Anthrōpos means the whole of humanity both male and female in all the nations of the earth. The word in greek is anthrōpos which gives us the word anthropology (the study of humans and human behaviour). Man does not mean a single male but in fact means something much broader, humanity. The final word to unpack is the most straight forward. What we are looking at here therefore is Jew and Gentile being renewed and transformed into the fullness of God’s plans and purposes for them. This verse and many others rule out God no longer recognising the Jewish people as unique and separate from the rest of the nations on earth. This of course can never be as the book of Jeremiah tells us that only if the sun and the moon stop appearing, will Israel cease to be a nation before God forever (Jeremiah 31:35-36). The problem, if this was so, would be that much of the Bible would then become void and irrelevant as it speaks of a Jewish people who no longer exist in the eyes of God. The one new man is made up of Jew and Gentile and if these ingredients lose their original character during the process of being made new then we have no more use for these identities. This is important when we look at the ingredients being made new. We are the same person but a renewed and transformed version, who is being made into the fullness of God’s plans and purposes for us. Yet we also know from experience we are not a completely different person to who we were before we were saved. What this scripture tells us is the extent of the power at work in us. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation old things have passed away behold, all things have become new”. Here we are wrestling with the ‘now and not yet’ of scripture. In Scripture new can mean, totally new, as in something never seen before or it can mean, made new, as in renewed and restored. We see our call as to proclaim this truth and make it real in our day by bringing together Jewish and gentle leaders in the Body of Messiah. This understanding is of vital importance for us at the One New Man:Network. Paul is making it plain to all the followers of Jesus/Yeshua that be they Jew or Gentile, male or female we have a unity in Him. Paul as an accomplished scholar is clearly referencing this understanding of the word one and using it to point towards the unity Jew and Gentile now have in Messiah through the cross. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. Jesus/Yeshua Himself used the word one to describe the unity that He prayed His followers would have. Man and woman, two very different entities, in marriage become “one flesh”. The same word which is used in Deuteronomy 6 is used in Genesis 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”. Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” The Scriptures reveal God’s oneness is a composite unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19). The word “one” holds great significance in the Bible as it is used to describe God Himself. To help us get to grips with what Paul means by “one new man” for Jew and Gentile alike we will look at this phrase word by word. The very Jewish story of the Jewish Scriptures prophesying a Jewish Messiah who was born into a Jewish family and lived His life traveling and teaching in the territory of Israel takes a dramatic turn when He died on the cross for the sins of not just the Jewish people but the whole world. This tells us he is wrestling with how the Gentile nations fit in now the Good News of salvation is being proclaimed from Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth. Firstly, the context of Paul’s writings is his call as an “apostle to the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13). This is the only time this particular phrase appears in Scripture so we have some digging to do to see exactly what Paul is telling us. We have the Apostle Paul to thank for the words “one new man” which you can see above in Ephesians chapter 2. What is the One New Man and why does it matter?
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