Be imitators of God

Ephesians 5:1-21 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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.

³ But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; ⁴ and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. ⁵ For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not be partakers with them; ⁸ for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light ⁹ (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), ¹⁰ trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹ Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; ¹² for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. ¹³ But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. ¹⁴ For this reason it says,

“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵ Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of your time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; ²⁰ always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; ²¹ and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

There are many who take the message of grace, the fact that Jesus paid for all sins, “once for all,” to believe that sin no longer exists. They reason that since Jesus paid for sin past, present and future, then what we do no longer matters, if we believe in Christ. Although not many may say it that plainly, lifestyles and choices indicate that to be their belief. Many who call themselves Christians live very comfortably with sin in both their own lives and the lives of others. In today’s text Paul says:    Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;  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.        We are to be imitators of God. When God created man He said: "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26) So, to imitate God is simply to be, to return to the way He created and intended us to be, like Him. The first thing Paul says that we should do, like God, is to walk in love. This love that we walk in though is more than a love that accepts, embraces and tolerates others. We are to love as Christ loved us, as He gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God. So we are to love with a sacrificial love, putting others before ourselves. Again though, we are to be imitators of God. Romans 5:8 says: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Our love, our acceptance, our tolerance of others cannot save them. If we are to walk in love, like God, then the demonstration of our love must point others to the cross.

Paul continues with how we are to be as imitators of God, the text says:  But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;  and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.       If we are to be imitators of God, we are to be like Him. God says:   I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. (Leviticus 11:44)   “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2)   “You must be holy because I, the LORD, am holy.” (Leviticus 20:26)    I believe we can be certain that God wants us, His people to be holy. Some will say that Leviticus is the law and we have been set free from the law through Christ. That is true, but Jesus Himself says:    “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-20)     Jesus own words call us to live holy and righteously and to teach and encourage others to live that way too.

Here’s the part I think we miss or fail to do well. Paul says:      Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them;  for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light  (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),  trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.  Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;  for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.  For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.”     First Paul affirms that there will be judgment on sin and sinners. Revelation 21:8 says:   “the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”      Paul says we should not be partakers or participate in unfruitful deeds of darkness. If we tolerate, accept and condone sin, we are complicit in that sin.

Here’s the thing I think we miss. Paul says:  Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;  for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.     Far too often when believers try to expose darkness, we do nothing but talk about the darkness. We talk about what people are doing. We tell them they should not be doing things by talking about the things they are doing. Paul says it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. Rather than talk about what they are doing, rather than focusing on what they do, Paul says, expose them, not by talking about them, but rather:    all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.”     Rather than talking about, and so giving glory to and extending darkness, we should expose it to the light. Jesus says:      “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16) 

We cannot overcome darkness and evil by accepting, tolerating, embracing, condoning, participating or partaking of darkness. Neither though will we overcome darkness by focusing on darkness and talking about darkness. Jesus says:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” (John 3:16-21)     Some will choose darkness over light. As imitators of God we need to understand that God has given each one a freedom to choose. For us to walk in love, is to shine the light of Christ into the darkness, letting the light expose the darkness, so that they know there is a choice.

May the end of today’s text be our prayer:     Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,  making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;  always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.    Amen