Weblog Entry - 02/06/2005: Volume 72 - The Two Men by Milt Rodriguez

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02/06/2005: Volume 72 - The Two Men by Milt Rodriguez"

The Two Men

"But now you also, put them all aside; anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.
"Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old man with its evil practices and have put on the new man who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him, in which there is no Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all."
Colossian 3:8-11
Two Men in this Universe
Did you know that there are only two men in the whole universe? That's right; there are only two men upon the whole planet! In fact, there have only ever been two men.
Understanding, by revelation, who these two men are and learning how to relate to each one will make all the difference in your fulfilling the will of God. God has an eternal purpose and this purpose is a mystery until He reveals it to you. (See Eph. 3:1-12) So please read this article prayerfully and ask God to reveal this mystery of His purpose to you.
Who Are These Two Men?
In Colossians 3, Paul speaks of two men; the old man and the new man. But who are these men and what do they have to do with us? To understand this, we must first look into this verse:
"So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit." I Cor. 15:45
The First Adam
So here, Paul reveals to us that the first man is Adam. But we need to return to the creation of this man so that we can understand his true nature. If we go back to the beginning of the creation of this man, then it will give us insight into the nature of God's purpose for him.
"Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Genesis 1:26
There are two main things about God's eternal purpose that we need to see from this verse.
The Image of God
First, God created man (mankind) to be in His image. Notice with me that God did not say, "Let Us make man as Our image." He said "Let Us make man in our Image." We have misread the "as" into this verse! God never intended man to be His image. He wanted man to be in His image. Never do you find anywhere in scripture that man is called the image of God. But there is someone who is called the image of God. It is the Christ, the Son of the living God! (Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4)
God's intention was that He would create a race in Adam that would contain the life of His Son by eating of Him, the Tree of Life. Then, God would place that race "into" His Son (the image) so that they would be a visible expression of the Image on this earth. Man could never participate in the image of God apart from Christ because Christ is the Image of God! God's plan has always been wrapped up in His Son. He didn't just throw in the Son later as an emergency "plan B" because Adam fell and needed salvation!
The Dominion of God
The second thing that we can see from this verse is that it was God's intention for this race called "Adam" to rule over the earth. God's plan was for man to live in and by the life of the Son and to be co-regents with Him. The sharing of His life would bring about the oneness; the same oneness that exists between the members of the Godhead. (John 17) Then, as one, they would express the glory of God and the authority (kingdom) of God on the earth.
The Fallen Race
This was God's intention for the race of Adam, however, as we all know, Adam failed to choose God's purpose and instead chose the purpose of a fallen angel. This fall caused the corruption of the race of Adam. Now, this fallen race would be earmarked with all the same traits as the fallen angel. This race would now be many scattered, isolated, self-centered individuals who would live their own independent lives apart from God and His eternal purpose.
Since the elements of death and corruption were introduced into the race, it immediately became worn out and the first Adam became the "old man."
The Last Adam
Now that the race of Adam had fallen beyond repair, God needed to do two things to fulfill His purpose. He needed to deal with Adam's hopeless race; and He needed to create a whole new race that would succeed where Adam failed.
This time, He would send His Son who is the Image of God and the Tree of Life and would call out those in Adam's race who would hear Him. He would then transfer them from Adams' race into the new race in order to fulfill His purpose and plan. He would completely destroy the old man by crucifying him on the cross with His Son. (Romans 6:8) Then, through resurrection, He would raise up a whole new creation, a whole new man!
This new man would fulfill all of God's desires to have a visible expression on the earth. It would also bring His dominion (kingdom) to the earth. God would become one with man. God would indwell man and man would indwell God. The fellowship of the Triune God would expand by the expression and enlargement of the Son. The new race would receive the life of the Son as their every supply and they would no longer be strangers and aliens to the love, life, and community of God. They would now be a family. They would now be a cohesive unit, living and functioning as one to the glory of God! They would no longer be isolated, separated, independent individuals, but they would be a body to express the Christ. They would be the one new man!
Now we need to understand that Christ is the new man. This Man is composed of both Head and Body. Christ is the Head (Col. 1:18), and Christ is the Body (I Cor. 12:12). We could call this New Man the Corporate Christ. The personal Christ (Jesus) came to earth and lived as a man. Then He was crucified and resurrected. When He was resurrected He was expanded into the Corporate Christ. Now, the Christ is not just one man but a whole race that Paul calls the New Man. This is Christ and the Church.
In our next article, we will take a look at what Paul was referring to when he told the saints to "put on the new man."
written by Milt Rodriguez