PENTECOST 11 – August 8, 2021 – Eph. 4:17-5:2
“IMITATE GOD”
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from Ephesians 4 and 5. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- In our text, the apostle Paul tells us to be “imitators of God.” Wow! And just how are we to go about that? Let’s see, does he mean being present everywhere? I don’t think so. Does he mean by being almighty, omnipotent? No way. Does he mean by knowing all things? As pleasant as that might sound, no it can’t be what he means.
- But in this text he will explain to us just what he means by encouraging us to be “imitators of God.”
- However, our sinful nature may still balk at this. We may want to be just a little better than we were, or a little better than most of our neighbors, or a bit better than most of our fellow congregation members. And yet when it comes to being like God, we may find that suggestion to be a bit fanatical, even un-human!
- However, I would urge you to take all that Paul writes at least under consideration this morning, and especially see that what he encourages is not only good for others but good for us as well. But first Paul reminds us that:
I. Those With Minds Darkened In Unbelief Cannot Imitate God
A. They Have A Mental Incapacity
Text: “You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.”
B. This Leads Also To An Affliction Of Moral Depravity
Text: “They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.”
Statement: Surely this is not the kind of description that you would want to be fitting to you, is it? You would not want to be like this – futile in thought, darkened in understanding, and alienated from the life of God, with hardness of heart! And thank God that He has delivered you from this and given you a new self!
Application: So you see that what Paul is encouraging is not just good for others around us, but good also for us personally. In fact, it is the best thing that can happen to a human being! But there is still striving for us to be doing, for:
II. The Christian Life Is One Of Putting Off And Putting On
A. We Are To Be Putting Off This Old Self Of Futile Thinking, Darkness Of Mind, Alienation From God, And Ignorance
Text: “That is not the way you learned Christ! Assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.”
B. We Are To Be Putting On The New Self – So That Our Morality And Behavior Is Governed By The Likeness Of God
Text: “Be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
1. We Are To Be Of The Truth, Rejecting Falsehood And Devious Ways
Text: “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”
2. We Are To Not Allow Sinful Anger
Text: “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.”
3. We Are To Engage In Honest Labor For Our Living
Text: “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands.”
4. We Are To Be Generous And Sharing In Love
Text: “That he may have something to share with anyone in need.”
5. Our Communication Is To Be Only Edifying Speech
Text: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
6. We Are To Put All Evils Away
Text: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”
Statement: All who are regenerate in Christ can see that these are very good things for a Christian to strive for. In fact, we can all see that knowing Christ and His love for us, we have no other option than to follow Him and allow Him to be creating our new self after the likeness of God – in true righteousness and holiness.
Application: And of course everyone else understands how good this is when we act and behave in this manner! That “no bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, or malice” be directed their way? Certainly we do not want any of to come at us, particularly not from those who are supposed to be Christian brothers and sisters.
But this also requires some work from us – to continue putting off and putting on. And so:
III. Imitating God Is Living In His Grace
A. Knowing How He Has Loved Us
Text: “As God in Christ forgave you. . . . as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
B. Imitating God Is Living Gracefully Toward Others
1. Being Kind, Tenderhearted To Others
Text: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted.”
2. We Are To Be Forgiving One Another Just As God Has Forgiven Us
Text: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God in Christ forgave you.”
3. We Are To Love As Christ Has Loved Us – Sacrificial Love
Text: “Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Statement: This is the blessedness to which we are all invited. It is the blessedness that is given to us in Christ Jesus along with His forgiveness, life, and salvation. “Be renewed” is passive. We did not “create our new self”! It is created by God. We did not “seal” ourselves, but the Holy Spirit “sealed us for the day of redemption.”
Application: But we can balk at this, and indeed our sinful nature, the old self, strives to negate these gifts of God all the time, 24 x7. And if we commit ourselves to continuing in the evils mentioned in our text, well then we are grieving the Holy Spirit and killing off the new self which God has created in us. And be assured, this will do us no good at all!
Conclusion: So let us take this advice from the apostle, and from the Holy Spirit of God, quite seriously. Let us consider “IMATATING GOD” in the ways we can, in the ways that He is enabling us!
Since His love is His greatest glory, we would also be participating in God’s greatest glory when we love like Him, and act like Him!
There is the old saying: “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” We are encouraged to participate in what is divine! Thanks and praise be to God, Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, even unto life everlasting, Amen.