The New Man Chosen

In the beginning God created man in His likeness and image (Gen. 1:26, 27). But Adam sinned, and they lost the image and likeness of God. There was, of course, no change in their genealogy, but there was certainly a change in their character, for a revolution of the mind had taken place. Instead of being ruled by the mind of the Spirit, they were now ruled by the mind of the soul.

It was the mother of all political coups. With the soulish mind now in the position of rulership, it assumed a calling that was impossible for it to fulfill, for it did not have the same capabilities as the Spiritual mind. And so it came under the curse of the law, which brought it mortality.

In the New Testament, these two minds are called the Old Man and the New Man. The Old Man within is the carnal mind of the soul; the New Man within us is the spiritual mind. Each has a consciousness and a will. They compete for rulership within each person. As believers, we are admonished in passages like Eph. 4:23, 24,

" ⁽²³⁾ and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ⁽²⁴⁾ and put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."

Paul is telling us here that the New Man is that which was created in the likeness of God at the beginning. That is its inherent character. The soulish mind (or, the carnal mind) is neither in the likeness of God, nor can it be, apart from the Spirit. Its original purpose was to function as the servant to the spiritual mind--not its master.

When we "put on the new man," we are really putting the New Man back into his rightful place as the Master decision-maker. The soul then resumes its rightful place functioning as the Amen-executor of the Spirit's will. When that right relationship between soul and spirit is restored, a marriage union takes place, resulting in the conception of the Manchild, "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27).

This Manchild, Christ in you, is in every way like Jesus Christ, for it is part of His Body. Even as Jesus had a heavenly Father (Spirit) and an earthly mother (Soul), so also do we as believers. The Holy Spirit has conceived a holy seed within us (1 John 3:9). We read about this conception, or "begetting" in 1 Peter 1:3,

"Blessed be that God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy,has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (The Emphatic Diaglott)

At the present time, Christ in us is in a type of embryonic form, not yet brought to full birth. Its due date is the Feast of Tabernacles of some year.

As long as the soulish mind remains subservient to the spiritual mind, we are able to remain in the likeness of Christ. But the spiritual mind does not force the soulish mind to submit, for it does not subject her to Himself. The command is for wives to submit themselves, not for husbands to subject their wives. The soul has been taught to fear, however, and so it has not yet had that full understanding of the spirit's love that is drawing the soul into union with itself.

"Christ in you" is the Chosen One in the eyes of God. It is for the same reason that Jesus Christ was Chosen. Jesus was not the Chosen One merely on account of His genealogy to the first Adam through Mary. He was Chosen on account of His genealogy through His Father.

It is the same with us. Our flesh that we received from Adam is not chosen. The sentence of death is upon it, and it can only die. Nor will that old flesh with its genealogy from Adam be raised from the dead. No, in the resurrection we will have an entirely new body that is not under the sentence of death. It will be a new creation. The law will have no more jurisdiction over it, because it will be perfected, and the law was not made for the righteous but for sinners only (1 Tim. 1:9).

The law will be unnecessary and irrelevant, because it will not have to command or remind us to be obedient. We will be obedient by nature as part of our being. This is the meaning of the terms of the New Covenant, which says in Heb. 8:10 and 11,

" ⁽¹⁰⁾ I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them upon their hearts . . . ⁽¹¹⁾ And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest of them."

When the law is fully written upon our hearts, we will not trespass, but will function always within the moral boundaries of the law, which is the expression of the mind and character of God. Furthermore, the scope of the New Covenant will be universal, from the least to the greatest.

Yet no one is truly "chosen" while his carnal mind still rules, for that would make the first Adam chosen, rather than the last Adam. The Old Man can only die; the New Man is chosen, but only because this New Man has a heavenly Father and is in command. As believers, that New Man within you, that Manchild, that Christ in you is the real YOU. This holy seed, this offspring, this child of both Father-God and mother-you, is what you are becoming. It is the New You in embryonic form, growing up into the full stature of Christ.

Jesus said in Luke 17:33,

"Whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it; and whoever loses his life shall preserve it."

What did He mean? Are we all supposed to commit suicide? Of course not. He was referring to one's soul, because man was made a "living soul" (or a soul in which is life). To keep one's life was to keep one's soul "alive." But Jesus was not talking so literally. He was talking about the relationship between soul and spirit.

Which one rules your life? If you are ruled by your soul, you will lose it. If your soul is able to losecontrol, it will find life through the spirit. When soul and spirit are in a right relationship that is willing because of love and not forced through fear and guilt, then the soul will find rest, peace, and joy.

Being "chosen" to rule God's Kingdom is therefore not based upon one's genealogy from Adam, but upon one's spiritual genealogy by the Spirit of God. This is what made Jesus chosen, and it is what makes His Body chosen as well. If anyone is depending upon his physical genealogy to become "chosen," he will be disappointed in the end.

Physical genealogy has some value, as Paul says in Romans 3:1 and 2, for they were entrusted to present the Scriptures to the world. But if they do not actually live by those Scriptures, their genealogy is of little value. For example, Jesus said in John 13:18,

"I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me'."

Jesus was saying that eleven of His disciples were "chosen," but Judas was not chosen. On what grounds? The answer is in the two previous verses:

" ⁽¹⁶⁾ Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is the one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. ⁽¹⁷⁾ If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them."

Judas was about to assume control of the situation by trying to force Jesus to manifest Himself to save His own life. He was a "slave" who was trying to become the master. His soul was ruling his spirit. Therefore, he was not one of the chosen ones, regardless of his genealogy. This principle holds true for us as well.