Ecclesia - The New Humanity

  • Ecclesia - The New Humanity
  • Introduction
  • One New Man
  • A New Humanity for a New Dwelling
  • Living as the New Humanity
  • The New Humanity and Mission
  • The New Humanity in the New Creation
  • Conclusion
  • Reflection & Application

Ecclesia - The New Humanity

Introduction

Too long, please open your Bible Ephesians 2: 11-22

When we speak of salvation, we often think in individual terms—God rescuing me from sin and death. But Paul’s vision in Ephesians 2 is far larger. He sees salvation as the creation of a new humanity. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, God is doing nothing less than rebuilding the human race.

The cross doesn’t just forgive sinners; it forms a people—a single, unified humanity in whom God now dwells.

One New Man

For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might create the two into one new man, making peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having in Himself put to death the enmity. Ephesians 2: 14-16

The phrase “one new man” situates Jesus as the head of a renewed humanity. Paul’s theology often contrastsAdam (the head of fallen humanity) with Christ (the head of redeemed humanity).

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:22
So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:45

In Adam, humanity was alienated from God, cursed, and subject to death. In Christ, humanity is re-created and reconciled. The church is thus the corporate expression of this new creation—those who share in Christ’s resurrected life.

Paul hints at this even in the language: “create” (ktizō, Eph 2:15) is the same verb used in Genesis 1 and throughout the New Testament for divine creation. Christ is not merely reforming society; He is recreating humanity from the ground up.

This thinking is not exclusively Pauline. We find this same line of thought in John’s gospel as well.

Too long, please open your Bible John 1: 1-5, 14

John’s gospel starts with an interesting introduction, weaving themes from Genesis to say that God Himself had come to dwell with man again in the person of Jesus.

Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. John 19:41

Jesus’ resurrection is seen as the start of new creation. He is buried and new life starts from a garden on the first day of the week (John 20: 1,19).

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20: 21-22

And just like God’s breath was the beginning of man’s life in the old creation, Jesus breathes on His disciples as the beginning of new life in the new creation.

Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. John 19: 21-22

So, right in the middle of this “old creation”, God is creating a new species of people, rebirthing/recreating them by the Spirit.

A New Humanity for a New Dwelling

In the context of Ephesians 2, this new man is the multi-ethnic people of God, made up of jews and gentiles. Paul continues in Ephesians 2:19–22 by describing this reconciled people as a temple:

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19–22

This new humanity had never existed and was never understood until now. Paul called it the mystery of Christ.

About which, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit: that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel Ephesians 3: 4-6

So great was this unveiling that it confounds even heavenly beings

So that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. Ephesians 3:10

In fact, he sees this as the dawn of new creation.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Living as the New Humanity

If the church is a new humanity, then its calling is to live according to the new creation order. That’s why Paul later exhorts:

To lay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, Put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 4: 22-24

This “putting of/on” recalls Adam’s original image-bearing role. The Spirit enables believers to reflect God’s character in community—truth, peace, love, holiness—restoring what was lost in Eden. Also notice the creation language “likeness of God, created…” which shows that he really has this creation motif in mind.

The old humanity is marked by selfishness, deceit, and hostility; the new humanity reflects the character of its Creator. Therefore, the life of the church must display truth, holiness, and love.

  • Truth keeps us aligned with the Cornerstone. Unity without truth is fragility.
  • Love binds us together. Truth without love is pride.
  • Holiness marks us as the dwelling of God. A polluted temple misrepresents its Builder.
Too long, please open your Bible Colossians 3: 8-17

The new humanity is not an abstract idea—it has a way of life. It lays aside what belongs to the old order—anger, deceit, hostility—and clothes itself with the character of Christ. The church becomes a living picture of the restored image of God: people who forgive as they have been forgiven, who love as they have been loved.

Love, peace, and gratitude are the marks of the new humanity.

  • Love binds everything together—it is the mortar that holds the stones of God’s temple in place.
  • Peace is the ruling atmosphere—the cessation of hostility that Christ achieved on the cross.
  • Gratitude turns life into worship; every word and deed becomes a reflection of God’s grace.

To live as the new humanity is to participate in God’s own life—to mirror His righteousness in our relationships, our speech, and our communities.

The New Humanity and Mission

Leithart writes that “the church is an outpost of the future city of God”. N.T Wright says that “the church is to be a small working model of new creation”.

If that’s true, then every local church is a colony of the new creation planted in the old. God has not withdrawn His presence from the world; He has placed it in the midst of it—in His people.

When the church lives as the new humanity—reconciled, holy, and truth-filled—it becomes a living prophecy of the world to come.

Our unity declares that the powers of division have been defeated. Our holiness announces that a new creation has begun.

Mission, then, is not an optional program; It is the outward overflow of who we are. Just as rivers flowed from Eden to water the earth, so life flows from the church into the world.

The new humanity does not hide behind its walls; it carries the presence of God into neighborhoods, workplaces, and nations.

The Spirit who dwells within us sends us outward, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might be made known.

The New Humanity in the New Creation

The story that began in a garden ends in a city. Revelation 21 describes the New Jerusalem descending from heaven, radiant with God’s glory. Its walls are inscribed with the names of tribes and apostles—Israel and the church united.

The city itself is a perfect cube, the shape of the Most Holy Place. There, the separation between heaven and earth finally disappears. What the church now embodies in part will one day fill all things. The new humanity becomes the new creation. God will dwell with His people, and they will see His face.

Conclusion

In Ephesians 2, Paul doesn’t describe an ideal community we must build; he describes a reality God has already created.

The new humanity already exists—every time the Spirit joins divided people in Christ, every time reconciliation triumphs over hostility, every time truth and love hold a community together.

Let us, then, live as who we are:

  • A people born from the same seed—the Word of God.
  • Fitted together by the same Cornerstone—Christ.
  • Filled with the same Spirit—the presence of God.

As we remain aligned to Him, we become a visible preview of the world to come—a radiant temple of living stones, a family of peace, a new humanity in whom heaven already touches earth.

Reflection & Application

1. What humanity am I living from?

Am I still shaped by the old patterns—anger, pride, self-protection—or am I being renewed in the image of Christ?

To live as the new humanity means to allow the Spirit to re-form our instincts, our speech, and our responses until Christ’s likeness becomes our nature.

2. How do I treat fellow members of the new humanity?

Paul says, “Put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”

Unity begins not in programs but in posture—in how we bear with one another, forgive, and let peace rule in our hearts.

Where there is tension or resentment, the Spirit calls us to rebuild, not withdraw.

3. What rules in my heart—hostility or peace?

“The peace of Christ” is not a feeling but a reign. It governs how we see one another and how we resolve conflict. When peace rules, love becomes the atmosphere of the community, and gratitude becomes its song.

4. Does the word of Christ dwell richly in me?

The “new man” is nourished by the same truth that created him. If the word of Christ does not dwell in us, our unity will eventually fracture. We are built together as we are shaped by the same Word and aligned to the same Cornerstone.

5. Where is God calling me to be a sign of the new humanity?

Every act of reconciliation, mercy, or forgiveness is another stone set in place.

Each time we choose love over division, honesty over deceit, or gratitude over complaint, we bear witness that a new creation has begun.