Who Are You Imitating Church
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning
I was at the Doctors office the other day and there was this man in the waiting room who said he was invisible.
I heard the doctor tell the nurse that he couldn’t see him today.
Kids are always trying to imitate someone.
When I was in high school playing baseball, I wanted to be like Ken Griffey Jr.
My dad wasn’t around for me to imitate him, but most kids want to be like their parents. We had a kid at our church who did everything his dad did. He loved his dad and wanted to be just like him. The good and the bad!
Sadly, today’s generation is a generation that the majority of the kids don’t have a father figure in their lives or they are not a good example. This generation has been called the fatherless generation.
Thankfully, every believer gets to call God abba, Father. Paul, in the beginning of Ephesians, urges us to imitate our heavenly Father.
Paul paints a glorious picture of our Father in Ephesians. After painting that picture, he now adds that we must take on the Father’s character.
In several places Paul holds himself up as an example, telling us to “imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” 1 Corinthians, Philippians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians.
Paul also tells congregations to imitate other congregation. 1 Thessalonians. It is only here in Ephesians that we are told to imitate God.
Exalting Jesus in Ephesians Imitate God (Ephesians 5:1–17)
Of course, we cannot imitate God in everything. For example, we cannot create the world out of nothing, and we cannot know all things. But we can reflect God’s character in some ways as His image bearers who have been changed by the gospel. Paul described this already in
We will be in Ephesians 5:1-2.
Please stand as we prepare to hear God’s Word.
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
Pray
I want to read this in the NIV just because it words it a little different and I like it. Ephesians 5:1-2
1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Paul is telling us that we are to imitate God, be like God. Notice he is not telling us to be more like God. It is not good enough to just be more like Him, we are to be like Him.
We were created in His image! Genesis 1:26
26 Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.”
We were created to be like God. Sin changed everything, we were no longer like God anymore. We chose to be like ourselves and not like our creator. When Adam sinned, he said that he didn’t want God, he wanted his way and wanted to do things his way. When that first sin took place, something changed in Adam, he was broken from how it was created. It was no longer perfect, it had a flaw. Since that day in the garden, has us choosing ourselves over God, choosing ourselves over others. We became the most important thing. But God sent His Son, Jesus the Christ to fix what is broken in us. God spent 1000’s of years preparing the way for His Son. That is how much He loves us. He knew before creation that we would need a savior. He knew He was going to have to send His Son to redeem us. When we repent of our sins and believe in Jesus as our Saviour, we are recreated in God’s image again. He fixes what sin broke. 2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
It is up to us to put on that new image, that new creation and walk in it. When we say walk, we mean how we live. We have to chose to live a life that will reflect the image of God the Creator. God will never force us to do anything, He will strongly tell us, but never force us to do anything. In Jonah, God didn’t force Jonah to preach to Nineveh, He did force him to go to Nineveh. We have to chose that new life that we have been given, we have to be obedient. We have to want to be like Him. We have to want to take off the old self and put on the new one. God has done everything we need for Him to do, He created us, He sent His Son so that we can have a restored relationship with Him, He has given us His Spirit to guide and direct us. He has given us His Word to show us the way. All we have to do is do it. Once we have been made new in Christ, it really is up to us to do something with the new creation God has given us. We have everything we need to be like our King, do we want it?
My kids are adopted. As far as anyone is concerned, they are my kids. They do not have my DNA, they do not act like me. I try and be a good example for them, but I can not make them change. They have to want to change, they have want to different. It is up to them, no matter what I do, I can not make them change. It is up to them.
Paul tells us to be like a child and imitate our Father. If you watch a little boy for very long, you will see some of his father in him. He will do some of the things that his dad does. Every little boy wants to be like his dad. One of the reasons it is so important to make sure that your walk is right and true. There are little ones watching and imitating. I have seen it in my sons. The good and the bad! Praise God that there is no bad in Him. So when we are imitating God, we are only doing good things. I know my kids get to see plenty on bad to imitate with the good. We are called to be like children multiple times in the Bible. We are adopted into God’s family and are now His son’s and daughter’s. When we are adopted, God seals us with the Holy Spirit, His Spirit. He walks with us and guides us and helps us grow more and more like Him every day. It is with this sealing of the Holy Spirit, we can call out to God and say “Abba, Father” Galatians 4:6
6 Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!”
We can boldly come to our Father since we are sons and daughters. With this adoption, we are given a new family, the church, our eternal family that is filled with brothers and sisters that we will one day stand before our Father and sing praises! Just like with our earthly families that we are members of and we have chores that we have to do, we also have chores to do in our heavenly family as well. The chores that we are given by God are amazing privileges and they are a sacred responsibility. God has shown us great love and mercy through His Son. As adopted sons and daughters, we are to now show the Father’s love by doing great acts of compassion and mercy, just like He did for us.
36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
As members of God’s family, we should be known for our practical acts of mercy, hospitality and our caring for the poor and needy. We should also be giving special attention to the needs of the members of the church family we are members of. Also we should have a unity that reflects the unity of the trinity. Nothing should separate us or divide us! We will have our differences and disagreements, but they should never split us. Remember how chapter 4 ended, we are to be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving towards each other. We have been forgive so much, how can we not forgive each other?
Paul tells us that while we are imitating God, we are to walk in love, just as Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us. He was the most fragrant offering that was ever offered. He gave Himself as a sacrifice for you and me to God. Paul starts by telling us to imitate God and then he sets us down at the foot of the cross! The greatest symbol of love that has ever been! If when you are at the foot of the cross, you are not moved to love, you are not actually at the cross of Christ! You are at a cross, not The Cross of Christ. It is at Jesus’ cross that we can see and feel the power of love! We are told to imitate God, Jesus was the ultimate imitator of God the Father.
Love others like Jesus! No problem, easy peasy! No, we all fail at this. I know that at times I can make it hard to love me. My wife is a saint for loving me the way she loves me. Non believers really can’t grasp the concept of sacrificial love, and they certainly do not want to submit to God’s authority by loving Him with all that they are. Even believers have not loved God and neighbor perfectly, like Jesus did. Paul shows us that we need more than Jesus’ example; we also need His redeeming grace. We need a Saviour who has forgiven us and we need the Holy Spirit in us to empower us to love this dark world, demonstrating the saving work and fruit of true salvation.
Even with all this help, we still fail! A lot! If it were not for the cross of Christ, we would be crushed by the guilt of our failure. We would have given up long ago in frustration. Jesus demonstrated perfect love in His obedience and He loved perfectly, giving His life as a sacrifice for lawbreakers like us. What a Saviour we have!!
Paul tells us that we are to be like Him. Jesus tells us that we are to be perfect! Matthew 5:48
48 Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
We are to be perfect. Yes, we are sinners, but that is our old nature. Remember, when we are saved, the old has passed away and we are a new creation. We have His Spirit in us to guide us. Jesus would not have commanded us to do something that is impossible for us. Yes, it takes a lot off hard work and years of training and practice, but I believe that is what we as believers are called to. It can only happen if we want the change, if we are willing to do the hard work that is required to change. We have to make a lot of difficult decisions in order for the change to happen.
When Jesus said this, He was giving His sermon on the mount and He had just talked about how we are to be different. Matthew 5:31-47
31 “Now it was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away is to give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, take no oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you take an oath by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 But make sure your statement is, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil origin.
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, do not show opposition against an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other toward him also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘you Shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same?
We will never be perfect as long as we are in the world. As long as we are living like the world, we will act like the world. We have to remove ourselves from the world. After all this is not our home, we have to act like we are tourists. When tourist go and visit another country, they do not act like those people that are in that country, they act like the people of the country that they came from. If they are just visiting, it makes no since for them to change who they are, they are just visiting. We are just visiting here, our home is heaven. We need to act like it, we need to not fit in to this world. People need to see us and how we act and it should be foreign to them. They should wonder how and why we are acting the way we are. Then we can tell them about Jesus and all that He has done for us. We need to be like Christ, not like this world.
Men, if you are addicted to porn, are you willing to trade your smart phone in for a flip phone? Are you willing to remove all internet access from you life that is not required? That is what Jesus was talking about when He said to remove your eye if it causes you to sin. We are to take sin that seriously! It doesn’t matter how it makes us look to this world, all that matters is our obedience to God and our hatred for our sin.
If you are addicted to drugs and you are in a rehab about to get out, is serious enough to not go back to where all your friends are? Are you willing to move somewhere new and away from all the temptation?
When I got married to my first wife, she complained about me always looking at other women. I took that so seriously that when she divorced me she said I was gay because I never look at other women. I would see a woman coming down the road and I would intentionally look the other way. I would make sure that I never to a second look at another woman. It was a battle and still is today, but I take it very seriously. I would rather be accused of be gay, than cause myself or someone else to sin.
My goal is perfection. I still sin, but I will not let that stop me from achieving the goal. To many times I hear and I have said, I am just a sinner saved by grace. I feel like we use that as an excuse to keep sinning. We were sinners, we are now a new creation! Our sin should bring us to our knees and cause us to cry out to God for forgiveness. I have had 6 knee surgeries on my right knee, I can not afford to get on my knees to often! I must stop sinning!
Paul tells us one way we imitate God is by walking in love like Jesus did.
So, how did Jesus love? I am glad you asked!!
11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
While we were still enemies of God, He sent Jesus and He was obedient all the way to the cross and death. He sacrificed Himself for us.
Love is not just sentimentalism. It is not just feeling sorry for someone. It involves sacrifice and action. John tells us this in 1 John 3:18
18 Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
Jesus showed His love by what He did, with flesh and blood action. He loved all, forgave others, gave financially, spread His good news, He was patient with others, He loved the annoying, He loved all people groups, and He gave aid to those in need.
This seems like an impossible task to love like He did! How can we grow in our love for others? First we must know how Jesus loved, then we must meditate on how He loved, and then we must begin to go and put that love into action!
Paul tells us in Galatians.
20 I have been crucified with Christ; and 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.
We have to be fully surrendered to the authority of Christ in our lives. That is the only way to grow into a love like His.
Jesus was the perfect sacrificial lamb of God. Paul tells us that His sacrifice was a pleasing aroma to God. The phrase pleasing aroma to God was a sign of God’s acceptance of the sacrifice made to Him. Christ was the ultimate acceptable sacrifice to God. It gave the perfume of grace, love, and glory, the most pleasing aroma of a sacrifice ever.
Exalting Jesus in Ephesians Love like the Son (5:2)
Amy Carmichael exemplified this type of love. She was a great missionary to India who spent much of her ministry caring for ill-treated children, and she saved many from forced prostitution (which took place in the temples). She founded the Dohnavur Fellowship, which became a refuge for more than a thousand children. She died in India in 1951 at the age of 83. Before dying, she asked that no stone be put over her grave. But the children she cared deeply for decided to put a birdbath over her grave, with the single inscription “Amma,” which means “mother.” Carmichael lived out her saying: “One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving.” Sherwood Eddy said of her, “Her life was the most fragrant, the most joyfully sacrificial, that I ever knew” (Pathfinders, 125). May God make us a people that love others like Christ loves us, and may our love be a pleasing aroma to God.
How are you imitating today?
Does the world look at you as a tourist?
Are you different?
Is you love causing you to have action?
Nothing about being a Christian is sedentary. We are called to go and spread the good news to make disciples of all nations. We are called to imitate God, we are called to love like Jesus!
All of these thing require action, movement!
I think the name Christian has been tainted by the hypocrisy of the so called believers of today. I wish we could go back to saying we are followers of the way. That implies action, movement. We are following the way that Christ showed us! The way that His Spirit is guiding us.
We are called to action as followers of Jesus Christ. It is hard and it will take you out of your comfort zone, but that is the only way that you will grow and mature is to be uncomfortable for Christ.
Brother and sisters, lets make sure we never stop moving!
Let’s pray
