. (Hymns #1182)