Imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1, 2)

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Will you turn over in your Bibles now to Ephesians chapter 5, verses 1 through 2. Meet me at Ephesians chapter 5, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians chapter 5. Okay, Ephesians chapter 5. We're going to actually read verses 25 down through chapter 5 verse 2, but the sermon will be specifically on verses 1 and 2.

Let's go ahead and read God's Word together now. Therefore put away lying. Let each of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for necessary edification, that it might impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.

Prayer for Illumination

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children, and walk in light as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Brothers and sisters, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God endures forever. His Word is true, His Word is righteous, and it is altogether good. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for this day, and we pray now that as we come to your Word, as we look into your perfect law, that we would understand, that we would grow in our faith. Please, Father, bless us and care for us. In Jesus' name, amen.

Sermon

Well, there's something in our home that's both cute and annoying. Have you ever not been able to find your shoes before? I mean, when we come into our door, there's a basket, and that is the designated place to put all of our shoes. But it's annoying sometimes, because you'll go, and you'll try to find your shoes.

They're not there. I know that I put my shoes there. I know that I put my dress shoes there for Sunday, but they're not there. I don't know where they went. And then I remembered, oh yeah, I remember what happened. One of our kids. decided that they saw the shoes and they wanted to put on daddy's shoes and walk around the house. And as they put on my shoes, you know, twice as big as their own feet, sometimes three times as much, and they clomped around the house, you couldn't help but smile at them and realize that they were just trying to be like their parents.

Well, God calls us today to imitate him. God calls us today to be imitators of himself as beloved children. In Ephesians chapter five, one through two, God tells us to imitate him, to be like him, and he tells us how we are to do that. So as we go through this passage, we need to see that we are to imitate God as beloved children, and also that we are to walk in love. We will see how that love was displayed in Jesus Christ, how it was modeled in Jesus Christ, and we will also see how that love is explained to us in context.

First Point

So first, brothers and sisters, be imitators of God as beloved children. There's a reason why we had to read Leviticus chapter 19 to start off with. Leviticus 19 tells us be imitators of God in a different way, didn't it? Leviticus chapter 19, I'll read it again for you, not the whole section, but listen to how Leviticus chapter 19 said it. speak to the congregation of the children of Israel and say to them, you shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy. He says it again a second time in Leviticus chapter 19 and he says it again in Leviticus chapter 18. Be holy as I the Lord your God am holy. Holy. God's pattern in the Old Testament that carries over into the New Testament is, be holy as I am holy. Here is my Son. He is holy. Now be like Jesus, for I am holy.

We are to be imitators of God. This is what the whole law pointed us to. This is what the whole of the Old Testament pointed us to, is that we were to be like God. We were to be wholly like God. We were to be, in a word, imitators of God. See, we have been adopted into the family of God. The book of Galatians and Romans are absolutely clear that we have been adopted as children of God. And if we are children of our heavenly father, don't you think there should be some type of family resemblance? If we are children of God, we should resemble our father. I'll never forget when I was a little kid and it was Christmas time and my parents got me this really cool present. Come to think of it, it wasn't really exactly a useful present, but most Christmas presents are, that's fine. But they got me something with Ninja Turtles on it. Man, Ninja Turtles was all the rage when I was a kid. I lived, I breathed, I ate Ninja Turtles. And guess what? I began to shave with Ninja Turtles.

They got me this can of shaving cream that was orange and it had Michelangelo on it. It was orange and green. And I remember putting all the lather in my hand. And the kid even came with my own razor. Now, it was a plastic razor. There wasn't any blade on it, but there was just a hole, enough for the shaving cream to get back.

But I remember watching my dad shave, and I put a big old dollop of shaving cream on my hand, and I lathered up my face all over the place, and I sat there so proud of myself, imitating my dad as I shaved. Maybe I should shave now, but shaved with that. I was imitating my father.

God is telling us, come and imitate. Be like me, be holy as I am holy. But what does it mean? What does it mean though? We are beloved children. But hold on, maybe we need to stop there for a second. We're a reformed church, so I don't think I have to say this, but let me just push this down real quick.

It doesn't say, be imitators of God so that you may be beloved children, but what does it say? Be imitators of God as dear children. We are already his children. And since we are his children, we imitate him. We don't imitate him so we can become his children.

We need to make sure we don't get those confused. We don't get those wrapped up. If we get it backwards, we're gonna end up in legalism. We're gonna end up trying to earn our father's love when we already have our father's love. But what does that look like? How has the Father loved us? Well, that's what verse two shows us. So our second point is to walk in love. Walk in love.

First Point

First, we'll see how that love is modeled for us in Jesus Christ. And secondly, we'll see how that love is explained in context. So first, walk in love as Jesus has modeled that love. Look with me at verse two. and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God as a sweet smelling aroma. Did you catch it? Oh, we can meditate on those words. Let me read it just a little bit slower. I don't want you to miss this.

And walk in love. as Christ also has loved us, and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. God has shown us his love in Jesus Christ. It was Jesus Christ himself in John chapter 15 verse 13 that says, love has none greater than this, that a man might lay down his life for his friend. See, it is God. who demonstrated his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It was God the Father in coordination with, in unity with Jesus Christ who came and loved perfectly.

He loved perfectly from the day He was born. He loved perfectly from eternity past in the will of God that He would come and humble Himself to the likeness of a man, that He would give up the mantle of divinity. Although being equal with God, He did not think it something to be grasped, but instead humbled Himself to the likeness of man, that He might serve us. He lived every single day of His life in active obedience to His Father, loving those to whom His Father sent Him to love.

Jesus loved perfectly every day of His life, and that love culminated with that final act of obedience, where He would go like a lamb who was led to the slaughter, silent. He would go in perfect obedience. He would even lay down His own life. He would give up His life as a sacrifice. What does verse 2 say? As an offering and a sacrifice to God, a sweet-smelling aroma. This is what Leviticus chapter 1 tells us is the atonement. Leviticus chapter 1. We've been in Leviticus already, third book of the Bible. Leviticus chapter 1. God gives the rules for the atonement, for the burnt offering.

Now the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the livestock and of the herd of the flock.

If his offering is a burnt offering of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish. He shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord. Then he shall put his hands on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be acceptable on his behalf to make atonement for him.

He shall kill the bull before the Lord, and the priest Aaron's sons shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood around the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. And he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. The sons of Aaron, the priest, shall put fire on the altar and lay the wood and order on the fire. Then the priest Aaron's sons shall lay the parts, the heads, the fat, and order on the wood. that is on the fire upon the altar. But he shall wash the entrails and its legs with water, and the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord." Same phrase that's used here in Ephesians chapter 5.

Jesus Christ gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, a sweet smelling aroma. Jesus Christ laid down his own life as a sweet-smelling aroma. Jesus Christ is the one who makes atonement for us. Jesus Christ is the one who propitiates the anger of his Father. Jesus Christ is the one who sprinkles his blood to cleanse us from our sins and changes God's wrath to a smile. It is Jesus who took the wrath of God and offered himself up for us. It is Jesus Christ who has loved us. It is God who has saved us.

It is God who has poured out his grace upon his people. But there's a practical result of that in your life and in my life. There ought to be a practical result of that. We can know these things in our minds, we can feel them in our hearts, but we got to do them with our hands, we need to see them with our feet, we need to live them in our lives.

So what does it look like to love like Jesus loved? What does it look like to be holy as God is holy? What does it look like to imitate God? Indeed, this is what Paul elsewhere says in the book of Galatians, chapter 2, verse 20. For it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me. The life which I now live, I live by faith. Brothers and sisters, do you live by faith? Does that faith have works that go with it or flow from it?

Again, not to earn being a child of God, but because you are a child of God, because He has loved you, do you crucify the flesh? Or as Paul says in Romans chapter 12, verse 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, to offer up your body as a what? As a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of service. Will you offer up your body, but what does that look like?

I'm going to argue that he's already told us and he's going to continue to tell us in the second half of the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 25, the ethic of Christ is given. And this continues all the way to Ephesians chapter 6 verse 9. And in this whole section, God is telling us, here is how you imitate me.

You want to walk the way I walk? I'm telling you this is the way Jesus walked. You want to hear the way I hear? I'm going to tell you the way that Jesus Christ heard. You want to talk the way that I talk? I'm going to tell you how Jesus Christ talked.

And it is here in the ethic of Christ that we find how we imitate God. So as we have been going through chapter 4 verses 25 through 32, this was not somehow something added to the gospel, but this is what flows from the gospel. since we are beloved children. That's what he's already told us in chapter 1 verse 5. That the Holy Spirit's already in us. But since we are in him and he is in us, now we get to walk like him. And so what does that look like? Well, it looks like talking like Jesus talked. Jesus Christ never opened his mouth with an untrue word. Jesus Christ Never lied, verse 25, therefore put away lying.

How do we imitate God? We put away lying. And instead of lying, what do we do? We put on the truth with our neighbor. That is how we imitate God. We imitate God by looking at the context. And verse 25 tells us that Jesus never lied. That's how we heard of Jesus, that he was the truth. And so since he was the truth, now we, that's a fly in my face. Oh boy, that's a weird day, ain't it? Since Jesus always told the truth, we always tell the truth. We want to be like Jesus. What does verse 26 tell us? Jesus was never sinfully angry, so we can never be sinfully angry. Jesus didn't let corrupt words flow from his mouth, so we put off those corrupt words. And instead, what do we do? We put on edifying words. We put on words to build others up, because that is how we imitate God. That is how we imitate the love of Jesus Christ. That is how we love Jesus's bride, the church.

We put off lying. We imitate God by putting off stealing. We imitate God by putting off bitterness. We imitate God by putting off anger. We imitate God by putting off wrath. We imitate God by putting off clamor, screaming at one another. We imitate God by putting off filthy language out of our mouth. We imitate God by putting off all sorts of clamor.

We imitate God by putting off those things and putting on holiness. We imitate God by putting on truth. We imitate God by putting on hard work. We imitate God by putting on grace. We imitate God by putting on forgiveness. We imitate God by putting on kindness. We imitate God by putting on tenderness of heart. We imitate God by doing the things that we see in Jesus Christ.

Because we are beloved children, we should look like our Father. We should look like our elder brother, Jesus Christ. We put on his shoes and we clumsily walk around. We grow in our maturity and our love for God. We grow in his likeness and image. We are conformed more and more to the image of Jesus Christ.

Don't grieve the Holy Spirit, but instead imitate God. Follow God. Walk in his footsteps. Keep his ways. As we continue to go through the book of Ephesians, and we start next week at verse 8. Sorry, at verse 3. We do not somehow go in these commands away from the gospel. But we imitate God. Brothers, we imitate God. Sisters, we imitate God. By being holy as He is holy, to desire holiness. Do you desire to be like your elder brother Jesus Christ? Do you desire to be like God?

If you don't, something's wrong. Something's wrong. Pray to God. This is serious, right? What happens when you don't desire holiness? What happens when we become comfortable and familiar with this world? Oh brothers and sisters, I plead with you to go and cry out to your father who is in heaven. Get on your knees and ask him to care for you. Go and tell your brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ that you are struggling to not want these things.

We must as a church grow in holiness. We must as a church love one another and love God's holiness. Be ye holy. As I am holy, do you follow after God's footsteps? For some of you, there's an explicit call to repentance. For some of you, be encouraged. You've been walking along well. You've been running the race well. Continue. Do not grow weary of doing good. Continue to grow in holiness. Continue to grow in your love for the Lord.

Closing Prayer

We imitate God. We imitate Christ. We do as he's done because we are his children. And so as his children, encourage one another. As his children, spur one another on in love and good deeds. Be as Christ. This looks like big sacrificial ways and it looks like little godly ways towards one another every single day. Continue to strive for holiness. Continue to imitate God as beloved children. Forgive, love as he first loved us. Let's pray.

Oh Lord, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word. We thank you, Father, that you have loved us so much and have cared for us so much. Father, we pray that you would keep us from a spirit of legalism. We pray that you would let us desire holiness. Please, Lord, bury these truths in our hearts. Please Lord, bury these commandments in our souls that we might look more and more like Jesus Christ. Please God, do not let your church wallow in worldliness, but let us seek after you with all of our hearts. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.