Imitating God! Ephesians 5: 1-21
What does it mean to imitate God?
How in the world does one imitate God?
Invite someone to the platform and play the imitation game with them. What makes you a success at this game is how closely you can imitate God.
Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be imitators of God. . .” In the Message Bible it says, “Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents.”
1. Live a life of love. Ver. 2 “Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.” Eph. 5:1-2
You and I have been given the opportunity to express our love to God by doing His will. I love the spirit of the verses that are on the screen. Jesus loves us extravagantly. He loves us not to get something from us but to demonstrate His incredible devotion and surrender toward doing the Father’s will.
If you want to know what that looks like practically all you have to do is read the rest of his chapter. Paul writes some principles for us to follow that you have to take seriously enough to work into your life. Listen to some of these as they are written in the Message:
a. “Don’t allow love to turn into lust, setting off a downhill slide into sexual promiscuity, filthy practices, or bullying greed.”
b. “Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, Christians have better uses for language that that.”
c. “Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.”
d. “Don’t let yourself get taken in by religious smooth talk. God gets furious with people who are full of religious sales talk but want nothing to do with Him. Don’t even hang around with people like that.”
When you encounter God He begins to change you from the inside out. If you are growing in your relationship with Him you will be constantly evaluating your life and lifestyle choices. You will be reviewing your relationships and conversations in light of the word of God.
Live a life of Love!
2. Live as children of light. “For you were once in darkness, but now you are in light in the Lord. Live as children of light.”
“You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So now no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, then do it.” Eph. 5:8-10
Again we are looking at how to imitate God. We are to not only live a life of love but we are to live as children of light. What does that mean? Again let’s go back to the Bible and see how Paul defined these principles.
a. Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness.
b. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.
We are to live as children of light. We live in a world of darkness and people who will do all kinds of things to satisfy their search for light. When you live as children of light you will engage other people. Some of them need to be people of light just like yourself but you are also called to shine your light in a dark world.
Jesus uses this metaphor. We are like lights or candles in a world of darkness.
3. Lifestyle matters. Ver. 15 “Be very careful, then how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”
“So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.” Eph. 5:15-17
a. "Don’t drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of Him.”
b. “Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ."
Our lifestyle will have a huge impact on other people. It will impact them for good or for evil. It is not easy especially when it seems that everyone else is going a different direction.
Three young people in Florida, barely out of their teens, have just been sentenced to fifteen years each for removing a stop sign from an intersection. The defendants cried, and even the judge expressed regret, but everyone seems to agree that stealing stop signs is a particularly heinous prank. In this case, three other young people were killed when they drove through the sign-less intersection into an eight-ton Mack truck.
You have to build a real and genuine relationship with God to be able to imitate Him.
You have to get close to Him to be able to imitate Him.
Former Notre Dame Coach, Lou Holtz, is a sought-after motivational speaker. His most famous address is entitled "Do Right." In this speech he says describes the three most important questions people want to know about us:Can I trust you?Are you committed?Do you care?
The pastor of an underground Chinese church told a group of Southern Baptists about the precautions they must take to avoid government persecution. Each time their church reaches ten to fifteen members, they split to reduce attention. They also alternate meeting places for the same reason. Because phone lines are monitored, members meet with a volunteer on a downtown street to find out where the church will meet next. One such volunteer was discovered by the government, arrested, beaten, and put in prison. He lost his job, house, and medical benefits. Another man stepped in and took his place and he too suffered the same fate. One of the visitors said, “I suppose you have difficulty filling that job.” The Chinese pastor replied, “No. We have a waiting list.”Your Church on Mission with God, Nov. 12, 1999, p. 1
Here’s the deal. You can have as much of God as you want. The question is how much do you want? Were going to go through an exercise that will enable us to be reflective and honestly seek to find areas in our lives that we can express our love to Him. There’s an old saying that says imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In our case we are not trying to flatter God we are trying to express our love to Him.
2004/05/22
