Imitators of God
Eph 5:1-2 KJV
I was reading about some of the dangers that face our young people simply because they imitate what they see. (How many times have we heard the disclaimer – Don’t try this yourself)
The article told about the Reebok company pulling an ad which showed an athlete jumping over an oncoming car, because some teenagers in Kentucky were trying to do the computer-generated stunt for real. One of them broke his leg and ankle trying to perform the daredevil stunt.
Other problems have arisen from teen imitators of stunts performed on an MTV show. The stuntman there tried, among other things, lying on a barbecue in a fire-resistant suit hung with steaks. A 13-year-old in Connecticut suffered second-degree burns when he tried to imitate the trick.
If you need something to imitate, than why not God.
Eph 5:1-2 KJV
5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.
The word "followers" in Eph 5:1 is the word (mimeetai´), which we translate "followers"
It is also where we get the English word; mimic
To mimic God in a proper sense means assuming ones ways, thoughts, and nature
To mimic God in a proper sense means we imitate him
Eph 5:1-2 NIV
5:1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 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.
Illustration: We all can think of impersonators we have see on T.V.
Some are very good and entertaining to us, however as lifelike and close as the impersonator is; true imitation is more than learning to talk like the one you’re imitating.
To imitate God means to be like him. As far back as Leviticus 11:45 God said, "Be holy, for I am holy."
Jesus gave us the starting point for imitating God in the Sermon on the Mount.
We need to mourn over our sin with a broken and contrite spirit.
When we are overwhelmed by our sinfulness, we will hunger and thirst for righteousness.
It comes with a heart filled with love
It comes when we are filled with God’s Holy Spirit
The result of imitating God means we
1. Imitate him as children do their beloved parents
Illustration Children who love their parents dress like them. What Child hasn’t walked in their parents shoes, or wore jewelry
2. Imitate him in all your actions, words, spirit, and inclinations;
3. Imitate all his moral perfections, and acquire the mind that was in Jesus.
4. To imitate our Father is a part of Paul’s exhortation to "walk in purity."
God is love (1 John 4:8); therefore, "walk in love" (Eph 5:1-2).
God is light (1 John 1:5); therefore, walk as children of light (Eph 5:3-14).
God is truth (1 John 5:6); therefore, walk in wisdom (Eph 5:15-17).
There are two methods of imitation
One is making a person our model
The first does the exact deeds, lives in the same way, dresses in the same colors’, without regard to the differing circumstances; and this always leads to error.
Such as; Legalism, Restoration movement dress, KJV only, etc
Our focus needs to be on the character of God!
We need to love Him, not rules and regulations! It’s not that we don’t love His Word, we do, but we love the author more than the words.
ILL.- One writer said, “One of the major struggles of religion at that time was legalism. The problem with legalism is that the focus is on following laws instead of imitating God. They had taken the 10 commandments and the first 5 books of the Bible and came up with over 600 rules and regulations that they determined had to be followed in order to please God. The thing that made it even more confusing, other than having over 600 laws to follow, was the religious teachers couldn’t even determine which of the laws were the most important to follow.”
We have fallen into the same trap today. Many people look at the church and God as being solely concerned with keeping rules and certain regulations.
And when this happens the rules and regulations become the focal point of our faith instead of God Himself.
The other way is to be filled with Jesus spirit, to have the same character, and thus do what our example would have done in our circumstances.
Almost nothing is said of what things Christ did as a boy, or how He lived, in case we make Him only a model. But we are shown His spirit of obedience, and goodness, and growth that we may take Him for our example.
The full standard of godliness is attained to only when the whole tenor of the life is in simplicity and godly sincerity.
1. First of all, when we are filled
a. We have His Word to stamp His image upon our souls.
b. We have been given the example of Christ, or God in our nature.
c. We have been given the Holy Spirit to change us into the likeness of Christ (2 Cor 3:18).
2. You imitate God’s love by forgiving others
The inability to forgive is a sign of weakness; the ability to forgive is a sign of power.
3. Second when you are filled with the Spirit of God, you will be involved with serving one another.
There are no isolates in the Spirit-filled walk. When you are filled with the Spirit of God, God gives to you immediately a “body awareness” so that you are constantly aware of the people around you.
4. Third, when you are filled with the Spirit of God you will be singing in your heart.
God’s Holy Spirit is the Spirit of joy. When He comes to live in your heart, He gives you a glad spirit and a desire to be praising God with your life. Music is seen here as a way not only of communicating to God, but it is also seen as a way of communicating to one another.
5. Forth, we are to be satisfied in life.
Someone who is a complainer and a griper, someone who has a bitter, negative spirit is not controlled by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is not a Spirit of criticism and ingratitude. It is a Spirit of thankfulness and gratitude always and for all things.
6. Fifth, you will be a thankful person
Don’t you like to be around grateful people? Isn’t it wonderful to be around folks who exude this spirit of gratitude? Sometimes you find yourself thinking, Is he for real? Is she really genuine about this? And then when you discover that it is real, you find yourself just wanting to hang around that person.
When you are imitating God and being filled with the Spirit, gratitude is the result.
7. Sixth, when we imitate God we learn to have a submissive spirit.
A. B. Simpson wrote, “Not many rivers flow right into the ocean. Most rivers end up running into other rivers. And the best workers are not those who demand a separate sphere of influence and prestige for themselves, but they are content to empty their streams of blessing into the rivers. When the Apostles were filled, their whole lives were changed in this respect. Before, they were self serving, but now they submerged into the purpose of faith and Gospel.”
The problem with so many Christians is we want to be the main river that flows into the ocean. We’re not content to let our lives flow into the lives of others who might ultimately flow into the ocean.
7. To imitate God, and walk in Love is to have our lives radiate the love of Christ.
a) Paul tells us to “live a life of love.”
b) Peter encourages us to “fervently love one another.”
c) John warns us to “love in word and in truth.”
d) The writer of Hebrews says to “spur one another on to more love.”
e) Paul sums up the Christian life when he says in Ephesians 5:1, 2: “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us.”
When you follow and imitate God.
a) Antonio Stradivari was a seventeenth-century violin maker whose name in its Latin form, Stradivarius, has become synonymous with excellence.
He once said that to make a violin less than his best would be to rob God, who could not make Antonio Stradivari’s violins without Antonio.
He was right. God could not make Stradivarius violins without Antonio Stradivari. Certain gifts were given to that craftsman that no other violin maker possessed.
In the same vein, there are certain things you can do that no one else can. Perhaps it is parenting, or constructing houses, or encouraging the discouraged. There are things that only you can do, and you are alive to do them.
In the great orchestra we call life, you have an instrument and a song, and you owe it to God to play them both sublimely.
b) "Be careful how you live, for you may be the only Bible some people will ever read!"
ILL.- His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.
Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it.
One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat.
The church is completely packed and he can’t find a seat. By now, people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything.
Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet.
By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.
About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill.
Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly.
He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can’t blame him for what he’s going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?
It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man’s cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can’t even hear anyone breathing. The minister can’t even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do.
And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships with him so he won’t be alone.
Everyone chokes up with emotion. When the minister regains control, he says, "What I’m about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget. "
Someone said, "Be careful how you live, for you may be the only Bible some people will ever read!"
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love.
