The new man was created in our spirit and it is being renewed in our mind unto full knowledge according to the image of Christ; we need to be renewed in the spirit of our mind for the one new man today. Amen!
For the new man we need to put away and repudiate the old man with his old way of living; we need to put off the old man with his former manner of life and be renewed in the spirit of our mind to live in a new way, live the church life.
In Eph. 4:31-32 Paul tells us that would let all bitterness be removed from us. In the church life, we need to beware of any kind of bitterness developing in us. In the family life similarly, we need to not allow bitterness to develop in us, especially in the husbands against the wives.
How to deal with bitterness? In Exo. 15:22-27, we see that the children of Israel came to some waters, but they were bitter; so Moses cried out to Jehovah, and Jehovah showed him a tree, he cast it into the waters, and they became sweet.
We need to cry out to the Lord whenever we sense bitterness in our being.
There may be bitterness in our environment or even in our very being; at that time we shouldn’t complain or criticize but rather, cry out to the Lord, and He will show us the cross.
The tree in Exodus is a type of the cross, for it was on the tree that Christ was crucified.
Whenever we apply the cross of Christ to our situation, on one hand, we experience the crucified Christ to terminate any bitterness and on the other hand, we experience His resurrection life for our enjoyment.
This tree that the Lord shows us when we cry out to Him is the cross, but it is also the tree of life; the cross terminates, and the tree of life supplies.
The tree of life is actually the crucified and resurrected Christ for us to eat for our enjoyment; this will take care of our bitterness.
When we eat Christ as the tree of life, the waters in our being become sweet, for the sweetness of the Lord fills our being. Amen!
May we eat the tree of life so that we may be inwardly reconstituted with Christ!
Furthermore, in the church life, we need to forgive one another even as God in Christ forgave us. None of us can say that we were never offended in the church life; if you have never been offended while being in the church life it means you must be a “marble Mary”.
A marble Mary, a “holy” person who is like a marble with no feelings… – such a person doesn’t exist.
As we live the church life as the living of the one new man, we may be offended, but we also have the forgiving Lord living in us; when we take Him as our life and person, He in us will spontaneously forgive others also. Hallelujah!
The New Man Created in our Spirit needs to be Renewed in our Mind unto Full Knowledge according to the Image of Christ
The central point of Paul’s word to the Colossians concerns the renewing of the mind unto the full knowledge of Christ, who is the image of God.
The one new man was created in our spirit in the death and resurrection of Christ, and peace was made in His body on the cross (Eph. 2:15).
However, this new man created in our spirit is now being renewed in our mind unto full knowledge according to the image of Christ (Col. 3:10-11).
The new man is in our spirit, and he is new; however, because we are still in the old creation, we still need to be renewed, that is, the new man needs to be renewed by the renewing of our mind.
We need to put on the new man, who is being renewed unto full knowledge; this implies our mind.
Because we in the old creation were involved with the creation of the new man, he needs to be renewed; in our spirit, the new man is renewed, but in our mind, he is not renewed.
At the time the new creation took place in our spirit in resurrection, the Holy Spirit with the divine life was added into our being; this produced a new being, the new man.
However, we are not only a spirit but also a soul, and the leading part of our soul is the mind; therefore, our mind needs to be renewed.
The creation of the new man according to God has already been completed, but in our experience, the new man is still being renewed unto full knowledge little by little.
As we learn to put on the new man, we are being renewed according to what God is; the more we put on the new man, the more ew bear His image to have His expression.
To be renewed simply means that we have God’s element (God is the only new One) added into our being to replace and discharge our old element (Rev. 21:5a; 2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 4:16).
We may pass through turmoils and suffering and we may think that our whole Christian life is a life of suffering, but actually, our Christian life is a life of being renewed.
The Christian life is not a life of suffering but a life of allowing God’s element to be added into us day by day. Every day we need to open our whole being to Him so that He can be aded into us, even as we pass through sufferings.
We shouldn’t pray for more sufferings – the Lord will take care of that; we should pray that, by the Lord’s mercy, we would turn our heart to Him and exercise our spirit, open to Him, and be filled with Him, so that more of Him may be added into our being.
It is a tragic thing, however, to pass through sufferings and turmoils and not be renewed but remain the same.
We need to recover the day by day church life, the life of being renewed day by day. Daily we need to contact God, open ourselves to Him, and let Him come into us to be a new addition into us day by day.
The new creation has the element of God, while the old creation does not; we need to be renewed in our mind unto the full knowledge of Christ.
We may have the wrong kind of knowledge; we may be like the Colossians who had knowledge of philosophies and the elements of the world, the traditions of men, and all kinds of elements of our culture; but we may not have the knowledge of Christ. Oh, Lord!
Our mind needs to be renewed to such an extent that we have a clear view of Christ as the image of God, and we enjoy Him as the all-inclusive and extensive One!
The new man needs to be renewed in our mind unto full knowledge according to the image of Christ. Amen!
Lord Jesus, we open to You; add more of Your element into us to renew us and make us the new man! Hallelujah, the new man was created in our spirit and is being renewed into our mind unto full knowledge according to the image of Christ! Amen, Lord, may we experience the renewing of the mind unto the full knowledge of Christ, the image of the invisible God! Add more of Your new element to us day by day, and discharge our old element. Save us from remaining the same, dear Lord. May our heart be turned to You and our spirit be exercised for us to receive more of You in our being for the renewing of the new man in our mind!
When our Mind is Renewed, our Emotion Follows to Love the Lord and our Will Chooses Him
Our mind is the leading part of our soul, and no matter how emotional we are or how strong in our will we may be, our mind always takes the lead.
Therefore, we need to be renewed in our mind, even be renewed in the spirit of our mind, so that our whole being would be renewed for the one new man.
Our natural and national mentality was educated and built up according to our racial and cultural background; this is the greatest hindrance to the practical existence of the one new man. Oh, Lord!
For the new man to come into full existence today, we all must experience a thorough renewal of our mind, which has been built up according to our nationality and culture.
Our natural, unrenewed mind cannot be part of the new man, for it is not Christ; we need to set our mind on our spirit and allow the mingled spirit to spread into our mind little by little, day by day.
All the world has to give us and train us with is secular knowledge, all of which causes our mind to be old, unrenewed, and darkened in its understanding.
Newness is God; for us to become new is for us to become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead.
God is forever new, and He infuses His ever-new essence into our being to renew our entire being (Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:10).
We need to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, so that we may know what is the will of God, that which is good and well-pleasing and perfect.
The more we turn our heart to the Lord and set our mind on our spirit, the more we read and pray over the word of God, and the more we remain in the fellowship of life in the Body, the more the Spirit of God renews us by infusing our inward parts with God’s attributes, which are forever new and are never old but are everlasting and unchanging (Rev. 21:5). Hallelujah!
May we be open to the Lord and turn to Him so that the renewing Spirit would impart the divine essence of the new man into our being to make us a new creation, the new man (Titus 3:5; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15).
When our mind is renewed, our emotions will follow to love the Lord and our will shall also follow to choose the Lord.
May we not be carried away from the enjoyment of Christ by not being renewed in our mind unto the full knowledge of Christ.
When our mind concerning something is renewed, our emotion with its love will also be renewed, for the emotion follows the mind.
Amen, the more our mind is renewed unto the proper knowledge of the Lord and we enjoy Him in His all-inclusiveness and extensiveness, the more our love for Him is fresh, and we choose to spend time with Him!
As we speak of our wonderful Lord Jesus with His all-inclusiveness, the more there’s a fire burning within us, for we are full of appreciation for the Lord Jesus.
The result is that our will chooses Him, and we are willing to pay any price to follow Him and take Him as our life and person for the one new man.
Our desire is only to gain Christ, live Christ, grow in Christ, and be one with Christ.
The renewing that takes place in our mind unto full knowledge according to the image of God creates in us an appreciation for the Lord; we will love Him and choose Him, and we will aspire to be one with Him, taking Him as our life, our person, and our everything.
Lord Jesus, we open to You and allow You to renew our mind unto full knowledge according to the image of God. Amen, Lord, fill us with an appreciation for the all-inclusive, extensive Christ, the One who is the image of God and who is everything to us. Infuse Your ever-new essence into our being to renew our entire being for the one new man. We love You, Lord Jesus. We want to follow You at any cost. We want to be one with You. We are for You. We desire to live You. We are here for You. Amen, Lord, keep us open to the renewing Spirit so that we may be made the new creation, the new man!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 28, 52, 61-63 (Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The All-Inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man (2020 Thanksgiving Conference), week 4, Being Renewed Day by Day with the Fresh Supply of the Resurrection Life to Replace Our Culture and to Become the One New Man in Reality by Becoming as New as the New Jerusalem.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Christ to me is so subjective, / All my being He transforms; / By the mind and will renewing / To His image He conforms. (Hymns #537)
– As the center, as the kernel, / Of God’s plan our spirit is; / Calling on the name of Jesus / Makes our spirit one with His. / From the center to circumference / God would saturate each part; / Feeling, mind, and will renewing, / Making home in all our heart. (Hymns #1325)
– Amen!—The growth in life! / There’s nothing that Your life can’t do; / Our every part renew. / We’ll make it, we’ll make it just by You. / Lord Jesus, grow in us. (Hymns #1132)
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