Our Authenticity: Be Imatators Of God (Eph 4:32-5:2)

Good Morning Fellowship Espanol! My name is Josh Aguilar, I am one of the elders here at Fellowship. We are continuing our series in Ephesians and we have been focused on this idea of putting off and putting on. Putting off the old self, the way I used to live before I knew Christ. Putting off the sins I have struggles with and putting on the new life. The reason this is important is because if we have been transformed by the Gospel and the Lord has given us a new heart with new desires to honor him, then those desires should impact how we live with others.

The past few weeks we read the instructions, that the Spirit of God wants to communicate to us through the writings of Paul, that we should put off lying, and put on speaking the truth. We should control our anger and not let it prolong in our hearts. We should stop stealing and start working hard so we can be generous with those in need. We shouldn’t tear others down with our words, but use our words to build others up.

We have all been challenged by one or more areas in our life in the past few weeks. I know I have. The question is what happens when we blow it? What happens when we lie to someone, or when we don’t control our anger, or when we hold resentment in our heart, or we steal from someone, or if you harm someone with your words, what are we suppose to do? What if you hurt someone in one of the ways we have been talking about or you are on the receiving end of the hurt, what should you do? The word for us today will challenge us, lets read what Paul’s word is for us today;

Ephesians 4:32–5:2 (ESV)

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Sed más bien amables unos con otros, misericordiosos, perdonándoos unos a otros, así como también Dios os perdonó en Cristo.

Sed, pues, imitadores de Dios como hijos amados; y andad en amor, así como también Cristo os amó y se dio a sí mismo por nosotros, ofrenda y sacrificio a Dios, como fragante aroma.

I. Be Imitators of God

Be imitators of God, before we get into how we are to imitate God, lets just dwell on that phrase for a few minutes. Be imitators of God. I grew up in a single parent home, my mom raised us, but my moms father, my grandpa Tony, I miss him so much. He was a giant of a man, at least to me. Almost 6 foot tall, strong and he could do anything, fix a car, fix anything that went wrong in a home, he was mr fix it, he could fix anything. Growing up I was his shadow, whenever I could I would be with him, I would follow him any where he went. What ever my grandpa did, whenever I was with him, I would try to do the same exact thing. I would try to walk like him, talk like him, stand like him, joke around like him, mow the lawn like him, I wanted to be him. I was an imitator of Grandpa Tony

When I read this passage, Be imitators of God, this is what comes to my mind. That I want to be so close to God, that when people are around me, they don’t see me they see the reflection of God in me. When people are around me they feel like they have been in the presence of God because I am an imitator of God. Here is the amazing privilege we have as believers, God commands us to be imitators of him and if he commands it then there is a sense that we can imitate him on this earth. Paul, when he is writing to Timothy explaining to Timothy how the church should conduct themselves, he gets so passionate about what he is saying he writes

1 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:

E indiscutiblemente, grande es el misterio de la piedad:

Great is the mystery of godliness, great is the mystery of being like God. Great is the mystery, that while being sinners, God commands us to imitate him, commands us to be like him, commands us reflect him in our relationships and in our world. Great is the mystery of godliness, mystery, when it comes to the Bible means something that was hidden in the past but has now been revealed to us. When Paul says, great is the mystery of godliness, great is the mystery of imitating God, of broken sinful people living godly in this world, he tells how that is possible, lets finish reading.

He (Jesus) was manifested in the flesh,

vindicated by the Spirit,

seen by angels,

proclaimed among the nations,

believed on in the world,

taken up in glory.

Él (Jesus) fue manifestado en la carne, vindicado en el Espíritu, contemplado por ángeles, proclamado entre las naciones, creído en el mundo, recibido arriba en gloria.

Wow! Here is the mystery revealed of how sinners can be godly, how sinners can be imitators of God. This statement some believe it may have been an ancient hymn or even a creedal statement, stating what the church believed about Jesus.

Jesus, was God with us in the flesh, lived the perfect life, even though he was perfect died a sinners death, in our place, but was vindicated by the Spirit through his resurrection from the dead on the third day, and now we can be reconciled to God because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Seen and worshipped by the angels, the Gospel, this good news is proclaimed among the nations and believed on in the world. Jesus has ascended into heaven where he sits at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. It is through the work of Jesus, that broken sinful people can be reconciled to God, and become imitators of God. Great is the mystery of godliness!

But how are we to imitate God?

In our passage today Paul shares a couple of ways we are to imitate God.

II. Be Kind to One Another

What if you hurt someone in one of the ways we have been talking about or you are on the receiving end of the hurt, what should you do?

Paul says be kind to one another, tender hearted - which means easily moved to love, pity or sorrow. Easily showing someone else you care for them. But Paul goes further than being kind and tenderhearted, he speaks of putting some actions to your kindness actions to your compassion. Forgive one another. Paul not only tells us to forgive, he sets the standard of our forgiveness. God sets the standard of the kind of forgiveness we are to give others , which is, as God in Christ forgave you.

Now when you think about forgiveness that God offers us is Christ, what is that standard?

A. God is the Initiator of Forgiveness

Even though God was the one that was offended by us, he was the initiator of forgiveness. “For God so loved the world, he sent his Son”, God had every right to destroy us, but God chose to send his Son in to this world so he could forgive us. God initiated the plan of forgiveness and reconciliation.

When you have been offended, do you think, how can I reconcile with that person? I find it interesting when Jesus talked about offenses and forgiveness in the Gospels we read,

Matthew 5:23–24 (ESV)

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Notice, Jesus says, if you are offering your gift and you remember that your brother has something against you. Go and reconcile with him, Jesus says be the initiator of reconciliation. Maybe you lost your temper or you said some unkind words, Jesus says be the initiator of forgiveness.

Now jump with me to Matthew 18:15

Matthew 18:15 (ESV)

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

Now notice what Jesus says, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him. Interesting the responsibility to initiate forgiveness is on both the one committing the offense and the one being offended. Jesus paints the picture of the one was offended and the one committing the offense are both seeking reconciliation. Jesus says to both parties initiate forgiveness, why?

Ephesians 4:32 (ESV)

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

B. God’s Forgiveness is Freedom

Psalms 103 describes the love and forgiveness the Lord has for his people, there is a verse in this chapter that says

Psalm 103:12 (ESV)

as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Como está de lejos el oriente del occidente, así alejó de nosotros nuestras transgresiones.

When you go outside and look to the east and west, it looks like it can go on forever, this is the kind of forgiveness God offers, he removes are transgressions from us and they are thrown into the sea of forgetfulness. We have speak of God forgetting our sins, if God is God, then it is impossible for him to forget. So what do we mean when we say that? The idea that Psalms 103:12 is trying to convey and the concept of God forgetting our sins, is the idea that when God forgives, he no longer holds your sins against.

When you forgive others do you let it go? Is your forgiveness freeing? Forgive one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

This is very challenging, especially if you have deep wounds from people close to you, or if you are victims of sin in which others have taken advantage of you and wounded you deeply. You may think right now there is no way I could forgive that person, there is hope and healing for you, and we have a team of care pastors here at Fellowship that are willing to help you through the healing process so you can be healed from the wounds and free to forgive, we would love to connect you with someone if you need help healing from wounds because others have harmed you.

III. Walk In Love

The other way we are commanded to imitate God is to walk in love. We are to love as Christ loved us. Again we see, God sets the standard of the kind of love we are to give others, which is, as God in Christ loves, a sacrificial love.

John 15:13 (ESV)

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Nadie tiene un amor mayor que este: que uno dé[a] su vida por sus amigos.

Notice the command to love is written like an action, walk in love, which is communicating that love should be a pattern of your life, it should be what characterizes the follower of Jesus, because he has been the recipient of the love of God, that love should be part of who we are now. I said it last week, I will say it again, the doctrines of grace should create a culture of grace within our church. Because God has been so gracious to us, by choosing us, adopting us as his children, forgiving us, set us free from sin, giving us his Spirit, keeping us until the day of redemption, all the grace God has poured out onto us, should flow through us into the lives of others in our church and those who do not know Christ. Walk in love...

The walk in love is described as to what kind of love we should walk in, and here is the challenge. Walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.

How did Christ love us?

Romans 5:8 (ESV)

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Pero Dios demuestra su amor para con nosotros, en que siendo aún pecadores, Cristo murió por nosotros.

While we were enemies of God, He sent his Son, Jesus to die for us, so that we can be in right relationship with him. Jesus set aside the comforts of heaven, he became poor, Jesus being fully God, became fully man, lived the perfect life, died the sinners death, so that he can make enemies into friends. This is the love we are commanded to walk in, a sacrificial love, a love that puts others above your self. A love which seeks to reconcile relationships not destroy them. A love that seeks to help others in need, when they are down distressed and hurting.

This love was put on display in our church the last few months, as a group of people came together, this group of people were able to rearrange some hours in their day, to love and care for Dana. If you want a visual image of what it means too walk in love, thats the image, we have people caring for Dana, people praying for Dana, people giving money and resources to help cover costs, people doing schedules and making calls to cover hours of care. Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.

Why?

Why be imitators of God, why forgive, why walk in love?

When we are imitators of God, when we forgive others, and when we love sacrificially, it is a sweet-smelling aroma to God.

This concept of sweet smelling aroma to God is based on the picture of Old Testament worshippers presenting the sacrificial offerings required by the Lord. The sacrificial offerings when presented, the Bible says they were a sweet smelling aroma too the Lord, because this is what the Lord required of them. This is how the Old Testament believers were required to deal with their sins before the Lord, because death of the animal was necessary to cover sin. When the sacrifice was performed it was a sweet smelling aroma to the Lord.

In Christ, his death covers our sins, his death was a pleasing aroma to God because in him many would be reconciled to the Lord. Because of his death dealt with sin and God’s wrath against sin, once and for all, we no longer have to present an animal sacrifice to the Lord. But now that God has dealt with the sin in our heart through Christ, he has given us His Spirit so that we can be imitators of God, when we present our selves to God as the people of God he can use to love others, this is what is a sweet smelling aroma to God.

John 13:35 (ESV)

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

En esto conocerán todos que sois mis discípulos, si os tenéis amor los unos a los otros.