Advent 2018: The Unreluctant Father and the Beloved

Introduction

It is often said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. And, it’s because we most naturally, almost subconsciously, imitate people that we admire, don’t we? It’s especially obvious in children. Last week, we lost Sara in the house. And you know that any time that a three year old goes dark and goes into stealth mode in the house that catastrophe has struck. So, when Megan finds her, she’s been ‘putting on her makeup.’ And, it was a sight to behold. Now, where did a three year old get the idea that she should put on makeup? She got it from watching her mom. She admires her mom, and she pretty much thinks her mom is one notch below Minnie Mouse, and her putting on makeup was really an expression of love and admiration toward her mom.

Occasionally, I’ll come home from work, and it’s like there are these three Russian dolls standing in my kitchen. You know, the type where you have the bigger one that opens to the smaller one and then to the smaller one. You have Megan, then Gracie, and then Sara. And, they’ve all got on aprons, and they’re all covered in flour, and they all give me the same kiss hello. And, Gracie and Sara absolutely love it. Why? They’re getting to be like their hero. They’re getting to be like mom for at least split second, and in their imitation is an expression of adoration, admiration, and love that is powerful. In our text this morning, Paul is going to call for this type of imitation in our walk with God. He’s going to draw on this powerful and familiar picture so that we as believers can have an understanding of what it means to walk with God and bring honor to God, and what we’re going to see is that not only did Jesus come so that we could see an example of what this looked like, but Jesus came so that this would be possible. Jesus came so that we could be set free and empowered to walk with God in love and imitation, bringing glory to his name.

God’s Word

Read

Not Like an Orphan

“Therefore be imitators of God” We start off our text with a key word that’s important for us to notice — ‘therefore.’ It’s telling us to pay close attention to everything that’s just been said. ‘Therefore’ always points us back as students of scripture. As we look back, I think there’s the immediate, direct context, and there’s the broader, overarching context that are both in play. The immediate context points us back to verses 31 and 32, which tell us how to love one another well and treat one another within the body of Christ. We are to not treat one another with ‘bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander....and malice’ rather we are to ‘be kind....tenderhearted, and forgiving....as God’ is. So, most simply, Paul is saying, ‘Treat each other as God has treated each of you! Imitate the character of God in your relationships with one another, and you, along with the world, will see God in each other!”

But then, there’s the broader context that I think Paul begins to zoom back out to here that really paints for us a powerful picture. You know, there are times in which we need to take a small piece of bark and place it under a microscope so that we can scrutinize the tiniest organisms, organisms that aren’t apparent to naked eye. And then, there are times in which we need to find the tallest tree on the highest and mountain and climb to the very top so that we can suck in the full wonder of the sun dropping behind the land form. So, if we climb to the top of the tree and zoom out, we see that Paul is very concerned with how we used to be walking before Christ and we’re walking now that we’ve found Christ. In chapter two, he said that we ‘once walked’ dead in our trespasses and sins, but now, in stark contrast, through Christ we are have been enabled to ‘walk’ in the good works that were prepared beforehand for us. Starting in chapter 4:1, he says that we are to ‘walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have been called,’ and he contrasts this with verse 17 when he says ‘that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do.’ So, when he gets to verses 31 and 32 and he’s talking about not having bitterness or wrath or anger or clamor or malice, he’s talking about not walking like you’re still in your trespasses and sins, not walking like you’re a gentile. When he’s talking about being kind and tenderhearted and forgiving, he’s talking about walking like God has intervened and you are his workmanship empowered for the good works prepared beforehand. He’s talking about walking in a way that is worthy of the calling that is on your life. So, in this zoomed in picture of verses 31 and 32, he’s wanting you to make this contrasting decision of what he’s been talking about in the big picture.

Why does this matter? Who are those in chapter 2 verse 10 that begin to walk in the good works that God prepared beforehand for them to walk in? They are those about whom it says in chapter one verse 5: “In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as son through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will...” And, why would he not want the Ephesians to walk as the Gentiles do? He’s using ‘Gentile’ here as a word for pagan less than for an ethnic group. But, he’s bringing into our minds those who are excluded from the household of God, isn’t he? Those who aren’t the children of the promise. Those who weren’t given God’s word. Here’s what I think Paul is saying: Don’t live like orphans! Don’t live as those under the curse of God. Don’t live as those excluded from the household of God! You are not some stray dog that nobody wanted. You are not a forgotten orphan. You are not a discarded sinner.

Jesus Came Because the Father Isn’t Reluctant

“beloved children” In fact, this is the opposite of who you are! You aren’t stray dogs! You aren’t orphans! You are the ‘beloved children’ of God! Paul had already made clear to them that God didn’t adopt them because he was obligated to adopt them or because it was necessary to adopt them. In fact, in 1:4, God had chosen to do this before the ‘foundations of the world’ knowing full well the sinfulness of their lives and the rebellion of their hearts. In , Peter says that Jesus was ‘delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God’.

A man and his wife wanted a child more than they wanted anything else. In virtually every area of their lives, they had been successful, but they had been unable to have children and their family felt incomplete. They prayed and prayed and prayed that God would give them a child, but to no avail. God opened their hearts to adoption, and there was never more joy on their faces than when they brought home their son. It wasn’t their DNA or their blood in his veins, but it was, without a shadow of a doubt, their son in their arms. They raised him with all of the wisdom, love, discipline, and opportunities they could provide their son. They weren’t perfect, but every, single day, that boy heard that his parents were proud of him and loved him, and every, single day he went to sleep knowing that his mom and dad loved the Lord and one another. But, over time, something happened. Though they embraced him, he rejected them. The older that he got the more he intentionally highlighted the differences in appearance between he and his parents. He would tell his parents that he was just their backup plan, and he would act in ways that brought shame upon the family. He squandered the opportunities that had been afforded him, and he even refused to publicly claim the family name. Oh, what a deadbeat son! And, oh what a picture of so many of us who claim the Kingdom of God! Brothers and sisters, walk in a manner worthy of your calling as son! Let us not live as orphans!

delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God

Jesus came for you because He was sent by the Father out of a passionate desire to adopt you as ‘beloved children.’ Jesus came in pursuit of you, even though you were in rebellion from God. The child in Bethlehem came so that you might transformed from enemy into a child of God yourself. The one to whom God said, “This is my Son with whom I’m well pleased,” accepted that mantle of ministry so that one day you might here, “This is my servant with whom I’m well pleased.” Jesus came because God isn’t a reluctant Father.

Brothers and sisters, do you see this? God is not a reluctant Father! Jesus came for you because He was sent by the Father out of a passionate desire to adopt you as ‘beloved children.’ You know, there 153 million orphans in the world. And, everyone of them have names. I’ve been to the Dream Center in Swaziland and had a child rapped so tightly around my leg that I had to pry them off and watch as member of our team left in tears. And, I was thinking about that this week. And, I was thinking about adopting families from around the world going to places just like, orphanages just like that, and finding beautiful children with brilliant eyes and lives in front of them, and finding them out of a group of 153 million. And, saying, “Here’s my last name. There’s no obligation and necessity on my part. Just want to. There’s no reluctance. Just passion. Just love. Just pursuit.” Jesus came in pursuit of you, even though you were in rebellion from God. The child in Bethlehem came so that you might transformed from enemy into a child of God yourself. The one to whom God said, “This is my Son with whom I’m well pleased,” accepted that mantle of ministry so that one day you might here, “This is my servant with whom I’m well pleased.” Jesus came because God isn’t a reluctant Father.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Walk Like a Beloved Child

“be imitators of God, as beloved children” And, this is what Paul is trying to drive home here: You are a beloved child of the living God, and you should live like it! What is the most typical, most natural reaction in a healthy, loving home? The imitation of their parents. So, if you are to walk in a manner worthy of your calling, if you are to walk in a worthy of your adoption into the family of God, then you will find in your life the very character of God emanating from you! That is, you will find yourself imitating God himself! What’s remarkable when you really think about it is that this is the design of human being from the beginning! What does God say about us Genesis? Do you remember? In , He says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Man was designed by God to imitate him! But, sin has distorted that reality and made it so that we read what Paul writes right here and wonder if he’s writing a joke or if he’s being serious. But, understand, this is what you were meant for! This is what you were designed for! And, this is what Jesus came for! Jesus came so that we who were once rebels to the will of God and hostile to the glory of God might be transformed into imitators of God himself. Jesus came so that what came naturally to us, sin, might be supernaturally transformed into what God intended for us from the beginning, imitating him.

Brothers and sisters, walk in a manner worthy of your calling as son!

Jesus Came So That Sinners Could Be Holy

APPLICATION: Jesus came for the total transformation of sinners into people of holiness. The primary thrust of the New Covenant was to transform the people of God from the inside out to people who so loved God that they looked like him. That’s why in , one of the key texts on the New Covenant, it says that in the New Covenant I will ‘cause you them to walk in my ways.’ That is, in the New Covenant the people of God will imitate God and look like God. This was the purpose of Jesus coming! Jesus defeats not only the penalty of sin, but also the power of sin over us. We are no longer slaves to sin. We CAN imitate God! They don’t look like God to become his children. It isn’t about earning approval. They look like God because they are his children. It’s about his imprint on their DNA. It’s the presence of his Spirit. It’s their submission to his reign. You see, it’s the goal of the Christian life quite simply put to become as much your dad as you can. It’s no more simple or complicated than that. If you’re nothing like him and you’re not becoming like him in any way, you’re probably not his or his daughter. That’s the truth. Any notion of Jesus came so that we can live comfortably doing whatever we want to do because God is going to forgive us for it any way is dismissed when we understand that Jesus didn’t simply come to forgive sinners; Jesus came to offer sinners forgiveness with a purpose in mind and a power in tow. Jesus offers forgiveness with the purpose of reconciling them with their Father and with the power of transforming them into the image of their Father. Now, it’s a slow process. But, how does that happen? How do you transform into the image of your dad? How do you become an imitator of God? How do you walk like a beloved child? Time. No shortcuts. No simple apps. No end arounds. Time. Wasting time with God. I used to know that if my daddy got home and the work was finished by 4:30 that we could go fishing when I was growing up, and I guess I still remember most of those fishing trips. And, people say they see a lot of my daddy’s mannerisms and ways in me. I didn’t even know I was learning to imitate him. He thought we were wasting time, and I was learning to become a man of integrity. If you want to become like God, you’ve got to be okay with wasting time with God. Jesus came so that you could become holy. Become holy!

Walk as THE Beloved

Jesus Came Because the Father Isn’t Reluctant

“beloved child” I want you to think for just a second about that phrase

“walk in love, as Christ loved us” In verse two, Paul makes the picture concrete for us. In verse 1, you can say that Paul is instructing us, “Walk as A beloved son would walk, imitating his Father.” And, in verse 2, you can say that Paul is instructing us, “Walk as THE Beloved Son walked, exalting his Father.” In verse one, he tells what we are to do, and in verse two he tells us what it should look like and why we are able to do it.

You see, Jesus came to make clear and evident the love of God. Who was the greatest imitator of God the Father? Jesus Christ. That is, God the Son. We learn what it looks like to live as children of the living God by following the true Son of God, the risen Christ. The only way we learn what it means to walk in a manner worthy of the calling that we have received as the beloved children of God is to bear witness to the Beloved of God.

Jesus came to make clear and evident the love of God.

Jesus Came for the Good of His Brothers

“gave himself up for us”

Walk in love by following Christ. Jesus walked in love with two primary objects of love.

John Piper “The incarnation was the preparation of nerve endings for the nails of the cross.”

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

: “There

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

The standard of walking in love is walking toward death in place of another.

Jesus Lived for the Pleasure of God

“a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”

Even more primary than dying for you was the pleasure of his Father. It’s important in this age of narcissistic Christianity that you get that.

A fragrant offering was an offering that was pleasing to God.

English Standard Version Chapter 8

21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man,

English Standard Version Chapter 26

not as I will, but as you will.”

Jesus came So that You Could Live for the Pleasure of God.

Jesus came to be more than a good example. The is about far more than mere imitation.

Jesus came accomplish far more than mere legal acquittal of your sentence before the divine judge or to even gain VIP backstage passes to a concert event that you had no business being a part of.

Jesus came so that you could bring pleasure to God! AS HE DID! Through obedience and holiness and intimacy and love and passion and eternal harmony! I’m giving you a preview to something we’re going to talk about more in 2019, but Jesus came so that it would be your pleasure to live for God’s pleasure! Jesus came and offered himself up for you. The altar was built, the cursed tree was hung, but Lamb to be offered was himself. And when the Father looked down upon his Son’s completed sacrifice, He said, “This is my Son with whom I’m well pleased.” And, because the Son has lived for the pleasure of the Father, now, now the avenue was opened so that you could live for the pleasure of God. His wrath was satisfied, and now pleasure was given in its place. Just think, you were owed wrath, and now you’re offered pleasure! Pleasure! Oh, delight in the Christ who has come!