GENERAL SUBJECT

EXPERIENCING, ENJOYING, AND EXPRESSING CHRIST (2)

Message Ten
The Creator of the One New Man as the Masterpiece of God

I.　God's intention in His creation of man was to have a corporate man to express Him and to represent Him—Gen. 1:26; Eph. 2:15:

A.　God created man in His own image for His expression and gave man His dominion so that man would represent Him to deal with His enemy—Gen. 1:26.

B.　The church as the new man in the new creation bears God's image for God's expression and fights against God's enemy for God's kingdom—Col. 3:10-11; Eph. 2:15; 4:24; 6:10-11.

C.　What was divided and scattered in the old man is recovered in the new man—Gen. 11:5-9; Acts 2:5-12; Col. 3:10-11.

II.　The new man as the poem, the masterpiece, of God was created through Christ's death and in His resurrection—Eph. 2:10, 15-16:

A.　We need to pay careful attention to two phrases in verse 15: in His flesh and in Himself:

1.　"In His flesh" Christ terminated all the negative things in the universe: Satan, the devil, the enemy of God (Heb. 2:14); sin (Rom. 8:3; John 1:29); the flesh of fallen man (Gal. 5:24); the world, the cosmos, the evil system of Satan (John 12:31); the old creation represented by the old man (Rom. 6:6); and the separating ordinances of the law (Eph. 2:15).

2.　"In Himself" as the sphere, element, and essence, Christ created the Jews and the Gentiles into one new man:

a.　Christ is not only the Creator of the one new man, the church, but also the sphere in which and the element and essence with which the new man was created.

b.　Christ is the very element and essence of the one new man, making God's divine nature one entity with humanity— cf. Col. 3:10-11.

B.　In the creating of the new man, first our natural man was crucified by Christ, and then through the crossing out of the old man, Christ imparted the divine element into us, causing us to become the masterpiece of God's work, an absolutely new item in the universe, a new invention of God—Rom. 6:6; 2 Cor. 5:17:

1.　The Greek word for masterpiece is poiema, meaning "something that has been written or composed as a poem."

2.　Not only a poetic writing may be considered a poem, but also any work of art that expresses the maker's wisdom and design.

3.　We, the church, the masterpiece of God's work, are a poem expressing God's infinite wisdom and divine design; the church is God's wise exhibition of all that Christ is—Eph. 3:10-11.

4.　Christ became wisdom to us from God as three vital things in God's salvation—1 Cor. 1:30:

a.　He is our righteousness (for our past), by which we have been justified by God, that we might be reborn in our spirit to receive the divine life—Rom. 5:18; 8:10.

b.　He is our sanctification (for our present), by which we are being sanctified in our soul (transformed in our mind, emotion, and will) with His divine life—6:19, 22.

c.　He is our redemption (for our future), that is, the redemption of our body, by which we will be transfigured in our body with His divine life to have His glorious likeness— 8:23; Phil. 3:21.

5.　It is of God that we participate in such a complete and perfect salvation, which makes our entire being—spirit, soul, and body—organically one with Christ to make Him everything to us and to make us the wise exhibition of all that Christ is.

III.　On the cross Christ created the new man in Himself by abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, the middle wall of partition—Eph. 2:14b-15a:

A.　The law spoken of in verse 15 is not the law of the moral commandments but the law of the ritual commandments, such as the ordinances of circumcision, keeping the Sabbath, and eating certain foods.

B.　Ordinances are the forms or ways of living and worship, which create enmity and division:

1.　On the cross Christ abolished all the regulations regarding living and worship, regulations that have divided the nations— v. 15; Col. 2:14.

2.　From the time of Babel, mankind has been divided by ordinances concerning the ways of living and worship; in God's economy in the church life, we must overcome Babel—Gen. 11:1-9:

a.　Christ should be our only source; we should not allow anything of our background, culture, or nationality to be our source—cf. Col. 3:10-11.

b.　The worldly people regard cultural differences as a source of prestige, but in Christ we have put off this prestige; now our only prestige is Christ and the genuine oneness.

c.　If we are willing to let go of our cultural pride, it will be possible for the Lord to have the proper church life—Eph. 4:22-24.

IV.　For and in the one new man, we need to allow the peace of.Christ to arbitrate in our hearts—2:14a, 15b; Col. 3:12-15; 2:14-18; Rom. 5:1; Matt. 18:21-35:

A.　The Greek term for arbitrate can also be rendered "umpire, preside, or be enthroned as a ruler and decider of everything"; the arbitrating peace of Christ in our hearts dissolves our complaint against anyone—Col. 3:13-15.

B.　Often we are conscious of three parties within us: a positive party, a negative party, and a neutral party; hence, there is the need for inward arbitration to settle the dispute within us:

1.　Whenever we sense that different parties within our being are arguing or quarreling, we need to give place to the presiding peace of Christ and allow this peace, which is the oneness of the new man, to rule within us and have the final word.

2.　We need to set aside our opinion, our concept, and listen to the word of the indwelling Referee.

C.　If we allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our hearts, this peace will settle all the disputes among us; we will have peace with God vertically and with the saints horizontally:

1.　Through the arbitration of the peace of Christ, our problems are solved, and the friction between the saints disappears; then the church life is preserved in sweetness, and the new man is maintained in a practical way.

2.　The arbitrating of the peace of Christ is Christ working within us to exercise His rule over us, to speak the last word, and to make the final decision—cf. Isa. 9:6-7.

3.　If we stay under the ruling of the enthroned peace of Christ, we will not offend others or damage them; rather, by the Lord's grace and with His peace, we will minister life to others.

4.　This peace should bind all the believers together and become the uniting bond—Eph. 4:3.

V.　In the one new man Christ is all the members and is in all the members—Col. 3:10-11:

A.　The Christ who dwells in us is the constituent of the one new man—1:27; 3:11:

1.　Because Christ is all the members of the new man, there is no possibility, no room, for any natural person (for any race, nationality, culture, or social status) in the new man—vv. 10-11.

2.　No matter what kind of person we may be, as far as the one new man is concerned, we all are nobodies.

3.　In the one new man there is only one person—the all-inclusive Christ—2:17; 3:4, 11.

B.　For the new man we all need to take Christ as our person—Eph. 2:15; 3:17a:

1.　As the Body of Christ, the church needs Christ as its life; as the one new man, the church needs Christ as its person.

2.　Christ is in all of us as one person; therefore, we all have only one person—Gal. 2:20; Eph. 3:17a.

3.　For the practical existence of the one new man, the total person of the old man must be put away, and we must live by our new person—Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:22-24; 3:17a:

a.　We need to live a life in the new man by taking Christ as our person, with Him as the One making all the decisions in us.

b.　Once we see that we are a part of the one new man, we will not be able to decide things merely by ourselves.

c.　We need to see that we are a corporate Body and a corporate new man and that both our living (person) and our moving (life) are corporate—1 Cor. 12:12; Rom. 12:4-5.

4.　We need to consider one new man in Ephesians 2:15 together with one mouth in Romans 15:6 and speak the same thing in 1 Corinthians 1:10:

a.　In the past there were too many mouths because there were too many persons.

b.　With one accord and with one mouth (Rom. 15:6) mean that even though we are many and all are speaking, we all "speak the same thing" (1 Cor. 1:10).

c.　Although we are many and come from many places, we all have one mouth, and we all speak the same thing; this is because we all are the one new man having only one person—Eph. 2:15; 4:22-24; 3:17a; Rom. 15:6; 1 Cor. 1:10.