BE IMITATORS OF GOD Ephesians 5:1-2

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1 1 BE IMITATORS OF GOD Ephesians 5:1-2 Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. --Anonymous Five hundred years ago a book was published in Latin entitled, The Imitation of Christ. It was based on the Scripture we are looking at this morning. In the beginning of Book One the author states,... whoever wishes to understand fully the words of Christ must try to pattern his whole life on that of Christ. (Emphasis added) It was originally published anonymously in 1418 and eventually Thomas a Kempis was accepted as its author. Because of it is so filled with the spirit of the love of God, it has brought understanding and comfort to millions of readers in over fifty languages. This classic contains meditations on the life and teachings of Jesus, written in times as troubled and dangerous as our own." John Wesley and John Newton listed it among the works that influenced them at their conversion and many claim it is second only to the Bible as a guide and inspiration. The number of editions exceeds 2,000 with 1,000 different editions being preserved in the British Museum. To you desire others to pattern their lives after you? Do you want others to follow you closely? Do you want others to mimic, to imitate, your life? Paul tells the believers at Ephesus that they are to imitate God: Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (5:1-2). God s purpose in creation and salvation is to lead people to imitate His life in ours. In the passage before us, we see that Paul makes the point that we human beings are to be imitators of God. The Greek word mimeomai is the word from which we get the English words mimic, mime or actor. It means to follow someone s example to the point of imitating their attitude and behavior. Mimics are those who follow the pattern or the example of God. If you want to put it simply, another way of saying the same thing is to say: "Be godlike." To be godlike is the goal of Christianity. It is God s intention to produce men and women who are godlike in the midst of an ungodlike world. Notice that Paul does not say, "Be gods." That is what the devil would have us believe. As the Father of lies (Jn. 8:44), Satan distorts the truth and tempts us to believe the lie he told Eve in the Garden that if she ate of the fruit of the Tree of Life that she would be like God (Gen. 3:5). When she succumbed she found out she became anything but like God and was thus thrown out of the Garden, away from the immediate presence of God.

2 2 What Paul says is "be godlike," meaning, "reflect the one true and holy God." There is only one God. There can be only one God. By definition, if God is the Supreme Being, there can be no other. Therefore, the Christian message is to be like the one true God. Reflect Him in your humanity. Be a godly or godlike person. The verb imitate is always used in exhortations, and always in the continuous tense thus suggesting a constant practice or habit, that is, we are to continuously imitate: God who has shown His love in Christ (Eph. 5:1) Paul, who lived up to what he attained (Phil. 3:16-17) The faith of spiritual leaders (Heb. 13:7) The conduct of missionaries (I Thess. 3:7,9) What is good (III Jn. 11) In these examples we find that the lifestyles of Christians ought to be models worth following. love: In this passage we find that Paul s exhortation to be imitators of God focuses on God s Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children (Eph. 5:1). PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE (5:1) Paul makes it clear that we are to imitate God as dearly loved children (Eph. 5:1). Imitating the divine is only possible if we have a divine nature. In II Peter we read: His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires (1:3-4). The fact that we participate in the divine nature does not mean that we are divine in any sense, but only that we are indwelt by God through His Holy Spirit (Jn 14:16-17; Rom. 8:16). Our humanity and His deity, as well as the human personality and the divine, remain distinct and separate. God is not asking us to do the impossible. Through the new birth God has provided His divine nature. Therefore, because we participate in God s divine nature, we can imitate God. Since it is God s nature to love, then we can love as He loves. Our new spiritual nature makes this possible.

3 3 DEARLY LOVED CHILDREN (5:1) Not only are we God s children, but we are His dearly loved children (Eph. 5:1). This means God speaks of His love for us in the same way that He speaks of His love for His Son. After all, He said of His Son, This is My Son, whom I love or This is My dearly loved Son (Mt. 3:17). In His high-priestly prayer, Jesus makes this point clear when He says, I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me (Jn. 17:23). How could we possibly love others unless we are fully secure in God s love! GOD S LOVE IS EXPRESSED IN HIS SON (5:1-2) Then Paul focuses on the fact that God s love is expressed in His Son: and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph. 5:1-2). Christ s love for us is undeserved. Therefore we should not expect people to earn our love. We are to love simply because God loves. No strings attached. Christ s love was also costly. God expects us to reach out to others even when we ourselves may be hurting. It is at such times that we experience God s love in the most profound way. A LIFE OF LOVE (Eph. 5:2) We are called to live a life of love (Eph. 5:2). It only makes sense that since we are to imitate God, who is love (I Jn. 8:8,16), that we live a life of love. In His essential nature and in all His actions, God is loving. Since we participate in His loving nature, it is only logical that we also show this love to others. Genuine love is never self-generated by His creatures. All love comes ultimately from God. Anyone who loves God the Father will love God s children. CHRIST S EXAMPLE ON THE CROSS (5:2) We learn this love from Christ s example on the cross. The sacrificial way Jesus expressed His love for us is not only the means of salvation (which we have already seen in chapter two) but also an example of God s love, that is, the way we are to live for God and for the sake of others. Christ voluntarily gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering says Paul. What does he mean? In the Old Testament the offering of a sacrifice pleased the Lord so much that it was described as a fragrant aroma (Gen. 8:21; Ex. 29:18,25,41; Lev. 1:9,13,17). Our love for God is merely our response to His love for us.

4 4 THE AROMA OF CHRIST (5:2) Paul also spoke of this fragrant aroma when he addressed the believers at Corinth: But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? (II Cor. 2:14-16). As the gospel aroma is being released in the world through Christian testimony, it is always sweet-smelling, even though it may be received differently. The two ultimate categories of mankind are those who are being saved and those who are perishing (v. 15). To the latter, testifying Christians are the smell of death, not because the gospel message has become evil, but because in rejecting the life-giving grace of God unbelievers choose death for them-selves. To those who welcome the gospel of God s grace, Christians with their testimony are the fragrance of life. Paul ends this section with the question, And who is equal to such a task? (v. 16). The answer is found in the next chapter: Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (3:4-6) Our confidence and competence is through Christ! We can minister because of the gift of God. He prepares us and makes possible our ministry on His behalf. Our ministry is in the name of Jesus, who gave Himself to establish a new covenant based on love and thus the forgiveness of sin. Our ministry is not a legalistic call to follow rules and regulations but a joyful invitation to let God s Spirit fill and direct our lives. LOVE IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW (Rom. 13:8) Love summarizes what God wants us to be and do. Paul puts it this way in Romans 13:8: Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law. The commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not covet, and whatever other commandment there many be, are summed up in this one rule: Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

5 5 Love of neighbor encompasses all our social responsibilities. And in The Parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus that our neighbor is anyone in need (Lk. 10:25-37). As believers we are to be totally devoted to our Lord, His people and all people THE HOLY SPIRIT POURS GOD S LOVE INTO OUR HEARTS (Rom. 5:5) Love is not something we can manufacture. We cannot lift ourselves up by our spiritual bootstraps and decide to love more. No, Paul makes it plain to the believers at Rome that it is the Holy Spirit who pours God s love into our hearts: God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us (Rom. 5:5). APPLICATION The following questions need to be pondered by all of us. Has God poured out His love into my heart? Do I seek to imitate God? Is it my passion to be godly or godlike? Are there areas in my life that I don t want others to imitate?