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 4:20-24)

The Old Man That Became A Young Man

Nature is specific in the aging process and unchangeable. Life begins when a child is born, then matures through many years of aging until the difficult days of old age infirm the body, and eventually, death comes. There is no changing this. Billions of dollars are spent each year trying to keep the body and mind full of youth, but all is in vain as old men and women trying to look like energetic youth become old and die. There is nothing man can do to reverse aging. Everyone dies. Men enter the world as babies and leave the world as old people.

There is an exception to the aging process found in the family of God. Paul describes the Christian life not as an aging process leading to death but as a new birth leading to life. The child of God begins with what Jesus describes as being born again. Before the waters of baptism wash away the sins of a man’s past, they serve an old man corrupt with the filth of sinful rebellion. Everyone is in bondage to the corruption of sin. Learning about Jesus and the will of the Father through the teaching of the Son of God, truth changes the heart of sin to the grace of God. The Christian begins the process of removing the stain of the old man to become a new man in Christ. Baptism creates a new life, but the heart must grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus to become a new man. Sadly, some who are born again return to the life of the old man and die spiritually.

In Jesus Christ, an old man can become a new man. The wrinkles of the former conduct (the old man) will bring corruption according to the sinful nature and former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. In Christ, the old man becomes a new man created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. The amazing grace of God removes the shackles of sin. As the heart of the child of God grows in the knowledge of the work of the Holy Spirit, a new creation transforms an old man of sin into a new man of righteousness. Instead of age destroying the spirit of the Christian, the older a person remains in the word of God, the younger they become.

The outward body will perish, and nothing can reverse this. In Christ, the inward man is renewed daily, making a ninety-year-old man full of joy, youthful vigor, and happiness. His body is wracked with the infirmities of old age, but his spirit is smiling through with God’s grace. If people would expend as much energy on their spiritual life to become young as they do for their physical bodies, what a transformation the church would experience. The fountain of youth is found in Christ. Old men and women become young men and women by God’s grace. When John saw the final revelation of the heavenly picture, he beheld a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Drinking this water will bring life and make one young. Do you want to feel young again? Come to the fountain. Old becomes new.