A New Man

(The following was first posted in July 2020)

“O that a new man would rise up within me and conquer the man that I am.”   Author Unknown   

The above is a quote I heard or read a number of years ago.  I don’t remember the context in which I heard or read it and have been unable to find it again in any Google search. (I have since found a form of it in a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson.)

However, it was a cry – a prayer of sort, that immediately struck a chord deep in my soul where I strive each day to keep hidden/suppressed, an abiding sense of guilt and shame and related fears that I have carried since my youth like a loathsome disease.

This cry expressed the desperate longing in my heart to be free from this disease and to become a much different man than I am, the man whom I always wanted to be but have failed miserably in my efforts to become; a man of uprightness and integrity, a man of courage and fortitude, a man of wisdom and understanding, a man of kindness and compassion, a man of competence and diligence, a man of significance and value to others, a man like King David whom God acknowledged to be a man after God’s own heart; ultimately a man worthy of glory and honor as man was created by God to be (Psalm 8:4-5).

My failure to become such a man and the related shame and guilt have dogged me even after I became a Christian, maybe even more so as a Christian, as my sin, failures and inadequacies have become even more apparent to me, especially as I compare myself to other Christian men.

However, it is not other Christian men that I should be comparing myself to in evaluating and determining my significance, my adequacy as a man, but to the only man who has ever lived in this world as man was created to be, namely Jesus Christ, who in His life, death and resurrection was crowned with glory and honor (Hebrews 2:5-9) and is not only the standard for all who would seek the same (Romans 2:4-11), but the only means for achieving it (Colossians 1:27-28).

The Bible presents to us the impossibility of our being able through any means or ability of our own of becoming such a person. The hopelessness of our condition is described in Ephesians 2:1-3 as being “dead in trespasses and sins” and under the wrath of God.

As members of the sinful, fallen race of Adam, we bear his guilt and shame; unworthy to live in the presence of God, unable to live for the glory of God. The corruption of our nature and character is expounded upon in Romans 3:9-18, and of our whole being in Romans 1:18-32. The desperate nature of our plight is described in Ephesians 2:12 as our being “without hope and without God”.  It is this condition the Bible refers to in Ephesians 4:21-24 as “the old man” who is not getting better over time but is becoming increasingly corrupt through the deceitfulness of our sinful desires.

But thanks be to God, that same passage speaks of a “new man” whom God has created in righteousness and holiness; the man who by our union with Jesus Christ through faith, we are and are becoming (2 Corinthians 5:17) (Romans 8:28-29) (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).

It was God’s plan from the foundation of the earth (1 Peter 1:18-20) that God the Son, Jesus Christ, would take upon Himself full humanity, and as a man accomplish everything necessary for men and women, dead in their trespasses and sins, to be restored to spiritual life (Ephesians 2:1), justly forgiven of all their sins and declared righteous by God (Romans 5:1-2), adopted as God’s beloved children (Galatians 4:4-7), reconciled to the glorious relationship with God for which they were created (Romans 5:10), and perfected in every aspect of their being (Hebrews 10:14) to again and forever glorify God in our bodies and in our spirits (1 Corinthians 6:20). This would be the glorious destiny of all who would repent of their sins, entrust their lives to Jesus as their all-sufficient Savior, and submit to Him as their sovereign Lord (1 John 3:1-3).

However, our transformation into this new man will not be completed while in this world. We struggle with our old selfish and prideful nature at times, fall into the sin we now hate, and get discouraged and disgusted with our lack of progress (Romans 7:19-25). However, we need to remember that this transformation is ultimately God’s work and not ours.  You and I have the assurance in Philippians 1:3-6 that He – Jesus, who began this good work in us – will be faithful to complete it. Our responsibility is to keep our heart and mind focused upon Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2); striving to grow daily in our knowledge of Him, our love for Him, our trust in Him and our obedience to Him.

More on this in my next post.

Grace and Truth ×