Question 13 B – How Did God Create Man?
“and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” – Col 3:10 ESV
And have put on the new man, Concerning which, and the putting it on; see Gill on Eph 4:24,
which is renewed in knowledge; this man, or principle of grace in the soul, is a new one, which never was there before; and there is a daily renovation of it in the spirit of the mind, by the Spirit of God; for as the outward man decays, the inward man, which is the same with this new man, is renewed day by day, increases in holiness and righteousness, grows in grace, and particularly in “knowledge”; light and knowledge of a man’s self, of his lost state and condition by nature, of his need of Christ, and of his salvation, is what appears at the first formation of this new man; and the daily renovation of him lies in an increase of spiritual, experimental, and saving knowledge of God, and Christ, and divine things; and indeed, until a man becomes a new creature, he neither knows, nor is he capable of knowing, the things of the Spirit of God; so that this new man, or principle of grace, begins with spiritual knowledge, and is formed in order to it, and its increase lies in it:
after the image of him that created him; the new man; for this is a creation work, and so not man’s, but God’s; and is made not after the image of the first man, no not as innocent, and much less as fallen; but after the image of Christ, to which the elect of God are predestinated to he conformed, and which is stamped in regeneration; and more and more appears by every transforming view of Christ, and will be perfected in heaven, when they shall see him as he is, and be perfectly like him, who is not only the pattern, but the Creator of it, even the author and finisher of faith. [Gill]
“and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” – Eph 4:24 ESV
And that ye put on the new man, Which some understand of Jesus Christ, who is truly and really man, and a new or extraordinary one, Jer 31:22 and as such is God’s creature, and is made after his image, and which appears in his perfect holiness and righteousness; and the phrase of putting on well agrees with him, Rom 13:14 whose righteousness is a garment, pure and spotless, and which is put on by the hand of faith: though rather by the “new man” is meant, the new nature, the new principle, or work of grace in the soul, elsewhere called a new creature; and it bears this name in opposition to, and distinction from the old man, or corruption of nature, before spoken of; and because it is “de noro”, or anew, put into the hearts of men; it is not what was in them naturally; nor is it any old principle renewed, or wrought up in another and better form; but it is something that is infused, that was never there before: and because it is new in all its parts; such who have it, have new hearts and new spirits given unto them; they have new eyes to see with, and new ears to hear with, and new hands to handle and work with, and new feet to walk with; and they live a new life and conversation: so the Jews says of a man that truly repents of sin, and does not return to it, that he is חדש איח, “a new man”: now to put on this new man, is not to make ourselves new creatures; for this is not by the power of man, but by the Spirit of God; this is God’s work, and not man’s; it is he who made us at first, remakes us, and not we ourselves; besides, these Ephesians the apostle writes to, were already made new men, or new creatures; but to put on the new man, is to walk in our lives and conversations agreeably to the new man, or work of grace upon the soul; as to put off the old man, respects the former conversation, or a not walking as formerly, and agreeably to the dictates of corrupt nature, so to put on the new man, is to walk according to the principles of grace and holiness formed in the soul: and of this new man it is further said,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness; the principle of the soul is “created”, and therefore is not the effect of man’s power, which cannot create; it is peculiar to God only to create; it is a creature, and therefore not to be trusted in, and depended on; for not grace, but the author of grace, is the object of trust: it is created “after God”; by his power, according to his mind and will, and after his image, and in his likeness; which greatly consists “in righteousness and true holiness”; called “true”, in opposition to the typical and ceremonial holiness of the Jews, and to the pretended holiness of hypocrites; and denotes the truth and genuineness of the Spirit’s work of sanctification upon the heart; unless this should rather be considered as the effect of his grace upon the soul; for so the words may be rendered, “unto righteousness and true holiness”; for the new man is of such a nature, and so formed, as to tend to acts of righteousness and holiness, and to engage men to the performance of them: some copies read, “in righteousness, and holiness, and truth”; and so the Ethiopic version seems to have read. [Gill]
Answer – God created man male and female, after His own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
Downloadable Coloring Page for Younger Children and Workpage for Older Children.
Photo by Michal Vrba on Unsplash
- Weeping for Spurgeon: A Time of Unrelenting Misery and Darkness - October 19, 2021
- Beating the Drudgery of Bible Reading Plans - May 18, 2021
- How Did God Create Man? – Part 2: Question 13 B - December 21, 2020
