A New Kind of Human: 7 Characteristics of the New Human

This is the third and final segment of my sermon on Ephesians 4:17-25, entitled "A New Kind of Human", delivered to Marion Park 7/11/09.

Before you read on make sure you've read Ephesians 4:17-25.

II. The Characteristics of the New Human
Ephesians 4:20-24:
²⁰But that is not the way you learned Christ!— ²¹assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²²to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
1. They have Heard about Christ

2. They have been Taught the Truth in Jesus

3. They Put Off the Old Humanity

4. They Know the Old Human is Corrupt and its Desires Deceitful

5. They are being Renewed in the Spirit of their Minds

6. They Put On the New Human

7. They are Created in the Likeness of God in True Righteousness and Holiness

1. They have Heard about Christ
-Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. To understand the coming of the Messiah as the Savior of the world they must have heard something of Adam, the fall of mankind, and thus the nature of the old humanity, the patriarchs and God's dealings with Israel, all of which point to the need for Christ. Then they hear of the entrance of Jesus onto the stage of history to fulfill all righteousness. He perfectly lived out the law, being God's true Son, his genuine Israel, the ultimate prophet and teacher, a healer and wonder-worker with all authority, a king to lead God's people and subdue their enemies, a priest to mediate between us and the Father, the all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins in his death, and the authentication of the hope he offers us in his resurrection from the dead.
-This phrase may also be translated not just "heard about him", but "heard him", "assuming you have heard Christ himself". Merely hearing the information about Christ may characterize an old human just as well as a new, but to hear him say to you personally, "Come, follow me," with that voice of such authority that you can only walk after him, that is a characteristic of the new human. To have heard him call out to you in the deadness and darkness and corruption of the grave, "Lazarus, come out!" that is something that only those who have been made new have ever experienced. Have you heard Christ?

2. They have been Taught the Truth in Jesus
-Not only have they heard him, but they have followed, they have walked along the discipleship road as learners of Jesus. He has taught them such truth that the shadows of their minds must simply flee away. While he is with them all is bright as day and the lies and vanity and corruption is revealed for what it had always been. They have come to know the truth, and the truth has set them free. They have read the apostolic witness in the Bible, they have heard the word of God preached to them, and it has been applied to their lives in community with other Christians.
-Most importantly the truth in Jesus means that they have been instructed that by faith they have become identified with Jesus, they have been taught how they were grafted in to him and now he is their covenant head, and no longer Adam. By union with him, he bore their sin and purchased them, and they received his righteousness, and through him are brought into relationship with God, in full communion now with the status of sons. Have you been taught the truth in Jesus?

3. They Put Off the Old Humanity
-Paul gives us here the metaphor of taking off clothing to describe how we are to "put off" the old human in us. While we have been made new in Christ, the old garments relating to our old way of life tend still to cling to us and to inhibit us from living as this new kind of human. For the Christian one characteristic of being a new creation is the fact that we keep having to put off the old man. Until our bodies are raised up at the last day to resemble Christ's glorious body, the old human which Paul elsewhere calls the 'flesh' still clings to us and tries to enslave us once again to it. And so the new must continually battle the old for supremacy in this in-between time. Every day we must wake up to decide, "What will we wear today?" And many times throughout the day, we may realize that we must go again to the cross for a new change of clothes. But the good news is that, in this spiritual battle at least, the 'survival of the fittest' is the name of the game. And let me tell you a secret, the new human is far more fit than the old. If God has truly made you new then the old man, though he may cling to you and still war against you, is doomed for extinction. Are you putting off the old humanity?

4. They Know the Old Human is Corrupt and its Desires Deceitful
-New humans know that the old human in them is rotting and decaying. It is being corrupted, corroded in its very nature. What looks like golden treasure is subject to moth and rust and thieves. Just look at any of the things that the old humanity sets its hope on. Money: Well that's gone pretty quick. Human applause: there's always someone new that's going to push you out of the spotlight. Relationships: they never fully satisfy.
-Moreover, all its desires are just a theatrical illusion. They are merely an attempt to deceive. Since they are merely earthly and lack the light of heavenly realities, they lie about the true nature of yourself, of the world at large, and ultimately they lie about God. Paul is talking not only about the gross and visible lusts (like extra-marital sex, drugs, porn, over-eating), but also ambition, cunning and everything which proceeds from self-love or lack of confidence in God. Do you know that the old human is corrupt and its desires are deceitful?

5. They are being Renewed in the Spirit of their Minds
-Jerome: "We are not being renewed in our thinking process apart from the renewal of our spirits. Nor are we renewed in our spirits without thinking. We are being jointly renewed 'in the spirit of our mind.'" Paul seems to imply here the gluing of our minds and spirits together into one cohesive whole. You see, the world separates these things out because it can't keep the spirit and the mind together. For them you can't be spiritual and reasonable at the same time. Christianity is different. New humans are being renewed in the spirit of their minds.
-Paul is also pointing out by this that its not just the worst parts of us need to be renewed, its not just the baser part of our nature, but even the very highest, best and most noble parts of our old nature need to be renewed. This is not just behavior modification that Paul is speaking of. It is not just a new method of actualizing your potential. This is a miraculous renewal in the very deepest part of who you are. By letting in the light of the gospel into your mind more and more, the spirit of your mind actually gets re-hardwired. Your thoughts change. Your inmost desires shift. Your whole person is renewed from the inside out. Are you being renewed in the spirit of your mind?

6. They Put On the New Human
-Not only do we need to put off the old, and be renewed in the very best parts of our inner nature, but we must also put on the trappings of that new nature. This is the same metaphor of clothing from before. New humans are in the process of putting on the clothes of the new humanity. And you know, it is the character of Christ himself, the new man par excellence, that we must put on. We are to adorn ourselves with his righteousness, and to clothe ourselves with his love. His wisdom is to be the crown on our head, and his virtue the belt around our waist.
-You see, God is completely responsible for giving us our new nature. But thankfully that doesn't mean there is nothing for us to do. You get to continually work at putting on the right clothing. Through faith invest yourself with his garments. Live in accordance with your new nature. Be a new kind of human in how you act, how you think, how you live. Remind yourself of your true identity throughout the day. Paul's message is basically this: Dress in accordance with your station. Business men dress like businessmen, children dress like children, policemen dress like policemen, firefighters dress like firefighters, ballerinas dress like ballerinas, tennis players dress like tennis players, and should not Christians dress like Christ? Are you putting on the new human?

7. They are Created in the Likeness of God in True Righteousness and Holiness
-The new human is nothing less than a new creation by God himself. We are made in his own image as at first. He restores to us through Christ what Adam had lost for us through disobedience. While there may be an appearance of righteousness or holiness among the old humanity, it is ultimately false. It is but an appearance or show, without the real substance or power. Only by the new creation of God in the likeness of Christ can anyone share in the true righteousness and holiness of God.

-And you know that's what Paul's been saying all along here. There are no shortcuts to get from the old humanity to the new. Only by God's spontaneous work of new creation in the heart is anyone ever going to be pleasing to him. There is no other righteousness; no other holiness will do. No godlikeness is really godly, except for what comes through new creation. The lines between old and new human have been drawn and they are clear. So now I want to ask you? Do you have the characteristics of the old humanity or the new? Have you been created anew in the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness? Or do you still remain in the darkness and deadness of the old humanity? Either way, what you need is Christ? What we all need this evening is the work of Jesus in our hearts and our minds and our spirits to renew us and restore to us his image, so that we might be a new kind of humanity for his own possession and the praise of his glory and grace. So let's all pray for that now together.