Our text tonight is found in
that chapter that we read in Colossians. Colossians chapter
3. And drawing your attention to
the words that we find here in verse 10. Colossians chapter
3 and verse 10. And have put on the new man which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him. In Colossians chapter 3. and
verse 10. We read here, "...of the restoration
of man, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him." We're told quite clearly,
are we not, in the opening chapter of Scripture that when God created
man, he made him in his image, he created him after his own
likeness. There at the end of Genesis chapter
1, God having prepared all things in the previous five days of
creation, In that sixth day we come to what is really the pinnacle
of all those works of creation when God consults with himself. There is a council of the persons
in the Trinity. God says, let us make man in
our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion. And then in the next chapter,
of course, chapter 2, we have the detail concerning the way
in which God created both the man and the woman. He creates
Adam out of the dust of the earth, and breathes into his nostrils
the breath of life and he becomes a living soul and then he makes
him a half-meat by taking a rib and from that rib he creates
the woman and brings Eve to Adam and these two become one flesh. We have some detail then, some
great detail with regards to that which is in many ways the
greatest of all God's works of creation when he makes. man in
his image and after his likeness. But we don't have to read very
far into the history of mankind before we have that awful record
of how our first parents sinned against God. There in chapter
3 of Genesis we have the historic account of the entrance of sin
into the world, the fall of Adam and Eve. But here we have God's
work of new creation. Amazing really the words that
we have for our text tonight and that put on the new man which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him. similar words are also to be
found when Paul writes to the Ephesians in Ephesians chapter
4 and verse 24 that he put on the new man which after God is
created in righteousness and true holiness the restoration
again the expression there which is created after God, after God's
image in righteousness and true holiness. There is the restoration
of man and we have it recorded then for us here in the scriptures
of the New Testament, that great work, God's new creation. And as I say, it's that that
I want us to consider for a while this evening. Now we see here
in the context In this third chapter, at the conversion of
the sinner, the old man dies. Go back to verse 3. Paul says
to these believers at Colossae, ye are dead. For ye are dead,
and the tense that he uses here is one that is peculiar to the
Greek, it's the Aorist tense, it speaks of an action that is
altogether completed once and for all, for you are dead and
your life is hid with Christ in God. at conversion. What happens is that the believer
experiences a remarkable change. He dies, and he dies to this
world, and the ways of the world. Look at what he says in chapter
2 and verse 20, Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ, from
the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world,
are ye subject to ordinances? Touch not, taste not, handle
not, which all are to perish with the using to the commandments
and doctrines of men." He tells them that they are dead, with
Christ they have died to the things of this world. Again,
the believer, of course, in a sense, dies to himself. What does Paul
say to the church at Galatia, there in chapter 2, those familiar
words at verse 20, I am crucified with Christ, he says, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. The believer then is
dead to the world, he is dead to himself, he is crucified,
and Christ is altogether his life. You are dead, and your
life is hid with Christ. Now, of course, when it comes
to these things we need to be clear, and there is a distinction
to be made with regards to just what the Apostle is saying in
these various verses. He is speaking really of the
believer's standing when we consider the believer as one who is dead
to the world and has died to himself, died to his old fallen
nature. This is the believer's standing. He is dead to sin as it would
damn him and he is dead to the law of God as that Lord would
condemn him. How shall we that are dead to
sin live any longer therein? Paul asks in Romans chapter 6
and verse 2. How shall we that are dead to
sin live any longer therein? This is the believer standing,
he's died to sin again. Look at the language that we
find Paul employing as he writes in that great seventh chapter
of the epistle to the Romans. Verse 4, he says, Wherefore,
my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is
raised from the dead, that ye should bring forth fruit unto
God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which
were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit
unto death. But now we are delivered from
the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should
serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter."
And it's interesting how we have that alternative reading in the
margin in that sixth verse of Romans 7. He says, now we are
delivered from the law That being dead, wherein we were held, is
what we have in the text, but the margin reads, being dead
to that wherein we were held. The believer, with regards to
his standing, has died to that former manner of life. He is dead to the world. He is
dead to his sinful self, with regards to his standing before
God. He is a new creature in the Lord
Jesus Christ. However, we have to distinguish
between his standing and his condition. When we think of the
believer's condition, we know that he still has an old nature. He has an old nature as well
as a new nature. And so Paul can cry out at the
end of Romans 7, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? He's speaking there of the old
man, the old nature, the body of this death, that which is
born of the flesh, his flesh, that which is born of the spirit,
his spirit. This is the conflict, you see.
Yes, as far as his standing is concerned before God, he has
died. He is dead to that old manner
of living, but he still has this old nature, that he's born of
the flesh. And we're told, are we not, again
in the writing of Paul, Galatians 5 and verse 17, "...and the flesh
lost it against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh."
And these two are contrary one to the other, and ye cannot do
the thing that ye would." What is the believer to do then? What
is the believer's calling? He's called to mortify, to put
to death this old nature. And so we have it here at verse
5, "...mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth,
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence
and covetousness, which is idolatry. Sins are, as it were, members
of the old man. Your members which are upon the
earth, these are members of that old nature, that old man, just
as legs and feet and arms And our hands are members of our
physical body. And the call is to modify these
things. The language of the Lord Jesus,
remember, in the course of His ministry, in the Gospel there
in Matthew chapter 18, and verses 8 and 9, He says, Wherefore if
thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off. and cast them from
thee, it is better for thee to enter into life whole or maimed,
rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into
everlasting fire. And if thine eye offended, pluck
it out and cast it from thee, it is better for thee to enter
into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast
into hell fire. Christ isn't speaking of the
need for us to, in a very real and literal sense, to cut off
our hands or to pluck out our eyes. He is speaking of the same
thing as Paul is speaking of here to the Colossians. He's
speaking of that mortification, that putting to death of the
old nature, the old man. And what Paul goes on to do here,
you see, in verses 8, 9 and 10 is to press home the importance
of this mortification, this putting to death, this casting off. Verse 8 he says, but now ye also
put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication
out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing
that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have
put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him." Well, let us consider just what Paul
is saying as he speaks here of the restoration of man. And I want us to deal tonight
with just two headings really. First of all to say something
with regards to the putting off of the old man as we set the
text in its context. And then to turn to what is spoken
of more specifically here in verse 10 which is of course the
putting on of the new man. Firstly the putting off of the
old man. He says at the end of verse 9,
"...ye have put off the old man with his deeds." Now notice again
there, he is clearly speaking of the believer standing. He's
speaking of the believer standing, he has put off the old man. But then, he also
goes on, or previously speaks of the believer's condition. In verse 8 he says, now he also
put off all these. And he mentions his various sins
that are to be put off, that are to be mortified. He still
has an old nature. Now the figure that is being
used in the course of the very practical exhortations and directions
that Paul is given. The figure that he uses is that
of taking off clothes, removing our garments. It's an interesting
figure when we think about it, this of putting off. We see that
in the in the Psalm, in Psalm 73. Sin is likened to our clothing,
that awful sin of pride, that pride that is so evident in the
fall of our first parents. I know that the root of all sin,
as we see it there in Genesis chapter 3, is the sin which so
easily besets unbelief. Unbelief is the root of every
sin. But how that unbelief is altogether bound up with pride. It's the denial of God, is it
not, unbelief? And how proud are those who deny
the Almighty. And so in Psalm 73 and verse
6 we find words such as this, Therefore pride compassed them
about as a chain, violence covereth them as a garment. These are the things that are
to be put off you see. These are the things that are
to be removed. And it's interesting that we have such a figure as
that because it reminds us that sin is not basic to human nature. Some people say it is human to
err. It is not human to err, it is
sinful. God created man perfect. There was nothing of sin in Adam
as he came from the hand of his creator God. In that sense, sin
is a terrible intruder. It is something that has come
in after creation. Remember what we're told at the
end of Genesis chapter 1, where we read of those six days of
creation, and we come to the seventh day, wherein God rests
from all the work that He has made, and we're told, are we
not, how God taught everything that He had made, and behold,
it was very good. Oh, there was no imperfection
in any part of God's work of creation. Our man comes from
the hand of his maker, pristine, perfect, in every sense of the
word. The preacher says in Ecclesiastes
low, this only have I found, that God made man upright, but
they have sought out many inventions. God makes man upright, erect, Innocent, perfect, but they seek
out inventions. It's man who sins and sins against
God. Again, Jeremiah the prophet in
chapter 3 says they have perverted their way. They have perverted
their way. Sin is a perversion of what God
created. Now here, in verse 8, Look at
the sins that are mentioned that have to be put off. Now he says
you also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy
communication out of your mouth, lie not one to another. He is
speaking of sins that aren't all external sins, there are
those sins that are inward internal sins, and yet even these inward
sins are like garments They're like garments that are to be
put off. We put them on, we take them
off. It's man who's put on sin. And
here is the exhortation, you see, to put these things off.
Now, we're not in any sense seeking to minimize sin or suggesting
any human ability here. Sin is clearly a part of us. as we see there in verse 5, mortify
therefore your members, he says, your members which are upon the
earth. And he mentions these various
sins, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence,
evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry, they are members,
and they are members of the believer here upon the earth. and that
to be put off. Or notice the language that the
Apostle uses as he seeks to impress these truths home to the church
at Colossae. He says to them here in verse
9, Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old
man with his deeds. What does the language suggest
to us. What does the language here imply? Well, there are three words we
should take particular account of. He speaks of the old nature
as a man. You have put off, he says, the
old man. And when we think of that word,
does it not remind us of the totality of the sinful condition
of the man, all that the man is? When God created Adam, he
creates him out of the dust of the earth, but he breathes into
his nostrils the breath of life, he becomes a living soul. He's
a man. Man is body and soul. And here
we see really the totality of sin with regards to man's condition
as a fallen creature. Our sin has permeated every part
of our being. All that we are as men and women. Our thoughts, our affections,
everything about us. Even our will of course. We know
that the very idea of free will is a foolish notion. How can
a sinful man have a will that is truly free? It's not. His will is in bondage to what
he is. His will is in bondage to his nature. And I say, when
we have this word man, we see how his sinnership is total. In Romans chapter 6, Romans chapter 6 and verse 6, we do well to note again the
language of the Apostle. He says, knowing this, that our
old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. See, the
old man is clearly identified with the body of sin, our one
and the same, knowing this that our old man is crucified with
him that the body of sin might be destroyed. All he is, as a man, is a sinner. In Romans chapter 7 and verse
24 Paul refers to the body of this
death. Our sin, you see, has permeated
every part of us. And so, as we're born, so we
die. That is the consequence. We're
born with fallen natures. and the seeds are there, are
they not? The seeds of death are there
from the very moment of our birth into this world, or the totality
of man's sinfulness. In Genesis chapter 6, just previous
to that awful catastrophic judgment that God visited upon his creation
in the universal flood, not many chapters into The Scriptures,
in chapter 6, we're told now that God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of the
thought of his heart was evil continually. If I remember right,
and if the reference is in the margin in this pulpit Bible,
the language there is so rich and so pregnant in meaning. God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. It says in
the margin, the whole imagination. The Hebrew words signify not
only the imagination, but also the purposes and desires. Everything
that the man is, Everything that the man is, evil, continually,
evil every day, day after day. Oh, there is an awful totality,
you see. And we see it in the use of this
word man. All that the man is, his mind. And in many ways, of course,
the mind, the ability to think, the faculty of the soul is something
that distinguishes man from the brute beast, does it not? But
what of man's mind? Well, we're told, are we not,
again by the apostle in Romans 8, that the carnal mind, that
is the mind of the flesh, the natural mind, is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. Oh, it cannot be changed. It's
not an enemy, it's enmity personified. It is not subject to God's law,
neither indeed can be. This is why it is so necessary
for the sinner to be born again, is it not? That that is born
of the flesh is flesh. Here then we see the totality
of sin in the very word that is employed, the word man. But
look at the language in verse 9. He doesn't just speak of a man,
he speaks of the old man. You have put off the old man. And what does that remind us
of the antiquity? The antiquity of his sin. David, when he comes before God,
confessing his sins, In Psalm 51, what does he say? Behold,
I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive. Oh, we're born old sinners. We're
born, are we not, dead in trespasses and in sins. There is an antiquity
to our sin. None of us is free from it. When
we come into this world, that's our condition. By nature, we
are alive. A little babe is very much alive.
We see the life. We rejoice in the new life. And
yet, that little babe is one that's born dead in trespasses
and in sins. The awful antiquity of our sins. And it's come down the generations.
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. comes
down generation to generation just one exception of course
the Lord Jesus Christ himself and how God had to perform a
remarkable miracle in order that he might be free with regards
to his human nature from every taint of original sin. Why he
was conceived of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary
all the power of the highest so came upon that sinful woman
that what was conceived was without any taint of sin that holy thing
that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God just
one sinless man Adam and Eve they were sinless when they were
created but how soon they sinned and all their descendants sinful
But this man, why this is the last Adam, this is the second
man, the Lord from heaven, and he is preserved free from every
taint of it. But there is a terrible antiquity
to sin. And now it has come even to our
generation. And we are those who are by nature
dead in trespasses and in sins. You have put off the old man,
he says, with his deeds. With his deeds. What does this
remind us of? It reminds us of the activity
of sin. The activity of sin. The word
man suggests the totality, it's all that the man is. The word
old reminds us of the antiquity, deeds. Why here we see that sin
is active, energetic, or the old man with his deeds. Now we know in nature that age
brings inactivity. As we grow older, we find that
our energy is not what it was when we were younger. And things
that we could do so easily, they become more difficult. But how
different it is, you see, with regards to sin. The more we sin, the more active
we become in our sinning. There is non-righteous, no, not
one. They've all gone out of the way, they've all become unholy
and sinless. Remember out there in the third
chapter of Romans, we find the Apostle referring to those things
that are written. Romans 3 verse 10, and the following
verses he's referring to what he's written, and the words are
taken from the Psalms, but he's quoting from two Psalms, Psalms
14 and 53. Twice we have it there in the
Book of Psalms, and then, as if to lay particular emphasis
upon that sad solemn truth, we have it repeated for the third
time. by the Apostle, as it is written,
there is none righteous, no, not one, there is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God, they are all gone out of
the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that
doeth good, no, not one, their throat is an open sepulcher,
with their tongues they have used to seed the poison of asps
is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness,
their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery
are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known? There is no fear of God before
their eyes." What a catalogue! And the amazing thing is, you
know, when we read Romans chapter 3, This is in a book that really
is so full of the Gospel. What is the great theme that
Paul is setting before us in the epistle to the Romans? It's
the Gospel. He's an apostle, he says, separated
onto the Gospel of God which he had promised to fall by his
prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son Jesus Christ
our Lord But to make this gospel message meaningful, men must
understand something of what sin is. And so soon does Paul
begin to speak of the awful nature, the awful character of sin. He spells it out. Or sin is such
an active principle, is it not? Here then in these three works,
we see what it is that must be put off. put off the totality
of sin, put off the antiquity of it, put off the activity of
it. Now He also put off all these. He says, lie not one to another
seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds. But let us turn more particularly
to the words that we have in verse 10, the words which I announced
as our text and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him it is not enough is it to
put off or there is a place for the negative there are negatives
in the word of God but it's not enough to have the negative we
must also have the positive we have the negative the putting
off here in verses 8 and 9, and when we come to verse 10 we come
to the positive. Now the necessity of the positive
is apparent, is it not, from what we are told in the Gospel.
The words of the Lord Jesus himself in Luke chapter 11, and there at verse 24 he says,
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, and walketh through
dry places, seeking rest and finding none, he saith, I will
return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth
it swept and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh to him
seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter
in and dwell there. And the last state of that man
is worse than the first." Oh, it's not enough to put off. It's
not enough to be mortified and put into death. there must also
be this putting on. And you see in verse 10 that
what is put on answers exactly to what is put off. And I put on the new man which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him. And again, there are three significant
words, therefore, that we have to take account of in the text.
First of all, the word man appears again, and I've put on the new
man. What does it remind us of? Does
it not remind us how grace reaches the totality of the man? All that the man is, all grace
is that that affects every part of him. When Paul writes to the Thessalonians, look at
what he says in chapter 5 of 1 Thessalonians and verse 23
he says, the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. And I pray
God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh how grace is to permeate
every part of what the man is. It's to touch his affections. We see that clearly enough here
at the beginning. The opening verses of the chapter.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things
on the earth. For ye are dead and your life
is here with Christ in God. All the believer is to be touched
in his affections. His feelings is to be affected
also of course in his thoughts. He wants to be delivered now
from his foolish thinking, his perverse reasonings. He wants
to understand God's thoughts. He reads God's word. And he wants
to begin to think God's thoughts after him. He wants to see things
that God sees things. All that he is is a man you see.
It's a totality again. that is to be affected by that
grace of God permeating all that he is. But besides man, we also
have this word new, whereas it was the old, now it's the new,
and that put on the new man. What does it remind us of? Well,
a simple truth really. We are not born with grace. We're not born with grace. Isn't there a contrast? in what
we're reading here. At the end of verse 9, put off
the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him. We've already made some reference
to the words of the Lord in John chapter 3 concerning the necessity
of the new birth. He tells us that which is born
of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. So what does the Lord say? Marvel
not! that I said unto thee, ye must be born again or there must
be a new birth, there must be a new nature and where there
is that new nature there is that conflict, there is that difference
between the natures the flesh lusting against the spirit and
the spirit against the flesh and that contrary one to the
other it's what Paul speaks of so Clearly, in such detail, there
in Romans chapter 7, he felt it. He knew it in his own soul's
experience. The new man. That is the new
nature. If any man be in Christ Jesus,
he is a new creature, a new creation. All things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. But then what? What of the deeds? When we considered the old man,
we observed also there in verse 9 something of the old man with
his deeds. But what do we read here in verse 10? Put on the
new man, he says, which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him. Now look at what is said here
concerning deeds. The word is not used, is it?
But it speaks of the man being renewed. He is renewed, it's
a participle, it's in the present tense, and it's in the passive
voice. Now what does that mean? It's
not what the man is doing, that he's being spoken of. It's what
is being done to this man. That's the difference you see.
He's being renewed. He's passive here, he's not active,
he's being renewed. in knowledge after the image
of him that created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew
circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor
free, but Christ is all and in all." This is the great work
of God, this is the work that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
accomplish to save sinners. and as he has accomplished that
salvation so the spirit of Christ comes to make that salvation
a reality in what he works in that soul of the sinner as that
sinner is renewed renewed in knowledge how this man is to
grow you see the imagery that we have in scripture is so simple
is it not The man who is dead in trespasses and sins must be
born again. And as a believer, when he is
first quickened by the Spirit of God, he is a babe. A babe
in grace. He's to grow. How does he grow? He's to grow in grace. Isn't that the exhortation that
we have in Peter? grow in grace, he says,
and in the knowledge of our God and Saviour Jesus
Christ. This is how the believer is to
grow. He grows by knowing more and
more of Christ. He feels ever more a greater
need of the Lord Jesus Christ. the words, the similar words
that we have in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 24 really a parallel
text to the text we're considering tonight and what does the Apostle
say there? You have put on the new man which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. It's a renewal
there of the divine image. He's created anew and he's created
in righteousness and true holiness. That is the image of the Lord
Jesus Christ, is it not? God said, let us make man in
our image after our likeness. And here is the man in Ephesians
4.24, the new man, which after God, after God's image, is created
in righteousness and true holiness. In Genesis chapter 3, the history
of the fall, we see how that image is destroyed and lost in
man. rather than God's image, he now
bears the very image of Satan. Ah, but all is restored. And
how is all restored? In him who comes from heaven,
the one spoken of in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15, the last Adam,
the second man, he comes and he restores the sinner and hath
put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him. See where he is renewed. It's
in knowledge. And we think of the words of
the Lord Jesus in his great prayer in the 17th chapter of John.
He says, this is life eternal that they might know thee the
only true God. and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent." It's that knowledge. It's that knowledge of the true
God and Jesus Christ whom God has sent. It's there, it's in
Him and it's in Him alone that we find a new man. It's the new
man of grace. It's to be in Christ. You are
dead, he says at verse 3, and your life is heads with Christ
in God. And again here, see how he continues
in the verse that follows the text. He says, of those in Christ
there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision,
Bavarian, Scythian, bond, nor free but Christ. is all and in
all, all that we might be those who know what it is to be found
in Him. How Paul desired it, to be found
in Him. He says, not having mine own
righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, to
be in Christ, to have that new nature. And where that new nature
is, there will be that desire to be put in God. to be mortifying
the deeds of the body, and that desire to live to the praise
and the honor and glory of Him who is all the sinner's salvation,
even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and have put on the new man,
which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created
him. May the Lord bless to us His
worth.