(or “Putting on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness”)
June 8, 2025
This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:17-24 NKJV)
For the last few weeks I have been reading and pondering the words of Ephesians chapters 1 through 4, and in particular, the verses quoted above. For several days I have concentrated on the phrase “put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” and asking God our Father to give me pictures to help me understand, what is “true righteousness and holiness”? While pondering all this again on a recent morning, I saw two images in my mind as described below.
- Two or more trees that were either leafless, because it was winter or because they had died. The trees appeared to be elms, like what I was used to seeing around homes, in the otherwise mostly treeless, south plains of the Texas panhandle where I grew up.
- A toilet that I knew needed to be cleaned, because I saw there was wet toilet paper on the floor and on the lid of the toilet tank. Both the lid and the seat of the toilet were in the up position. My impression was that the toilet was in this unclean condition, from the carelessness of a man or a boy when they used the toilet, who then did not put forth the effort to clean up the mess that they had made.
As I pondered these images I thought of the scriptures noted below.
- As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:1-10 NIV)
- Therefore, remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. . (Ephesians 2:11-18 NKJV)
- “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:7-14 NIV)
After I pondered the images and these scriptures, and others not listed, I realized that the images were a type of a parable concerning my life. I have taken my ponderings, in light of the scriptures, and expressed them as a parable about what it means “to put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
The Parable of the Dead Trees and the Dirty Toilet
God is love and God is light. In Him, there is no darkness. That love and light, is an eternal love and light, that is shared between God the Father, His Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit. They desire to share Their mutual love, and that love was the womb from which Their desires would be birthed. My life began before the creation of the universe when God my Father knew me in His infinite heart of love, which is my home. He created my inmost being and knit me together in my mother’s womb and all my days were written in His book before a one of them came to be. He chose me to be holy and blameless, in a face-to-face intimate relationship with Him as His child. I was to always trust Him —-to be like an elm tree planted beside an eternal stream of life-giving water that sends out its roots into that stream. That tree does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear seeds.
Even though God my Father chose me, to be like the elm tree, planted beside a stream of living water, I chose not to trust Him and turned my roots away from Him, the very source of the life-giving water in the stream of His love for me. Even as an elm tree cannot live without water, neither can I live by seeking a substitute for His infinite love for me. Therefore, I gradually withered and died the death that comes from not living in the embrace of the only source of love, who is God my Father.
But because of his great love for me, God my Father, who is rich in mercy, made me alive with Christ, even when I was dead in my seeking to find life, where there was no life. He saved me by His embrace of love and His faithfulness to me. He raised me up with Christ and seated me with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to me in Christ Jesus. For it is by His embrace that I have been saved, through His trustworthiness—and this is not from myself, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for me to do.
His embrace of love for me, even when I was covered in the stinking mess that I had made of my life, transformed me. I came alive and was truly a new creation, the old had gone and the new had come. It was such a great time of joy and transformation, that I wanted everyone to experience the loving embrace of God our Father. However, I soon learned that not everyone wanted what I was experiencing, especially those who were religious. Their rejection of me eventually led to me passing judgement on them, rather than me having a heart of compassion like God my Father. I had not yet learned that it was, is and continued to be, God’s kindness that leads me to repentance. Since I had not yet learned that lesson, I became somewhat of a self-appointed toilet inspector.
To perform their intended function, toilets need to be used properly and with care…. to be cleaned frequently…. especially those in public places where they are used by many people. As a self-appointed toilet inspector, I would find myself disgusted at the messes I would see in some people’s lives. “Why don’t people take more care to not make these messes and then leave them for others to clean up?” I can now look back and see the kindness, mercy and patience of God our Father with me and can imagine a dialog from His perspective such as:
“Hmmm…. I see you are still into judging other people. Do you remember who cleaned up all of your mess when I took you out of your pig pen? You cannot help other people know Me, when you look at a splinter in their eye that is tiny compared to the huge log in your own eye. Could it be, that the reason why you are so quick to see and judge the splinter in their eye, is because it is a splinter from the log in your eye? Come rest in My embrace of love and look at My face. Working with Me, let’s remove the log from your eye and then let’s roll up our sleeves and go together to help others clean those toilets. Remember, all of the law and prophets are summed up in doing unto others what you would have them do to you. Trusting Me and abiding in My embrace, and going with Me into the messes, caused by other people to redeem it, is what it means to put on the new man which I created to be like Me in true righteousness and holiness. I desire to do immeasurably more than you can imagine or ask for. Behold, I am making all things new!”
Blessings,
Kevin