In order for us to live the life of the new man, we need to have the all-inclusive, extensive Christ as our life and the unique constituent of the one new man, for in the new man there cannot be this or that but Christ – He is all and in all.
The one new man was created by Christ on the cross; according to Eph. 2:15, He tore down the middle wall of partition, and He created in Himself one new man, making both the Jews and the Gentiles one in Himself.
Christ’s all-inclusive and all-terminating death was also a germinating death, a creating death, for the new man was created in His death and it was brought forth in His resurrection.
When He was resurrected, we all were raised with Him, for we were regenerated to be the many believers in Christ, the many sons of God, the many members of the Body of Christ, and the many components of the one new man.
The one new man was brought forth in Christ’s death and resurrection.
This one new man is not an individual man; Christ is the Head of this new man, and we as the many believers in Christ who are organically joined to Him are the many members of the Body of Christ and the components of the one new man.
The difference between the Body of Christ and the one new man is the emphasis, for just as we have a human body – an organism – and there’s a person living in that body, so the Body of Christ is His organism composed of many members, and the one new man is the person in the Body.
The one unique person in the one new man is Christ; He is all and in all – He is everyone and in everyone.
The one new man was brought forth in Christ’s death and resurrection, but it needs to grow, develop, and mature, until we all arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of Christ.
When God gains the church as the one new man, His purpose is fulfilled, for the one new man expresses Him with His image and represents Him with His authority.
For us to become the church as the one new man, we first need to see a vision of the one new man, and then we need to see a vision of our culture, for our culture replaces Christ as being everything in the new man.
In the new man, Christ is everything; to us, however, culture is everything, for we spontaneously and effortlessly live out our culture and not Christ.
So we need to see a vision of the church as the new man, we need to be exposed of our culture, and we need to see a vision of the all-inclusive, extensive Christ, the only One who can be our everything for the one new man.
When we realize how much we live our culture and not Christ, we will turn to Him, contact Him, and seek to have a vision of the all-inclusive, extensive Christ; such a One, in all His all-inclusiveness and extensiveness, is the One who can replace our culture to become our unique constituent for the one new man.
Because we are so filled with our culture, it is impossible for us to live Christ, for we live out what we are inside, what we are constituted with; we need to enjoy and experience the all-inclusive, extensive Christ so that He in us will live the life of the one new man.
The Preeminent, All-Inclusive, Extensive Christ is our Life and the Unique Constituent of the One New Man
Hallelujah, Christ is our life (Col. 3:4)! Praise the Lord, Christ is becoming the unique constituent of the one new man, so that in the new man Christ is all and in all practicality and in reality (Col. 3:10-11)! Amen!
What kind of Christ are we talking about here? Is it Christ as our Savior, our Redeemer, and our Lord and King? Is it the crucified Christ, the incarnated Christ, or the raised Christ?
Colossians presents to us a very particular Christ, a Christ that can replace our culture with Himself.
Because our culture is so hidden and insidious, Christ is to us in a particular way for our vision, enjoyment, and experience, so that we may live a particular kind of Christ for the one new man.
What we see in Colossians is the preeminent, all-inclusive, extensive Christ who is our life and the unique constituent of the one new man. Wow!
If we carefully read Col. 1:9-3:11 we will see seven major aspects of Christ. Christ is the portion of the saints, the allotted portion of the saints in the light, and the saints are qualified to enjoy such a One (1:9-14).
Christ is the first both in creation and in resurrection; He has the preeminence both in old creation and in the new creation (1:15-23). Christ is the mystery of God’s economy (1:15-23).
Christ is the mystery of God; He is the image of the invisible God, and in Him, all the fullness was pleased to dwell (2:1-7).
Christ is the life of His believers, and when He is manifested, they will also be like him, for He is their life within (3:1-4).
Christ is the constituent of the one new man; in the new man there cannot be this and that person, for Christ is all and in all (3:5-11). What a Christ!
He is preeminent, all-inclusive, and extensive, and He is everything to God and to man. Such a Christ is our portion for us to enjoy, experience, partake of, and be constituted with until He becomes the unique constituent of the one new man.
The ultimate issue of our enjoying Christ as our portion is that we experience Him as the content and constituent of the one new man; He is becoming our unique constituent for the new man.
The one new man is especially expressed in our living, and our living is in the church life; the issue and result of our enjoying the preeminent, all-inclusive, extensive Christ is that He is becoming our unique constituent for the one new man, for the church life.
The more we enjoy Christ who is our life and portion, the more He is becoming our content and unique constituent.
Hallelujah, our Christ is the all-inclusive good land, and He is our portion to be enjoyed by us!
May we see the vision of such a Christ; may we give ourselves to the Lord to be open vessels, those who are unveiled to see the preeminent, all-inclusive, extensive Christ, so that we may enter into the enjoyment and experience of Himself.
When we see Him as such a One, we will simply enjoy Him, for this One is our life.
The constituent of the church as the one new man is Christ and Christ alone; the content of the church is nothing other than the all-inclusive, extensive Christ (Col. 1:15-18; 2:9-10).
As we enjoy Christ and experience Him as such a preeminent, all-inclusive, and extensive One, He is replacing our culture with Himself, and He becomes our unique constituent for the one new man; He is the unique constituent of the one new man!
The issue of our enjoying Christ as our portion is that we experience Him as the content and the constituent of the new man; ultimately, the Christ we enjoy becomes the constituent of the new man. Hallelujah!
Lord Jesus, grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of the preeminent, all-inclusive, extensive Christ! May such a Christ become our life and the unique constituent of the one new man! Amen, Lord, we take You as our God-allotted portion; we want to enter into the enjoyment and experience of all that You are in Your preeminence, all-inclusiveness, and extensiveness. We take You as the First in the old creation and the new creation, and we want to enter into the enjoyment of Yourself as the mystery of God’s economy and the mystery of God! Amen, Lord, You are the body of all the shadows – You are the reality of all the positive things in the universe! Hallelujah, such a preeminent, all-inclusive, extensive Christ is our life to be the unique constituent of the new man! May the Christ we enjoy become the constituent of the new man!
The Harmony, Peace, Fellowship, Oneness, and Intimate Contact we have in and as the One New Man
The one new man is mentioned in Col. 3:10-11, but the entire book of Colossians speaks of, on the negative side, how the preeminent, all-inclusive, extensive Christ is our enjoyment to replace every aspect of our culture, and on the positive side, of the new man in reality and practicality.
If Paul would just present to us the concept or the doctrine of the new man, we wouldn’t have a clue how this looks like, how to have it brought forth, and how can we experience it.
But in the concluding part of his epistle, in Col. 4:7-17 Paul gives us a window into the living of the one new man in the region near the Mediterranean, especially among the churches in Colossae and Laodicea.
In this area, the one new man had come into being and was living in a practical way.
The travel in those days was not as convenient as today, but there was considerable traffic among the churches.
In his closing word to the Colossians, Paul mentioned many names both of brothers and sisters, both of homes and the church which is in the house of the saints; this gives us the indication that Paul had a sense, a consciousness, of the one new man.
We may have never written a letter with so many names as Paul did, with detailed greetings and situations.
Even more, Paul sent them a report concerning himself and his situation through Tychicus, who was one of the Colossians; he was so intimately related to them that he knew that they were praying for him and he didn’t want them to worry about him, so he sent them a report.
He knew that he was not just an apostle in a prison far away in Rome and they were in Colossae far away from him; rather, he was a member in the Body of Christ, and he was a member of the one new man, having the consciousness of the new man.
How sweet is the fellowship in the one new man! How wonderful is the traffic and blending among the members of the new man! How real it is to live in the oneness of the new man, having an intimate contact and fellowship with the other members.
They are interested in your situation, you are interested in how they are doing, and together we enjoy and pursue this preeminent, all-inclusive, extensive Christ who is our life and the constituent of the one new man!
In the new man we see so much fellowship, oneness, harmony, and intimate contact, for when we have the consciousness of the one new man, we live in its reality and we are intimately concerned with their well-being and their going on in the Lord.
May we all have such a sense, a consciousness, of the one new man, and may this consciousness develop and increase as we allow Christ to live in us and be expressed through us instead of our culture.
In the one new man, Christ is the unique constituent; however, we are not “wiped out” or made uniform.
The one new man is not about uniformity or conformity; it is about having an intrinsic constitution, which is Christ.
The local churches cannot be made the same outwardly – it’s not about imposing uniformity, which will never work.
Rather, we need to focus on the intrinsic constitution, being those who are constituted with Christ for the new man, and then spontaneously we will not be different from others, and we will care for others as our fellow members in the new man.
Lord Jesus, increase our consciousness, our sense, of the one new man. May Christ become our unique constituent for the one new man, and may there be an inner consciousness of the church as the new man. Amen, Lord, bring us into the fellowship, oneness, harmony, and intimate contact among the members in the new man. Save us from merely being conformed or made uniform to others outwardly; may Christ be our life and the unique constituent of the new man, and may we all have the consciousness of the new man. Amen, Lord Jesus, may we all live the life of the one new man in all the local churches around the earth, doing our best to be constituted with Christ and live Christ daily, and having the sense of the church as the new man!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, msg. 31 (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 3, The Constituent of the One New Man — the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Christ as my Person must possess my heart / And be preeminent in every part. / The former owner died but haunts it still. / O Lord, move in; my mind, emotion, will / Now welcome Thee. (Hymns #1179)
– He’s all-inclusive / And all-extensive! / Let’s know, experience Him! / Let’s trust God’s counsel, / Abide in God’s will, / Make Christ our goal, quest, and theme! / We’ve all been chosen, / A corporate person, / To make Christ preeminent! / God’s ruling o’er us / In our universe / To give Christ preeminence. (Song on, Know and Experience the All-Inclusive, Extensive Christ)
– One new man is the Father’s plan; / He redeemed us from the sons of men. / Every kindred, tribe and tongue, / In Himself He called us to be one. / God’s expression on the earth / Now reveals His glorious worth. / One new man is the Father’s plan; / He redeemed us from the sons of men. (Hymns #1230)
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