This is part one of a two part post in which i'm going to spend some time reflecting and talking about the old man, via Ephesians 4:22. Here is the verse:
"22That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;" (Eph 4:22, KJV)
I love the old King James here because it calls it an old man. It paints for me a more tanglible picture of what we are talking about when we refer to our flesh, our sinful nature, our old man. When the apostle Paul, the author of this letter through the inspiration of God (2 timothy 3:16) writes this, there are two things I think are worth noting. Firstly, it's written as a command. It's not a suggestion, there is no conditional statement. He very plainly says "put off". Secondly, because it's a command, we can thereby infer that it's something that is possible. We very well can put off the old man, remove him from his seat of dominion within us. However, before we get much farther, lets take a look at why he's called an old man, and the old man himself.
1)Our flesh, the old man, literally is an old man. This old man has been around since the time of Adam and Eve. It's the same old man that sat in the Garden of Eden and whispered sweet honey in the form of questioning God's character.
"He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You[a] shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" 2And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:1-5)
The serpent's, the old man's purpose from the beginning was to lie to us, to get us to question God's character and his goodness, and to decieve us. On a more personal note, consider how often our sin is a product of thinking that we might know better, that we are somehow missing out on something better by living a life obedient to Christ, that God, in it's very root, is holding out on us. It's the same game that the old man has been playing since the beginning of time. and it's once we bring God's character into question and entertain the idea that the old man might have a point, that we take a bite from the lie-laden fruit perched upon the tree. The game he plays is only becoming more complex and evolved as time progesses. As humanity advances, the strategy to his game adapts accordingly, yet at the core, it remains the same.
There is a neat little nugget of something in scripture i've stumbled across while studying this. It's not something I fully understand quite yet, but I do think it's worth taking the time to look into. The old man, is old in us because he was born first. J.C. Philpot, preacher out of London in the 1860's, likens it to the different times in scripture that a man has his name changed by the Lord, and from that, his entire life changes. Esau to Jacob. Ishmael to Issac, Abram to Abraham, Saul to Paul. There is a clear distinction of old man, then new man. Every time this happens in scripture, the new man undoubtedly takes the reins. It brings to mind a few verses that at first glance appear to be speaking into humility and pride, but might have a little more beneath the surface.
"30But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first." (Matthew 19:30 KJV)
"16So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen." (Matthew 20:16 KJV)
The elder, the old man, the first by birth, shall be last. He shall serve the younger. And the Last, the newborn, shall be first.
2) I think there is another point to make as to why the King James calls it the old man. This point too, is communicated by Philpot way better than I could.
"Is human nature ever so depraved as is manifested in a depraved old man? Is not a depraved old man one of the most loathsome objects of our disgust and one if the vilest of all vile beings? How deeply rooted must sin be in his heart who is ever feeding his imagination with base lusts and living as it were, upon the recollections of the past, painting to himself sins which he will never be likely of able to accomplish. How hardened, impenitent, obstinate, and unyielding, for the most part, is the old age."
Psychologists say that doing something seven times creates a habit. An old man will go his entire life going about things in a methodical manner, engraving day by day a deep trough of how things are done over a span of many years. Now take this man. What argument, what reasoning, what rhetoric could be used to divert an old man from his ways after years of constant succession? The old man within us can become this old man that has grown accustomed to a repetitive life of sin. Once the old man has grown comfortable and used to our pattern of sin, his stubborn persona will make it almost impossible to augment his way of life. Old men don't like change. They like to get what they want, when they want, how they want. If we take how we known an old man to be, and apply him to our sinful nature, then we can deduce that our flesh is wicked, grumpy, stubborn, hellbent, wretched, deceitful, selfish, and depraved. An old man is normally concerned with three things: Food, sleep, and sex. Sound familiar? Paul calls it corrupt for a reason! Our flesh is not to be toyed with, entertained, treated as a pet. I'll refer to Philpot again to paint a better picture of this old man.
"How deceitful is lust in every shape and form! It blinds the eyes, hardens the conscience, perverts the judgment, entangles the affections, buries and all but suffocates the life of God in the soul, until one scarcely knows where he is, or who he is, and all he knows is he is full of confusion, burdened with guilt, fear, and bondage."
Every sin, every fleshy desire that has ever reared it's ugly head is a product of the old man and his corruption. But there is something a very wise, very special woman pointed out to me. Whitney (http://thetidesedge.blogspot.com/) pointed out how an old man, although he may embody all the things listed above, is still an old man. That makes him weak, frail, and delicate. How much force does it take to overcome an old man in a struggle? Since he is as dangerous as he is, he isn't to be treated or handled lightly. Which leads to the next part of the verse.
23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Eph 4:23-24 KJV)
This is something we will explore in the next post. Until next time...
