Imitators Of God

Many of you have probably seen the movie Groundhog Day where Bill Murray portrays Phil, a grumpy weatherman who got stuck living the same day, February 2, over and over again. Every morning he woke up to the same song and the same DJ announcing, “It's Groundhog Day!” The movie made us think: what if I had to live the same day over and over until I got it right?

Think about that for a moment - being able to live the same day over and over until you get it right. You probably remember some days when you made some bad choices, choices you would love to correct. If only I could do that one day over. Unfortunately, when we live our lives in our own power and by our own wisdom, we're going to have more days of failure than success.

Today I'm going to be using a passage from a letter that Paul wrote to the Ephesians. Ephesians 5. The Bible calls us to live as imitators of God. We should imitate both God's love and His purity in the way that we live. But that kind of life is only possible as we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us. PRAYER

When the apostle Paul wrote, he often used contrasting word pictures to describe what the life of a believer should be like and how it should be different from the lives of those without Christ. In Ephesians 5, Paul does that by contrasting light and darkness.

Ephesians 5: 8 – 10 – “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light— 9 for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth— 10 testing what is pleasing to the Lord.”

Paul reminds all of us that as believers now, in the past, we were darkness. He doesn't say we are in darkness, but that we were darkness. You see, before we met Christ, our lives were completely saturated with sin so that darkness characterized our lives. Earlier in verses 3 and 5, Paul mentioned some of those sins like sexual immorality, impurity, greed, and idolatry as sins, and such sins were a part of that darkness. All of this was in the past, though. Just as the Ephesians were once darkness, but no more, so are we. And as people who belong to Christ, there should be no room left in our lives for the things of darkness.

Now the Ephesians had become light. As a newborn child of God, we, too, have become light. Our lives should now be characterized by light, and we should reveal that light to the world around us. That is what being imitators of God is. Of course, the light didn't rise from us. The light originated in the Lord. This is true of all believers. Christians are light because the Spirit of Christ indwells them.

According to Paul, as Christians, we should be distinctly different from those who don't know Christ. He said in verse 8, “for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” The Holy Spirit dwells in each Christian so that our lives display the new life we're given in Christ. Paul mentioned three changes that should be evident.

In verse 8, he says we should walk in the light. Since believers have been transformed, our nature is light. So, we should live in a way that demonstrates it. Our lives should show evidence that we belong to Christ. We should walk, talk, and act differently than we did before we knew Christ.

In verse 9 Paul says we should produce the fruit of light. That fruit consists of goodness, righteousness, and truth. Of course, this list isn't complete, but these essential fruits should be evident in the way we live and interact with other people. Again, people should notice that there has been a change in our character.

In verse 10 Paul says we should discern what pleases the Lord. He used the word “testing.” That suggests to us critical thinking. Of course the goodness, righteousness, and truth are pleasing to the Lord, but day-to-day life requires us as believers to distinguish between what is good and what are the fruitless works of darkness. That means that whether you are considering a new job, or leading a group of children in a Bible study, or any act of Christian service, we definitely need to determine what will please the Lord in each situation. Before we take on that new position, whatever it is, we should spend time in prayer over that decision. Then we should consider how, “what we choose to do”, will please the Lord.

It was A. W. Tozer that said, “The spirit-filled life is not a special, deluxe edition of Christianity. It is part and parcel of the total plan of God for His people.” It's very much like the Sunday School Ministry for children that I am involved with in Pakistan. I am just a small part of that Ministry, but God takes that small part and applies it to His overall plan for what He is going to do in the future. Who knows? This Sunday school Ministry could produce some strong Christian ministers in a Muslim country and could change their whole outlook.