“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave
Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2
It’s been said that imitation is the highest form of
flattery. I can remember many times as a
child when my brother and I would imitate our favorite athletes and even go
through pretend seasons and win championships together.
Now, when I think of imitation, my thoughts go immediately
to my daughter, Olivia. From time to
time, Olivia will pick up on and imitate things that are said around her. There are times when I leave for work and my
wife will say, “Bye Honey”…almost immediately afterwards, there will be Olivia
waving saying, “Bye Honey”!
Paul directs us to think of imitation in this way in
Ephesians chapter 5: We are to be
imitators of God – as His beloved children.
We are to walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us!
As children imitate their fathers, we are to imitate our
Heavenly Father. But how can we be
imitators of God if God is perfect and holy, and we are imperfect sinners? According to our sinful nature, we tend to
imitate things of this world that really aren’t worth imitating at all! We imitate the images of what the world sees
as popular and acceptable rather than listening to God’s Word. So once again – how can we be imitators of
our holy and perfect Heavenly Father?
Paul gives us the answer in Ephesians 4:24 when he says,
“And put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true
righteousness and holiness”. This new
self was created at our Baptism, as our old sinful nature was drowned and a new
self emerged. This continues for us each
and every day! 2 Corinthians 4:16 tells
us, “So we do not lose heart. Though our
outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day”.
With that in mind, I think we could also say that if
imitation is the highest form of flattery – that imitation is the highest form
of worship! Our daily lives of worship
center around letting the love of God show through us – His grace show through
us – His forgiveness show through us!
Yes, our imitation of God gives Him the glory. As Paul reminds us, one of the chief ways
that we imitate God is by walking in the way of love and forgiveness that was
shown to us by Christ Himself. Christ
was not only the perfect example of love and forgiveness, but He was also the
perfect and ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
His perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection has
given us complete forgiveness for our sins – and along with that, the ability
to imitate that love and forgiveness to others.
Paul gives us some ways that we are to be imitators of
God. He says, beginning in verse 26: “Be
angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no
opportunity to the devil. Let the thief
no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands
so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your
mouths, but only such as is good for building up, and fits the occasion, that
is may give grace to those who hear…Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and
clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.
Like a child who is eager to imitate everything their
parents do – we are to be just as eager to imitate the love, grace, and
forgiveness of God. What a difference
this imitation will make in our lives – in our families, our church family, our
workplaces, our communities.
The way we witness about Christ in our everyday lives, and
the imitation and example that we show by our love for our neighbors, show that
our lives are truly shaped by Christ living in us. One of my favorite Bible passages, Galatians
2:20 says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in us. And the life I live, I live by faith in the
Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” That verse is another reminder of how we can
be imitators of God in our lives.
Grace truly has its effect in shaping our lives. There are many familiar examples from
scripture that we listen to every week about the changing power of grace. In the story of the prodigal son, the father
showed grace to his son after his son had wasted his inheritance. He even threw a party and killed the fattened
calf. Jesus showed grace to the
adulterous woman who the people were going to stone to death. Jesus also showed grace as he was suffering
on the cross. The criminal on his right
asked Jesus to remember him when he went into his kingdom. The criminal realized he was getting what he
deserved, but Jesus gave him the grace his actions did not deserve and said,
“Today you will be with me in paradise”.
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