Put on the new man

and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. – Colossians 3v10-14


So, what do we replace the old man with? If we ever get to the point when we can kinda, sorta, maybe put him aside, with all of his works – what do we do next? What do we replace it with?

Now e put on the new man. This new man has had his knowledge renewed in the image of Christ. We could stop here and look at all the theological implications, but I just want to see how this new man manifests himself. I just noticed, I think for the first time, that all of these manifestations regard others. Sometimes it helps me to see things in a list rather that in a body of text.

The body of believes, which are all one, holy, and beloved are challenged to put on:

Tender mercies
Kindness
Humility
Meekness
Longsuffering
Bearing with each other
Forgiving each other with Christ’s forgiveness

Look how every aspect of the new man in this part of the list deals with others. Notice as well which aspect of the new man comes first.

The first way that we manifest the new man is in relation to others. Others always go first. We don’t think about us. The old man was all about gratifying himself, the new man is all about treating others right.

After all, isn’t each part of that list perfected in Christ? And isn’t He the perfect model for the new man?