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In this message, we will continue to consider Christ as the life of the saints.
In Colossians 3:5 Paul says, “Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and greediness, which is idolatry.” In our sinful members is the law of sin, making us captives of sin and causing our corrupted body to become the body of death (Rom. 7:23-24). Hence, our members, which are sinful, are identified with sinful things, such as fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and greediness. In Colossians 3:6 Paul points out that because of these things “the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.” In verse 7 he goes on to say that the believers once walked in these things when they lived in them.
In verse 5 Paul charges us to put to death our members which are on the earth. This charge is based upon the fact that we have been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20a) and baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3). We execute Christ’s death upon our sinful members by crucifying them, by faith, through the power of the Spirit (8:13). This corresponds to Galatians 5:24. Christ has accomplished the all-inclusive crucifixion. Now we apply it to our lustful flesh. This is absolutely different from asceticism.
Christ’s all-inclusive death on the cross is applied to us at the time of baptism. All those who believe in the Lord Jesus should be baptized. In baptism we not only recognize Christ’s death but also apply it to ourselves. Therefore, in baptism we are placed into the death of Christ and are buried.
According to Romans 8:11 and 13, putting to death the practices the body is an action carried out in the power of the Spirit. It is not accomplished by self-effort. Our attempts to put to death the practices of the body are nothing more than asceticism. We put to death the negative things in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. In order to do this, we need to open to the Spirit and allow the Spirit to flow within us. Through the Spirit’s flowing, we will experience the effectiveness of Christ’s death. This is not asceticism; it is the operation of the Spirit within us.
In Colossians 3:8 Paul speaks of putting away evil psychological things: “You also, put away all these things: wrath, anger, malice, blasphemy, foul abusive language out of your mouth.” If we compare this verse with the foregoing verses, we will see that Paul classified the things of the flesh in one category and the things of the fallen soul in another category. All negative things, whether of the flesh or of the fallen soul, must be put aside. We do this not by our own energy but by the power of the all-inclusive Spirit.
In verse 9 Paul goes on to say, “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his practices.” This verse indicates that putting off the old man is like putting off an old garment. The total person of the old man must be put away. In this verse Paul tells us that we have put off the old man because we put off the old man in baptism. Our old man was crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:6) and was buried in baptism (v. 4). First, we put to death the physical lusts, then we put away the psychological evils, and last, we put off the entire old man with his practices. This is not by our own energy but by the power of the all-inclusive Spirit.
When we live together with Christ, we can put off the lusts of the flesh, put away the evil aspects of the fallen soul, and put off the totality of our old being. Then, positively, we can put on the new man. By living together with Christ, by experiencing Him as our life and seeking the things which are above, we put away all the negative things and put on the new man.
In Colossians 3:10 Paul continues, “And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.”
Putting on the new man is like putting on a new garment. The Greek word for new in this verse means new in relation to time, whereas the word used in Ephesians 4:24 means new in nature, quality, or form. Since Christ is the constituent of the new man, we, who are the new man, are one with Christ.
The new man is of Christ. It is His Body, created in Him on the cross (2:15-16). It is not individual but corporate. According to the clear vision in Ephesians 2:15, the new man is a corporate entity. This is proved by the fact that it is created out of two peoples, the Jews and the Gentiles. Furthermore, verse 16 indicates that the new man created out of these collective peoples is the Body of Christ. Hence, the new man and the Body are synonymous terms and may be used interchangeably.
The emphasis on the church being the Body of Christ is on life, whereas the emphasis on the church being the new man is on the person (1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:4, 4:24; 2:15). As the Body of Christ, the church needs Christ as its life; as the new man, the church needs Christ as its person (Col. 3:4; Eph. 3:17a). The new man is the corporate God-man, with Christ — the firstborn Son — as the Head, and the believers — the many sons of God — as the Body. We need to live the life of a God-man for the new man as the corporate God-man.
In order to put on the new man in an experiential way, we need to take Christ as our person (v. 17a; Gal. 2:20). The church is the new man, and in this new man there is only one person — Christ (Matt. 17:5; Col. 3:10-11). The old man must be put off, and we must live by our new person (vv. 5-9; Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:22-24). When we live by taking Christ as our person, especially in making decisions, our living will be the living of the new man (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; Rom. 15:32; James 4:13-15).
Furthermore, if we would put on the new man in a practical way, we need to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col. 3:17). The name denotes the person, and the Lord’s person is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17a). To do things in the name of the Lord is to act in the Spirit; this is to live Christ (Gal. 5:16; Rom. 8:4; Phil. 1:21).
On the one hand, Paul speaks of the creation of the new man (Eph. 4:24); on the other hand, he refers to the renewing of the new man (Col. 3:10). Since the new man has already been created, why is there still the need for the new man to be renewed? How can the new man be both created and renewed? The creation of the new man took place in our spirit. When our spirit was regenerated, the new man was created. Hence, the regeneration of the spirit is actually the creation of the new man. However, as far as the soul is concerned, the new man still needs to be renewed. It is crucial that this renewing takes place especially in our mind, the leading part of the soul, as indicated by the phrase unto full knowledge in verse 10. Before we were regenerated, our human spirit was part of the old creation. Then at the time of our regeneration, God the Spirit came into our spirit with the divine life and divine nature. This means that the Spirit of God regenerated our spirit with the elements of the divine life and divine nature. In other words, when we were regenerated, God the Spirit brought the divine life and nature into our spirit. Before regeneration we did not have anything divine. But at the time of regeneration something divine — the life and nature of God — was added into our spirit. This addition of the Spirit and the divine life to our spirit produced a new being — the new man. By receiving the life and nature of God, we were born of God and became sons of God.
Because the divine life and nature have been added to our spirit, our regenerated spirit has become part of the new creation. The difference between the old creation and the new creation is that the old creation has nothing of God in it, but the new creation does have something of God added to it. The reason the regenerated spirit is part of the new creation and of the new man is that the life and nature of God have come into it. In our spirit we have something divine — God’s life and nature.
At the time of regeneration the life and nature of God were added into our spirit, making it the new creation. Nevertheless, the soul with its faculties of mind, emotion, and will remains in the old creation. Thus, there is the need for the divine life and nature to spread from our spirit into our soul and to saturate the soul. This process of spreading and saturating is what we call transformation. In Romans 12:2 Paul charges us to “be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” Since the mind is the leading part of the soul, the renewing of the soul depends on the renewing of the mind. As the divine life and nature spread from our regenerated spirit into the mind, emotion, and will, our soul will be renewed. This renewing of the soul is actually the renewing of the new man.
Even though we have been regenerated, we are often inclined to live according to the old man, that is, to live according to the old creation. However, deep in our spirit we have the aspiration, the desire, to live in newness of life (6:4; 7:6). This desire comes from the new man in our spirit, seeking to spread the divine life and nature into our soul. This spreading is the renewing of the new man.
What we think about day by day indicates where our mind is set. Our mind should be set not on religion, philosophy, or culture but on Christ and His heavenly ministry. The more we set our mind on the things above — on Christ and His heavenly ministry — the more the divine elements in our spirit will saturate our soul and renew our soul. All that is in our spirit will have free course to spread throughout our inner being. Through this saturating and spreading, the soul is renewed. Eventually, when our body is transfigured, it also will be renewed (Phil. 3:21). Therefore, our spirit has been regenerated, but our soul is being renewed. On the one hand, in our spirit the new man was created with new elements, the elements of the divine life and the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, in our soul the new man is being renewed.
In Colossians 3:10 Paul says that the new man is being renewed unto full knowledge “according to the image of Him who created him.” The image here refers to Christ, God’s Beloved, as the expression of God (1:15; Heb. 1:3). It was God the Creator who created the new man in Christ (Eph. 2:15).
It is significant that the new man is being renewed according to the image of God. This means that the renewing of the new man results in full knowledge and that this full knowledge is according to the image of God. The image of God in Colossians 1:15 refers to the expression of God and the fullness of God, that is, Christ Himself.
The new man has been created in our spirit, but our mind has not yet been renewed unto full knowledge. We need to be renewed in our mind unto full knowledge according to the expression of God, that is, according to Christ as God’s image. This means that we need a renewal in our mind according to what Christ is. This can take place only as we are renewed unto full knowledge.
Concerning the new man, our mind needs to be renewed unto such a full knowledge, according to the all-inclusive Christ who is the image of God, the expression of the invisible God. Our mind needs to be renewed to such an extent that we have a clear view of Christ as the image of God. When our mind is filled with the knowledge of the all-inclusive Christ, our emotion will be influenced. This will cause us to have a greater appreciation of the Lord Jesus. Love is a matter of the emotion, and the emotion is related to the understanding that we have in the mind. When the mind is renewed, the emotion is spontaneously renewed as well. Both in spiritual experience and in human experience, the mind affects the emotion, and the emotion affects the will.
We need to be renewed in our mind in order to have a proper love for the Lord in our emotion. Many saints are cold toward the Lord because in their minds they do not have much knowledge of Him. The more we have the knowledge of the all-inclusive Christ, the more we will appreciate Him and love Him. Although we still need a great deal more renewing, we nevertheless have a certain amount of knowledge of the Lord Jesus. This knowledge of Him causes us to love Him. Out of our love and appreciation for the Lord, we exercise our will to decide to be for Him, to follow Him, and to live Him, grow Him, and produce Him. We decide to live for Him and for His testimony. This decision comes out of the emotion, and the emotion is in turn influenced by the proper knowledge of Christ.
The central point of Paul’s word to the Colossians concerns the renewing of the mind unto the full knowledge of Christ. The Colossians needed a full knowledge, not according to philosophy, Gnosticism, Judaistic observances, or heathen ordinances but a full knowledge according to the image of God, which image is the wonderful, glorious, all-inclusive Christ. We need a renewing that results in full knowledge according to such a Christ.
We need to be captured by the dear Lord Jesus. The more our mind is renewed unto the proper knowledge of Him, the more we love Him. The renewing that takes place in our mind unto full knowledge according to the image of God creates appreciation within us for the Lord. This appreciation causes us to love Him. When we have such a love for the Lord, we will say, “Lord Jesus, I want to follow You at any cost. I am willing to pay any price, even the price of my life, to be one with You and be for You. Lord, I want to take You as my life and as my person. I want to live You, grow You, and produce You. Lord Jesus, I am here for You and for You alone.”
The renewing of the new man is according to Christ, who is the image and expression of God. When we set our mind on the things above, the way is open for the new man to spread the divine element from our spirit into our soul. This spreading of the divine element within us is according to Christ, who is the image of God, God’s expression. The more renewing that takes place in our soul, the more we will be able to express God. In other words, the more renewing we experience in the soul, the more we will have of the image of Christ. Although we have been regenerated, we may have very little of the image of Christ in our mind, emotion, and will. Instead, we may cling to the image of the old Adam. But if we set our mind on the things above, the divine element in our spirit will spread into our soul. As a result of the spreading of the divine element, we will have the image of God and become His expression.
In 3:11 Paul goes on to say, “Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.” The word where, which refers to the new man in verse 10, means in the new man. Not only is there no natural person in the new man, but there is no possibility, no room, for any natural person to exist. There cannot be Greeks, who were for philosophical wisdom, and Jews, who were for miraculous signs (1 Cor. 1:22). There cannot be circumcision — the observers of the Jewish religious rituals — and uncircumcision — those who do not care for the Jewish religion. Furthermore, in the new man there cannot be barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free man. A barbarian is an uncultured person, the Scythians were considered the most barbarous people, the slaves were those sold into slavery, and the free men were those who had been freed from slavery. No matter what kind of person we may be, as far as the new man is concerned, we must regard ourselves as nobodies. In the new man there is room only for Christ, not for any kind of natural person. Therefore, in the church we all are nobodies.
In the new man Christ is all. In the church as the new man, Christ is everything. This implies that He is every brother and every sister. This also implies that every brother and sister must be constituted with Christ. In the new man there cannot be Jewish members and Gentile members; there can only be Christ-members. If we would be constituted with Christ, Christ must be added into us more and more. We must be permeated with Christ, saturated with Christ, and have Christ organically wrought into our being. Eventually, we will be replaced by Christ. Then, in reality, He will be all and in all. He will be every member, every part, of the new man.
The new man does not come into existence by taking Christians from various countries and bringing them together. That would be a new organization, not the new man. The new man comes into being as we are saturated, filled, and permeated with Christ and replaced by Him through an organic process. The new man is Christ in all the saints permeating us and replacing us until all natural distinctions have been eliminated, and everyone is constituted with Christ.
In Colossians Paul presents the Christ who is the fullness of the invisible God. After mentioning aspect after aspect of such a Christ, he speaks of the new man. Between Christ as the fullness of God in chapter 1 and the new man in chapter 3 we have the experience and enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ. The issue of our experience and enjoyment of Him is the church as the new man. Hence, the new man comes out of our enjoyment of Christ as the fullness of God. As we enjoy Christ daily, He is wrought into us, constituted into our being. In this way Christ becomes our constituent. Day by day Christ is being constituted into us. Eventually, we all will be thoroughly constituted of Him. As a result of being constituted with Christ, we become the new man.
The only way Christ can be all and in all in the new man is for Him to constitute Himself into us. The process of being constituted with Christ takes place through our enjoyment of Christ. We need to say, “Lord Jesus, I love You, I treasure You, and I enjoy You. Lord, I am here on earth for You and for You alone.” The more we open to the Lord and contact Him in this way, the more He infuses Himself into us and fills us to the brim. As we call on the Lord, praise Him, and offer Him our thanks and adoration, we are filled with Him. Through such an enjoyment of Christ and experience of Him, we are gradually constituted with Christ. It is as we enjoy Him that He constitutes us with Himself.
In the new man Christ is all; He is all the members of the new man. He is everything in the new man. Actually, He is the new man, His Body (1 Cor. 12:12-13). In the new man Christ is the centrality and universality.
The word all in Colossians 3:11 refers to all the members who make up the new man. Christ is all these members. Since Christ is all and in all in the new man and we are part of the new man, we are part of Christ. Each member, each part, of the new man is Christ. He is everyone in the new man. In the church, the new man, there is nothing but Christ.
In the one new man there is room only for Christ. We may wonder how Christ can be all in the new man. For this to be a reality, we must take Christ as our life and live Him, not ourselves. If Christ is the living of all the saints, then only He will be in the new man. Those from America will no longer live an American life, and those from Japan will no longer live a Japanese life. All the saints, whatever their nationality may be, will live Christ. Then in a way that is real and practical, Christ will be all the members of the new man. Christ will be us. Because we all live Christ, not ourselves, Christ will be all of us, every member of the new man.
In verse 11 Paul says not only that Christ is all but also that He is in all. In other words, on the one hand, Christ is all the members, and on the other hand, He is in all the members. Since Paul says that Christ is all, why is there the need for him to say that Christ is in all? If Paul did not say that Christ is in all, only that He is all, then we may think that in the new man Christ is needed and that we are not needed. We should not think that because Christ is all the members in the new man, we are nothing and are not needed. On the one hand, the Bible does say that in the new man there is no place for the natural person, because Christ is all the members. Yet on the other hand, Paul says that Christ is in the members. The fact that Christ is in the members of the new man indicates that the members still exist.
When we take Christ as our life and live together with Him, seeking the things which are above, we have the sense deep within that we are one with Christ and that Christ is us (Gal. 2:20). But simultaneously we have an even deeper sense that Christ is in us. Therefore, it is true to say that Christ is both in us and that He is us. We are part of the new man with Christ in us. We continue to exist, but we do not exist without Christ; we are those indwelt by Christ. Now we can rejoice and say to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, when I take You as my life and live together with You, You are me. I am altogether one with You. But, Lord, I am still here, for You are in me. I am here, but I am here with You.” According to our experience, we all can give such a testimony. When we live Christ and are one with Him, we say, “Lord Jesus, this is not me — it is You.” However, at the same time, we have the sense that we are with the Lord and that He is in us.
God’s ultimate goal in His economy is to gain this new man constituted with the preeminent, all-inclusive Christ wrought into a corporate people. The new man is Christ constituted into us. On the one hand, the new man is Christ. On the other hand, we the believers are the new man. For this reason, in the new man Christ and we are one. We all need to have such a high view of God’s economy. According to this view, we and Christ are one, for we and He have one life with one living.
In Colossians 3:10 and 11 we see that in the new man Christ is all and in all. Christ is all the members and in all the members. In the new man there is no room for any natural person. Rather, Christ is everyone and is in everyone. To say that Christ is all and in all in the new man indicates that we are one with Christ and that Christ is one with us. We may even say that Christ is us and that we are Him. This points to our union with Christ. Therefore, the living of the saints must be a living that is in union with Christ, a living that is identified with Him. If we live in such a way, we and Christ, Christ and we, are one. We live, and Christ lives in our living.
In such a union we and Christ, Christ and we, are one. In a very practical sense, Christ is us and we are Christ, for we live as one. His life is our life, and our living is His living. Therefore, Christ lives in our living. This is the normal Christian living, the living that is up to God’s standard and that fulfills the requirements of His economy.
In the new man Christ is everyone, and He is also in everyone. This is to experience Christ not only as the reality of our daily necessities but to have Him as our life and to be one with Him in the divine enterprise. When we are one with Him in this way, He becomes us, and we live with Him in us. We live not alone but with Christ in us. Day by day we should have more experience of this — taking Christ as our life, living together with Him, seeking the things which are above, and coordinating with Him for the carrying out of God’s eternal purpose. Then we will all be able to say that to us to live is Christ and that Christ lives in us (Phil. 1:21; Gal. 2:20). Because Christ is the unique constituent of the new man, there should be no differences among the believers who are part of this new man. In the new man, all the room is for Christ. Christ is all and in all. This means that Christ is every part of the new man and is in every part. The goal of this extensive revelation of Christ is that we would all live Christ.
Moreover, in the renewing of the new man, Christ is all things, and He is in all the members. This indicates that in the renewing of the new man, Christ truly is all-inclusive. On the one hand, He is in all the persons, the members of the new man; on the other hand, He is all things in the renewing of the new man, including all virtues and attributes such as love, patience, and humility (Col. 3:12-14). All these virtues are Christ Himself. In the renewing of the new man, Christ is all the wonderful virtues, all the good things, and all the positive attributes.
If we would live Christ as the constituent of the new man, we need to be ruled by the peace of Christ (vv. 12-15) and inhabited by the word of Christ (vv. 16-17). The peace of Christ must arbitrate within our being, and the word of Christ must dwell in us richly. As Christians, we have different backgrounds and different concepts. These differences lead to disagreements among us; therefore, there is the need for an arbitrator. This arbitrator is the peace of Christ. It is crucial that the peace of Christ be allowed to preside in our hearts and to speak the final word regarding any controversy among us. The arbitrator should not be our opinions, concepts, choices, or preferences; it should be the peace of Christ, to which we are called in one Body.
The peace of Christ is the peace to which Paul refers in Ephesians 2:15, where we are told that Christ abolished “in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.” This peace is the oneness of the new man, the Body. By abolishing the ordinances, Christ has created the different peoples into one new man. Now within us as members of the new man there is something which Paul terms the peace of Christ. Hence, the peace of Christ is the oneness of the new man composed of different peoples. Apart from the work of Christ on the cross, there can be no oneness among the different peoples. But through His death Christ has made peace; that is, He has produced oneness. This oneness of the new man is now within us. This oneness, the peace of Christ, must now be permitted to arbitrate in our hearts. It should function as a referee to settle the disputes among various parties. We need to set aside our opinion, our concept, and listen to the word of the indwelling referee. There is no need for us to quarrel or to express our opinion. We should simply let the peace of Christ make the final decision.
As those who are part of the new man, we should not only let the peace of Christ arbitrate within us but also let the word of Christ inhabit us, dwell in us, make home in us. We must be willing to set aside our concepts, our opinions, and give place to the word of Christ. If we want the word of Christ to inhabit us, we need to empty our entire inner being. All our inward parts — our mind, emotion, will, heart, and spirit — must be empty, available to be filled with the word of Christ. This word should not only dwell in us; it should also inhabit us, making its home in every part of our inner being. May every room and corner of our being be inhabited by the word of Christ! If we would live Christ as the constituent of the new man, the peace of Christ must be the arbitrator in our heart, and the word of Christ must be the content of our inner being. We all need to give place to the arbitrating peace of Christ and to the inhabiting word of Christ.
Furthermore, we need to persevere in prayer (Col. 4:2). When we enter into genuine prayer, we are far away from our culture, for we are one with the living Lord. When we pray in this way with others, we are truly one in the praying spirit. Then we touch the reality of the one new man, where there is no Greek or Jew, barbarian or Scythian, circumcision or uncircumcision. We realize that the new man is constituted with Christ alone and that in this realm there are no differences of culture. However, when we stop praying, we come back to our natural life with its opinions and striving.
In 3:3 and 4 we see that the Christ who is the focal point of God’s economy and the reality of all the positive things is our life. Our life is hidden with Christ in God. This means that we today are living in God. As our life, Christ is the constituent of the new man. In the new man the Christ who is our life is all and in all.
The desire of God’s heart is to have the new man. This was His plan in eternity past, and this was the reason He created the universe and accomplished redemption for us in Christ. Our preaching of the gospel and our being the new creation are likewise for the new man. The time has come for God to have the new man expressed on earth. If we take Christ as our life and live together with Him, the new man will come forth to satisfy God’s desire.
When we enjoy Christ as the reality of all positive things, we become Body-conscious. This indicates that the enjoyment of Christ issues in the Body of Christ. Then as we go on to experience Christ as our life and to have one living, destiny, and glory with Him, the issue is not just the church as the Body of Christ but the church as the one new man.
In 1:9—3:11 we see seven major aspects of Christ: Christ is the portion of the saints (1:9-14), He is the first both in creation and in resurrection (1:15-23), He is the mystery of God’s economy (1:24-29), He is the mystery of God (2:1-7), He is the body of all the shadows (2:8-23), He is the life of the saints (3:1-4), and He is the constituent of the new man (3:5-11). These aspects of Christ are presented in a marvelous sequence. First we see that Christ is the portion of the saints and last that He is the constituent of the new man. This indicates that the ultimate issue of enjoying Christ as our portion is that we experience Him as the content and constituent of the new man. Whenever we enjoy Christ, there is a definite result, an issue, of this enjoyment. To say that the enjoyment of Christ as the portion of the saints results in the experience of Christ as the constituent of the new man indicates that the enjoyment of Christ results in the church life. Christ is the all-inclusive portion of the saints, typified by the good land. If we enjoy Christ as such a portion, the result will be the new man with Christ as the content. Ultimately, the Christ we enjoy as our portion becomes the constituent of the new man. In this new man Christ is all and in all. Hence, it is crucial for us to learn to live Christ as the constituent of the new man.
