I.　Man is a great word in the Bible—Gen. 1:26; Psa. 8:4-6:

A.　God's intention is with man; God's thought is focused on man; and God's heart is set upon man.

B.　It is man who fulfills God's plan; it is man who expresses God; it is man who defeats God's enemy; and it is man who brings the kingdom of God into the human race.

C.　Man is the means of God's manifestation; man is the means of God's move; and man is the means of God's administration—Ezek. 1:26, 5, 10.

D.　God in heaven desires to gain man on earth for His expression by working Himself into man—Eph. 2:15; 3:16-17a.

II.　God's intention in His creation of man is to have a corporate man to express Him and to represent Him—Gen. 1:26:

A.　God's creation of man in Genesis 1 is a picture of the new man in God's new creation; this means that the old creation is a figure, a type, of the new creation—Eph. 2:15; 4:24.

B.　God created man in His own image and then gave man His dominion—Gen. 1:26:

1.　Image refers to God's positive intention—that man would bear God's image for His expression.

2.　Dominion refers to God's negative intention—that man would have God's dominion to represent Him to deal with His enemy.

C.　The church, the Body of Christ, is the one new man to accomplish God's eternal purpose—Eph. 1:9, 11; 3:9; Rom. 8:29; 2 Tim. 1:9; Eph. 2:15-16; 4:22-24:

1.　The emphasis of the church being the Body of Christ is on life, whereas the emphasis of the church being the one new man is on the person.

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

III.　The church as the one new man is the corporate man in God's intention, and this new man will fulfill the twofold purpose of bearing God's image to express Him and of fighting against God's enemy for God's kingdom— 2:15; 4:24; 6:10-20:

A.　The Bible reveals that the one new man is not an individual but a corporate, universal man—2:15; 4:24; Col. 3:10-11:

1.　The one new man is a corporate God-man:

a.　The first God-man, the firstborn Son of God, is the Head of this corporate God-man—the new man—Rom. 8:29; Eph. 4:15.

b.　The many God-men, the many sons of God, are the Body of this corporate God-man—the new man—vv. 16, 24.

2.　We, the believers in Christ, are all one with Christ to be the new man; we all are parts of the one new man:

a.　There are many believers, but there is only one new man in the universe.

b.　All the believers are components of this one corporate and universal new man.

B.　The one new man is a warrior fighting against God's enemy—6:10-20:

1.　The warrior is not a status of the church but an aspect of the church as the new man.

2.　The church as the corporate new man is the warrior, and the believers together make up this new man:

a.　Only the corporate new man as the warrior can wear the whole armor of God; no individual believer can wear it—vv. 11, 13.

b.　We must fight the spiritual warfare not individually but in the Body, in the one new man.

IV.　Now is the time for God to accomplish His purpose to perfect the one new man, who will come into full existence on earth—4:24:

A.　The world situation has been raised up for the goal of the one new man:

1.　Everything the Lord is doing in the present age is to usher in the practical existence of the one new man.

2.　Because of the advances in technology, there is now the possibility that the saints in every locality in their environmental circumstances will become the one new man in reality and practicality.

B.　When the one new man is perfected, that will be the time for the Lord's coming, and the perfected new man will be the bride—Rev. 19:7.