There's a moment that has stuck with me as a father. About a year ago, I took our dog to the bathroom one evening. As I did so, my youngest son came with me. While standing at the edge of our porch, holding my son's hand, I unknowingly spit in the grass. Not even two seconds later, I watched my then two-year-old son lean over and spit in the grass, too.
I chuckled and smiled at the cuteness of my son imitating my actions, and then I grimaced at the thought of my wife finding out that I'd taught my son how to spit.
As parents, we've all been there before. We've all reached the moment when we realize we must be careful with what we say and do because our children are watching. Many of you, parents, have likely heard your child say something, and you've thought, "Where did they get that from?" Then you think, "Oh, shoot. They got that from me..."
You can think back on your own childhood, and you'll realize we imitate who we are around the most. Many of you likely say and do what you say and do because you got it from your parents. Your humor, your mannerisms, your hobbies, your occupation, the way about which you see life... you inherited these things through imitation.
This ought to be true of the Christian life, as well. Imitation is a key part of discipleship. We have a good Heavenly Father who loves us and who is worthy of our imitation.
The longer we walk with God, the more we should begin to live like God. The character of God ought to impact the character of his people. The decisions of God should impact the decisions of his people. How he serves, we should serve. How he loves, we should love. How he walks, we should walk.
The family of God is not a place where we get to seek selfish gain. Instead, it is a place where we humbly serve one another, laying down our lives for the well-being of others.
Let's dive in.
"[1] Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. [2] And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
Every time we see the word "therefore," we must remember that the author is seeking to build an argument. He's linking what he's about to say with what he's previously said.
At the end of chapter 4, Paul calls us to "forgive one another, as God in Christ forgave you." So, how God forgives is how we should forgive. If God forgives fully and unconditionally, then we should forgive fully and unconditionally. Now, at the start of chapter 5, Paul continues to build on this concept of doing as God has done.
This one verse could serve as the catalyst for the second half of Ephesians. It's a summary of how we ought to live as Christians. A central element of the Christian faith is doing as God has done. We are to "be imitators of God as beloved children."
There are two things I want to highlight here: (1) the concept of imitation and (2) our family relationship with God.
IMITATORS OF GOD
The word for imitator (mimētēs) means to be a follower of someone. It's the act of copying the behavior of another. So, again, a central element of the Christian faith is copying God, doing as God does. To imitate the Father, we must be close to our Father.
In 2005, Jamie Foxx won an Oscar for portraying Ray Charles in the movie Ray. Ray was a "biographical drama about R&B legend Ray Charles and chronicled his childhood in Florida, during which he became completely blind by age seven, and his rise to fame during the '50s and '60s."
I watched a documentary on this film this week, and what's interesting is the length to which Foxx went to imitate Charles. Foxx would spend countless hours a day watching and studying Ray's mannerisms. He would attend classes at the Braille Institute and wear special eye prosthetics that would render him blind for up to 14 hours a day. He mimicked everything from how Ray talked to how Ray walked to how Ray held his fingers while playing the piano.
I believe Foxx's example here teaches us a fundamental truth about Godly imitation.
First, Godly imitation doesn't happen by chance. Jesus says, "If anyone were to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me." You don't accidentally follow someone. You don't stumble into living a life of godliness; it takes calculated intentionality. It takes devout study. It takes you fixing your eyes on God in His Word and studying His Word closely.
Psalm 119 says, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word." So, do you desire to live a life for God? Do you desire to honor the Lord with your life? Guard your life with God's word. Godly imitation doesn't happen by chance.
Second, along those lines, it also teaches us that you cannot imitate God from afar. Our mannerisms will only begin to resemble those we're closest to. To be able to imitate God, we must walk with him closely. The longer you walk with God, the more you should begin to live like God.
Paul, in Ephesians 2, says, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."
So, before we became Christians, we followed the currents of this world, and we submitted to Satan, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. In doing so, we carried out the desires of our body and mind. We did what we wanted to do. We did whatever felt right and sounded good to us. We were children of wrath.
But, when we embraced the gospel, placing our faith in Jesus, our last name changed. Our household changed. We were adopted into the family of God. We are no longer children of wrath; we are now children of God. Therefore, we're no longer following the world. We now follow God. Where we once walked far from God, we now seek to walk close to God. Where we once did what we wanted to do, we now do what God wants us to do.
We imitate those to whom we're closest. So, if you survey your life and conclude that godliness is far from you, could it be that you're far from God?
To walk like God, we must know how God walks. To serve like God, we need to understand how God serves. To forgive as God forgives, we need to know how God forgives. To love as God loves, we need to understand how God loves. God has given us everything we need pertaining to life and godliness. So, to live like Jesus, you must know Jesus. Immerse yourself in the Bible. Meditate on the Scriptures. Write them on your heart. Get to know God deeply and personally by studying the Bible daily. Bible study isn't a moral obligation that you have to do to receive salvation; it's an opportunity to get to know God on a deeper level.
BELOVED CHILDREN
The second thing I want to highlight is our family relationship with God. We are to "be imitators of God, as beloved children."
The word "beloved" is the exact word used by the Father in reference to Jesus in Matthew 3— "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." This phrase speaks of divine love, a favorite love, a love of priority and importance. Interestingly, when you look at the gospels, this term is used only in reference to Christ. But, after the gospels, this word is also used in reference to Christians, those in Christ.
I think these words have both vertical and horizontal implications.
Vertically, in the same way that the Father looked at His Divine Son (Jesus), he now looks at you and me. God is a good Father who loves his children deeply. In the same way the Father is pleased with Jesus, he is pleased with you. Because you are now in Christ, through faith in the finished work of the cross, God looks at you with total, divine pleasure. God loves you with a holy love of true delight. There is nothing you can do or say to make God any more pleased with you. If you are in Christ, you are a beloved child of God, and nothing will ever change this.
Horizontally, though, this should impact how we view and treat one another. If you flip through the rest of the New Testament, you will discover Christians referring to other Christians as "beloved brothers." We are not tolerated neighbors; we are beloved siblings. There should, therefore, be a deep love for our brothers and sisters within the family of God. How God loves us should shape how we love one another. We should look to each other with divine, Godly love.
Our love for one another doesn't depend upon superficial things. It doesn't depend upon our social status. It doesn't depend upon race. It doesn't depend upon what we can do for one another.
Our love and affection for one another depend upon our shared last name. We love God's family; we love our family. There should be a unique type of love present within the family of God, the church.
WALK IN LOVE
So, you aren't to imitate God as a distant follower; you are to imitate God as a beloved child. How God loves his children is how we should love one another. He says, "Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
We can't fully understand the depth of God's love until we first understand the cost of the cross. Yes, Jesus was beaten, mocked, and killed. But he suffered much worse than a physical beating on the cross. On the cross, Jesus took upon himself the punishment that we rightfully deserve. On the cross, he drank the full cup of God's wrath so we wouldn't have to. On the cross, Jesus gave himself up as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
God is love; it's fundamental to who he is. But, to understand God's love, we must understand his holiness and justice. God is so holy, righteous, and good that the Bible says he cannot sin. God is so just that he has to and will punish sin. And we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Therefore, we all deserve to pay the debt for our sins. We are all liable for God's punishment, deserving of his wrath.
Our sin has brought death, judgment, and separation. Judgement is coming. But this is where the cross becomes so beautiful and necessary. Jesus willingly marched to the cross to take upon himself the punishment we deserve. 2 Corinthians 5 says, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Jesus took upon himself the condemnation that we rightfully deserve so that we might be forgiven and free. Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Jesus' work on the cross is the ultimate display of sacrificial love. He died so we wouldn't have to.
God is calling us to love one another with this same radical and sacrificial love. So, what's the limit to which we should love? There is no limit! When should we withhold our love from one another? Never!
Christ-like love is humble, sacrificial, uncomfortable, costly, selfless, and eternally minded.