The Hidden New Man

Indeed, the doubt that sometimes assails us regarding the truth of the existence of a new man in us, or a new birth, or a new creation working in us, first refers to our having made it easy for the old man to be active more than is due, especially regarding the nature of the old man—for it is imperceptible and unspoken. It suffices in our words and deeds, and we work for the future.

Simply and in true faith, God’s work in us, so that we may have this new creation, is not a work of our own that we can feel, or a nature similar to ours that we can perceive or understand, but rather God’s new work in us, and very new, which has nothing in common with the old. Christ Himself is an example before all eyes: everyone who lives in Christ—that is, in sonship and election, in a state of reconciliation and presence before Him without blame—is so because of Christ. This is the newness granted to us freely.

The new creation is not revealed or clearly declared except by the Spirit of Christ speaking in us and bearing witness to our consciences, through our daily fellowship in death with Christ by the Spirit in conduct, until we appear by the nature of the new life.

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” — Romans 6:4–5

And the new creation, if it comes from an inner power and through attachment to the Word to live with Christ, then Christ reveals its inner workings more and more. The new creation we cannot create ourselves for ourselves, for it is from above, whereas we are from the earth. And we cannot grow it with our self-power, or preach it with our actions, or prove it with our words, because this new creation is truth, and truth grows only by the Word of God and by the secret of His exceeding graces. For God alone is the one who reveals it, declares it, and confirms its existence for us and for people as a work of His own, for we are His work, and the living Christ in us will remain forever, despite the fact that we will be fully transformed into it in the end, and in it will be declared:

“For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” — Colossians 3:3–4

The new creation is the part in us that speaks truth, which is from God, and which has perfectly testified to the truth for God. Therefore it is higher than all our abilities, because all our abilities are beneath the truth.

“I said in my haste, ‘All men are liars.’” — Psalm 116:11

After the fall, God did not desire that man should be a stranger to divine existence or alienated from eternal truth. He returned and made us partakers in His true being when He incarnated and united the human nature with the divinity in the depths, rose from the dead, breathed into us of the spirit of His resurrection, and made His being, rest, and dwelling within us. Thus the new creation in us takes its full existence in God with an unchanging progress: from darkness to light, from a life of loving the flesh to a life according to the Spirit. But the strength of this newness remains forever with all our new gifts, hidden and concealed in Christ personally, who distinguishes our new creation and brings it into existence from nothingness.

And thus, to the extent that we reveal the crucified and resurrected Christ through knowledge via the Word and through experience via the mystery, we reveal ourselves. All of this, as it introduces us to the truth of Christ, introduces us to our existence and to the truth that is within us. For Christ, as an experience of companionship and life, is initially a wonderful taste of the reconciliation that occurred between us and God, in the movements of the good priest and the burden of repentance. In the end our glory and the crown of our life truly become our own, for our whole new being is from Him.

“For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.” — Ephesians 5:30

And even if not everyone can bear witness to Him, all who belong to Christ are the mouth of Christ with all He possesses, and their inheritance and portion remain theirs.

And Why Do We Sin While the New Creation Is Within Us?

But the question that perplexes hearts and sometimes casts despair upon our thoughts is: Why do we still sin? Or how, after all this, and at the heart of the new creation, do we sin? And what is the result of sin here?

Here the answer is noteworthy, for the sin presented to the new man and facing this new creation risen from the dead does not emanate from our being anymore as a nature, but as a struggle against our new nature. For man, no matter how inspired he is and even if he is at the peak of his new life, he is still subject to rage, anger, grudges, lying, and lust. All this is not considered a fruit of the new nature, but rather it is the result of the ongoing conflict between the old and the new, constantly evolving for God’s sake:

“For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” — Galatians 5:17

Here it is required of man himself to undertake the task of condemning himself so that he does not fall under God’s judgment. He condemns himself, judges his own self, reproaches, chastises, and punishes, as if it were upon his own actions.

Here, man, in the depth of humiliation, stands judging his conscience and issues a judgment upon himself without mercy. No, rather he is in the protection of reconciliation, forgiveness, and the simplicity of Christ, who intercedes for him, defends him, and atones for him. Man’s judgment of himself is in itself a standing proof of the existence of the voice of truth and the law of holiness and righteousness dwelling in the depths of his creation, where it besieges sin in the good conscience, places it in the position of severe blame, and separates it as an act inconsistent with the new nature. This in itself is a prelude to accepting the innocence of Christ, which is based on a similar judgment for the same sin, for which Christ already paid in full from His blood, which He offered by an eternal Spirit.

If there were no judgment and blame from the conscience for acts of sin and transgression, it would be clear proof of the absence of the secret of confession and its holiness, the existence of repentance for sin, and no work to preserve the new creation—meaning that a person like this has not understood its importance.

Our Existence in Christ, and Christ’s Existence in Us, Creates Within Us the Feeling of the New Creation

We do not rely on current human experience, and we do not grow in the knowledge of Christ Himself; this existence completely differs from our personal physical existence—it is another existence. And our entrance into this spiritual reality in our lives creates within us and within the family a feeling of another existence for the new creation, an existence higher than our own, which is established and enduring within it.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” — Romans 8:14

Not everyone is able to enter into this deep experience at first, nor are all hearts quickly ready to recognize the presence of Christ within them. For the discovery of His presence and work is rather the depth of specialization in relationships with Christ; Christ may be present and alive, but not yet revealed. As for those who have realized the presence of Christ within them, these are the ones appointed to lead the ranks, and their eyes and ears have been opened for testimony and to reassure those who have received Christ but have not yet realized Him by feeling.

So it is enough for us to live in the humility of Christ’s mystery if we cannot live openly in the revelation of His glory, until the time comes when we see Him face to face and heart to heart. But this does not mean that knowing Christ, feeling Him, and reaching the proof of His presence with us is a difficult or arduous matter, or as if it were a special high gift; for Christ is humble, and the key to entering Him and knowing Him comes from this very characteristic. For every true humility, every true submission, and every sincere obedience to the Holy Spirit is sufficient to lead us to Him to live with Him. As for this change in its entirety, it is a transformation from a life according to the flesh to a life according to the Spirit, meaning we must be ready for a fundamental change in the use of all our senses from the level of dust, flesh, and blood to the level of the Spirit.

We must be ready from the outset to live in the Other—that is, in Christ—and no longer live in ourselves. Christ must be the object of our knowledge that consumes our attention in life, until the transformation and transition from a life revolving around ourselves to a life centered in the true source of its existence, that is, Christ. This is the life of the heart. We completely get rid of the misleading self-leadership and its strong ties to the body and earthly desires, and to people, flesh, blood, and the world. Then extreme caution must be exercised against operations of counterfeiting—that is, counterfeiting religious and spiritual practices to convince man to be content—for thus Satan succeeds in blocking the way forward and the necessary and inevitable change.

All these preparations are not difficult for the humble ones who long for life with Christ, His service, and witnessing for Him, especially if we take into account that Christ is already present within us and that discovering Christ’s presence and His fullness is no more than discovering an existing truth at the core of our lives and existence, from which we are merely lost. We should also know that the presence of Christ in us and our obtaining the new fullness—which is our other existence, our eternal life, our new creation, and our heavenly inheritance—all of this is the work of Christ and not our work. For His work is glorified in Christ Jesus for good works which He has prepared beforehand for us to walk in. Christ has indeed completed all the requirements for our new creation in His person, in Himself and by Himself, with all wisdom and insight, and with all toil until His blood was shed, so that He may gather us all in Himself without any hindrance or difficulty from our side. It is enough for us to believe so we find Him, and it is enough for us to entreat Him so He opens our eyes, and it is enough for us to love Him so we see Him within us and see ourselves in Him. Therefore, we should realize the following matters: