RENEWED IN GOD'S IMAGE

"Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:" (Colossians 3:9,10).

"If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:21,23,24).

In every pursuit, it is essential to have the goal clearly defined. It is not enough that there be movement and progress—we want to know that the movement is headed in the right direction.

When we are in partnership with another person, on whom we are dependent, we need to know that our goal is the same. If our daily renewal is to attain its objective, we need to know clearly and hold firmly to what its purpose is.

"Ye have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge." The divine life, the work of the Holy Spirit within us, is no blind force. We are to be workers together with God. Our cooperation is to be intelligent and voluntary, "The new man I renewed day by day in knowledge." There is a knowledge which the natural understanding can draw from the Word, but which is without life and power. It has no real truth and substance, which spiritual knowledge brings. It is the renewing of the Holy Spirit that gives true knowledge.

This involves an inward tasting, a living experience of the very things of which the words are but the images. "The new man is renewed in knowledge." However diligent our Bible study may be, true knowledge is gained only as spiritual renewal is being experienced. Renewal in the spirit of the mind, in its life and inward being, can alone bring true divine knowledge.

Spiritual Renewal

What is the pattern that will be revealed to this spiritual knowledge, which results from making renewal our only aim? "The new man is renewed in knowledge, after the image of Him that created him." The image, the likeness of God, is the one aim of the Holy Spirit in His daily renewing. That must also be the aim of the believer who seeks that renewal.

This was God's purpose in creation: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). God breathed His own life into man to reproduce in man a perfect likeness to God. In Christ, that image of God has been revealed and seen in human form. We have been predestined and redeemed, and called. We are being taught and equipped by the Holy Spirit to be conformed to the image of the Son, to be imitators of God, and to walk even as Christ walked. In order for daily renewal to take place and daily Bible study and prayer to be of value, we must set our hearts on what God has set His heart on. We must desire that the new man be renewed day by day after the image of Him that created him.

Renewed In Righteousness And Holiness

In the passage from Ephesians, we have this same thought expressed somewhat differently. "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which after God, according to the likeness of God, is created in righteousness and true holiness." Righteousness is God's hatred of sin and maintenance of the right. Holiness is God's glory, in the perfect harmony of His righteousness and love, His infinite exaltation above the creature, His perfect union with him. Righteousness in man includes all God's will concerning our duty to Him and our fellowmen.

Holiness involves our personal relationship to Him. Just as the new man has been created, so it has to be daily renewed "after God in righteousness and holiness." The Holy Spirit is working in us to bring about this renewal. He waits for us day by day to yield ourselves to Him in His renewing grace and power.

The daily returning morning hour is the time for the daily renewing of the Holy Spirit into the image of God as righteousness and holiness. We need a time of meditation and prayer to get our hearts set upon God's purposes. We need a true vision of how the inward man can be renewed day by day into the very likeness of God, changed into the same image by the Spirit of the Lord. Let nothing less be your aim or satisfy your aspirations.

The image of God, the life of God, is in you, and His likeness can be seen in you. Do not separate yourself from God and His likeness. Let all our trust in Him mean nothing less than finding His likeness formed in you by the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Let this be your daily prayer—to be renewed after the image of Him who created you.