THE IMAGE AND THE MIRROR

Eph. 4:24

Morning Meditation 2/17/2013

“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

What is Paul telling us to do in this verse? Lets look at the words and apply them and try to discover the meaning for us.

The words “and that ye put on the new man...” tell us what to do. The words “put on” (enduo) mean “to sink into (clothing), to put on, to clothe oneself.” It is an aorist middle infinitive. The aorist tense means at a point of time and describes an action completed at the point of performance. The middle voice is where the subject participates in the result of the action. This means that the one who does this will personally benefit from the action. In other words, if you do this you will be helped by it, i.e., you will be fulfilling the purpose for which God created you in Christ. The Greek word that is translated “put on” is found 26 times in the New Testament. It is translated “put on” in Mark 6:9 where Jesus is telling his disciples not to “put on” two coats. It is translated “clothed” in Mark 15:17 where they “clothed” Jesus with a purple robe in mockery. It is translated “putting on” in First Thessalonians 5:8 where Paul tells us to put on the breastplate of faith and love. In every case it is used in the sense of putting on a garment.

What are we to put on? He says, “and that ye put on the new man.” The words “new man” describes what we are to put on. The word “new” (kainos) means, when it is speaking of substance, “of a new kind, unprecedented, uncommon, unheard of.” The word “man” (anthropos) means “a human being, whether male or female.” God started with a man in the Garden of Eden and he is going to wind up with a man in heaven. But he is going to be a “new man” in contrast to the “old man” that sinned in the garden temptation.

This “new man” is unprecedented, uncommon, unheard of so far as the world is concerned. This new man that cannot be seen with the eye or examined by science is called the “inner man” in Ephesians 3:16: “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” This inner man came into being when a person is born again. God creates a new man in the body of the old. He is a “new” (kainos) man of a “new kind, uncommon, unheard of.” He is not unheard of to God, or the saints because we have been informed. It is an open secret (which is called a mystery) in the New Testament (Col. 1:25-29).

The words “which after God” mean after God’s image. Man was created in the image of God and that image was marred by sin in the garden temptation. The purpose of salvation is to restore that image. Romans 8:29 says, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” The word “conformed” (summorphos) in this verse means “having the same form as another, to be similar, to be conformed to.” Believer’s were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26) because they were his followers and they looked and talked like him.

The words “is created” (ktizo) mean “to create.” It is used “of God creating the worlds.” It can mean “to form, to shape, i.e., to completely change or transform.” It is an aorist passive participle. This means that this creation is not an evolutionary process. It is done suddenly at a point of time and that point of time being when one is saved. The passive voice means that we do not create ourselves (that would be active or middle voice) but God performs this act on us. This is what happens when a person is saved. Now it is obvious that this creation does not take place on the outward man, i.e., the old adamic man. A person who is saved is not glorified when he is saved. He still lives in the same body. If he is young, he still looks young, if he is older like myself he has the same wrinkles. But he is a “new man” in the old body. The body, now that the believer is saved, is called a “temple.” Paul says in First Corinthians 6:19, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” It is a temple because it is where God lives in the new man which was created after God’s image.

The words “in righteousness and true holiness” describe the new man God has created after his image within the body of the old man. The word “righteousness” (dikaiosune) means “integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting.” This describes the inward man as God creates him at the point of salvation. If you could see the inward man, this is the way he would look. It is not an attainment arrived at by human effort. If you could have seen Adam before he sinned you would have seen such a person. He would not have been that way by human effort. You would simply have seen the handiwork of God. He was created that way.

The words “true holiness” (hosiotes) means “piety towards God, fidelity in observing the obligations of piety, holiness.” The word true means true in contrast to feigned holiness. Man can put on an act and appear to be holy. God is holy in his essence. God is holy without effort. He creates man after his own image in “true holiness.” Again, this is not preformed on the outward man. It is the way the new man called the ‘inner man” is created. The inner man is the way he is because that is the way God created him. He is holy without effort.

Now lets apply this verse. We are to put on as a garment the new man. If you put this new man on as a garment, he is outside now in the view of observers. This is a mirror image. It is not an image by imitation (human effort). It is a reflected image like the mirror reflects the image of a person standing before it. Our body and personality are mirrors. We experience seeing this daily. It is not a new concept to us. A person’s joy is reflected in his countenance. A person’s sadness is reflected in his countenance. A person’s anger is reflected in his countenance. Christ can be reflected in the countenance of the believer. But he must be “put on.” It is not just automatic or Paul would not be making this exhortation to the Christians in Ephesus.

Now for a mirror to reflect an image, someone has to be standing before it. In this case, Jesus who lives within must be standing before the mirror of our personalities. Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Here the Word of God is the mirror in which we gaze at Jesus. The word “beholding” does not refer to a glimpse. It refers to a constant gaze. Our bodies and personalities then become the mirror in which he is reflected to those who see us. The words “are changed into the same image” is the way it takes place. As we gaze at Jesus we are changed into the same image that we are gazing at. The word “changed” (metamorphoo) means “to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure, Christ appearance was changed and was resplendent with divine brightness on the mount of transfiguration.” The “another form” is the form of the ONE we are beholding. The word “changed” is a verb and it is present passive indicative. The present tense means that this change continues to take place in our lives right now as we continue to gaze at Jesus. The passive voice means that the transformation takes place as a result of God acting on us to make this happen.

Our lives are mirrors. What image do people see when they behold our bodies and experience out personalities? Is Jesus standing before the mirrors of our lives. It is a choice.

May God bless each of you.

In Christ

Bro. White