The New Man

The book of Ephesians is a letter written by the Apostle Paul primarily to gentile believers who had recently accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Paul told them they were now accepted into God's family and redeemed from a life of sin to serve the living God. In chapter four Paul tells these new believers that they are to put off the old man and put on the new man. How do we do this?

The "old man" Paul is talking about is our fleshly nature. That’s the part of us that wants to sin and rebel against God. We are to put off the old man. We do this by making a quality decision to no longer cater to the desires of the fleshly nature. The same way someone would take off an old ragged jacket that no longer serves any useful purpose, we put off the old man, whose identity is in rebelling against God.

Then, we are to put on the new man. How do we do that? By making a quality decision to obey God and whatever His word tells us to do. The same way someone would decide to put on a beautiful new jacket given to us by a friend, we can put on the new man. It starts with a decision to follow God with our whole heart. Our identity is no longer with the old man, but with the new man who is created in Christ Jesus to do good works. It starts with a decision, but the power necessary to maintain this decision has to come from God. We don’t have the power in ourselves to consistently put on the new man, but by surrendering our lives daily to Jesus, His power helps us to put on the new man.

Jesus Won the Victory

When Jesus rose from the dead He defeated death and its power. Through Jesus, there is the promise of eternal life for all who put their trust in Him. If eternal life was the sum total of what Jesus accomplished at Calvary that would be awesome. But Jesus accomplished so much more that applies to the here and now. His promises are not just for getting to heaven, but for experiencing God's presence every day.

In rising from the dead, Jesus not only won the victory over death, He also won the victory over sickness and disease. Acts 3 tells of a man who was lame from his mother’s womb. When he saw Peter and John going up to the temple to worship, he asked them for alms. Peter said, “What I have, I give you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” The lame man rose up well, walking and leaping and praising God.

In Acts 2 the disciples gathered for prayer. As they sought God, the power of the Holy Spirit fell and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then Peter preached his first sermon telling of the saving power of Jesus, and three thousand were saved that day. Acts 16 tells of a young lady who was possessed by an evil spirit. She followed the apostle Paul around and after some time, he turned to her and cast out the evil spirit by the power of the name of Jesus.

When Jesus rose from the dead, He won the victory over death. He also gave His name to His church. That in the name of Jesus there is salvation, healing, and deliverance from the control of satan and the promise of eternal life if we believe in Him. Praise God!