"And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

                                                         Ephesians 4:24 

            One of the great truths surrounding redemption is the fact that all the fullness of God is found in the completed work of Christ.  When the Bible says, "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power," that is telling us that everything needed to enable us to be all that God intends for us to be is found in our union with him (Col. 2:9-10).

            That may be hard for some of us to fathom, but nevertheless it is true.  When Jesus finished his work and went and sat down at the right hand of the Father, there wasn't "anything" left that still needed to be done.  Our job now, as believers, is to search out and find what all he did for us and learn how to appropriate it by faith.

            This has been one of my great quests! When I first came to realize that redemption was complete, I made up my mind that I wanted to find out what all that meant.  In my discoveries, I have learned a great truth that has changed my life.  I came to understand what it means to put on the new man.

According to Ephesians chapter two, Paul tells us that Christ took both the Jew and the Gentile and "made in himself of twain one new man, so making peace" (Eph 2:15).  Up until the time that God made a covenant with Abraham, there was only one class of people - the nations.  But after God took from the nations a people for himself, there became a distinction between Jew and Gentile.  That distinction lasted up until the cross of Christ.  Now there are three classes of people: the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God (1 Cor. 10:32).  While the church is made up of both Jew and Gentile, the distinction that separated the Jew from the Gentile now separates them both from the church.  God still sees all unsaved Jews as a nation apart from the rest of the world.  He still sees the Gentiles as all the various nations without a covenant with God.  But he now sees the church as a nation within herself that is made up of both Jew and Gentile.  Peter writes in his epistle, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him that called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Pet. 2:9).  This is exactly why Paul said, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28). 

When Israel chose to reject Christ as their Messiah, he said to them, "...the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a NATION bringing forth the fruits thereof" (Matt. 21:43).  There has "never" been another natural nation on this earth that has become God's chosen people.  Only in Christ is there another nation that exists who now holds the stewardship of the kingdom.  In the gospel of Luke, Jesus told his disciples, "Fear not little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). We also find in Matthew chapter sixteen where Jesus said, "...and I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom..." (Matt. 16:18, 19). 

In other words, when a person becomes born again, they are no longer identified as Jew or Gentile, because they are incorporated into this one new man.  That is what the church is! We are joined to the Lord.  We are bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh (Eph. 5:30). This one new man is Christ, and we have all been made one in him.   So when we talk about putting on the new man, what that should mean to us is that we are to put on Christ.  All that he is is who we are!  John wrote in his first epistle and said, "As he is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17).  Not when we get to heaven! But NOW, in this world!  This is the secret to a successful Christian life.  We identify ourselves as becoming one in Christ...one new man...one new race...one new nation! And we are to rule and reign in him (Rom. 5:17)!