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, expresses God, defeats God's enemy, and brings the kingdom of God into the human race.

C.　Man is the means of God's manifestation, the means of God's move, and 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.

E.　God wanted a man, and in the old creation He created a figure, a type, not the real man; the real man—the one new man—is the man Christ created on the cross—Gen. 1:26; Eph. 2:15.

II.　The one new man is a corporate, universal man—4:24; Col. 3:10-11:

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

1.　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.

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

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

III.　The living of the new man should be exactly the same as the living of Jesus; the way Jesus lived on earth is the way the new man should live today—v. 21:

A.　We should "no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind"—v. 17:

1.　The Gentiles, the fallen people, have become vain in their reasonings—Rom. 1:21.

2.　The Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, being controlled and directed by their vain thoughts; whatever they do according to their fallen mind is vanity, void of reality.

3.　It is possible for a saved person, who has the life of God (Eph. 4:18), to walk in the vanity of the mind.

B.　We need to live a life that corresponds to the life of Jesus, a life according to the reality that is in Jesus—v. 21:

1.　The life of the one new man must be that of the reality in Jesus:

a.　The reality in Jesus is the real situation of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels.

b.　Jesus lived a life in which He did everything in God, with God, and for God; God was in His living, and He was one with God.

2.　As a corporate person, the new man should live a life as Jesus did, a life of reality expressing God and causing God to be realized by man—v. 24:

a.　Our standard of living must be according to the reality in Jesus, the reality lived out by Jesus when He was on earth; hence, the life of Jesus should be our life today in the church.

b.　For us to live according to the reality that is in Jesus means that we are taught in Him to live a life of reality, a life in the shining of light and in the expression of God—Matt. 11:29.

IV.　In order to have the living of the one new man, we need to learn Christ—Eph. 4:20:

A.　Christ is not only life to us but also an example; we learn from Him according to His example, not by our natural life but by Him as our life—Matt. 11:29; Col. 3:4.

B.　The four Gospels show us the pattern of the life that God desires, the mold of the life that can satisfy God and fulfill His purpose:

1.　During the years of His life on earth, the Lord Jesus set up a pattern, a mold, a model.

2.　After He set up the pattern revealed in the Gospels, He was crucified and then entered into resurrection, becoming the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b); it is in resurrection that He comes into us to be our life.

C.　To be saved is to be put by God into Christ—1:30; Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27:

1.　To learn Christ is to be placed into Christ by God, to be put into Christ as the mold.

2.　On God's side, He has put us into Christ; on our side, we have learned Christ by being put into Him.

D.　To learn Christ is to be molded into the pattern of Christ, that is, to be conformed to the image of Christ—Eph. 4:20; Rom. 8:29.