I.　God's intention in His creation of man was 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—Eph. 2:15; 4:24:

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

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

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

2.　Eventually, the church as the one new man is the corporate man in God's intention; this new man will fulfill the twofold purpose of expressing God and dealing with His enemy.

B.　The church, the Body of Christ, is the one new man to accomplish God's eternal purpose—Eph. 2:15; 4:24:

1.　The emphasis on the church being the Body of Christ is on life, whereas the emphasis on the church as 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—Col. 3:4; Eph. 3:17a.

C.　The one new man is not an individual but a corporate, universal man; the new man is a corporate God-man, the aggregate of all the God-men—2:15; 4:24.

D.　In the one new man Christ is all the members and in all the members—Col. 3:10-11.

II.　The goal of the Lord's recovery is to bring forth the one new man—Eph. 2:15; 4:22-24; Col. 3:10-11:

A.　In His recovery the Lord is bringing forth the one new man with Himself as the life and person for God's expression—Eph. 3:17a; Col. 3:4, 10-11.

B.　What was divided and scattered in the old man is recovered in the new man—Gen. 11:5-9; Acts 2:5-12; Col. 3:10-11:

1.　In the old man, man was divided and scattered, but in the new man, man is gathered and made one.

2.　To put off the old man is to put off the divided and scattered man; to put on the new man is to put on the gathered and one new man—Eph. 4:22, 24.

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

1.　In the last days of this age, before the Lord will be able to come back, we must see the one Body and the one new man—1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:4; 2:15; 4:24.

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

3.　The one new man will usher in the kingdom of God and will bring Christ, the King, back to the earth—11:15.

III.　All the local churches in the different countries are the one new man—Eph. 2:15, 21-22:

A.　The Lord intends to raise up His believers throughout all the world to seek Him, and when we seek Him, we will see that what He wants is the one new man expressed in the local churches.

B.　All the local churches are not merely local churches but are the one new man—Col. 3:10-11; 4:15-16.

C.　The one new man is not a matter of individual localities and individual churches but of all the churches on earth corporately.

D.　When the one new man has been brought into full existence, we will not speak of the differences between the churches or of the jurisdiction and autonomy of the local churches—1 Cor. 1:10; 4:17; Rev. 2:1a, 7a; 22:16a:

1.　At that time we all will be taking Christ as our person and living Christ; thus only Christ will be among us, and only Christ will be manifested—Phil. 1:20-21a.

2.　All the saints in many countries throughout the world will speak "the same thing"—the all-inclusive Christ—1 Cor. 1:10.

3.　The churches will progress in the divine life to such an extent that eventually they will be absolutely the same—Rev. 1:4, 11-12; 1 Cor. 4:17; 7:17; 14:33b.

E.　The ultimate church life is the universal one new man living out Christ; this will conclude this age, usher in the kingdom, and bring the Lord back—Eph. 4:24; Phil. 1:20-21a; Rev. 11:15.