Ephesians 5:1-2

Day 43

“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.” Ephesians 5:1-2

Kids often look like their parents. When our kids were preschool aged, we would often be out in public as a family, at the grocery store or the park or church, and someone would tell us how much our oldest child looked like his dad and our youngest child resembled his mom. They were always very gracious in the interaction, and we would say thank you and move on with our day. This regular occurrence amused us. Our sons are both adopted. Any resemblance did not come from shared genetics. It always brought up questions in my mind. What about us and the kids caused them to see such similarities? Was it merely physical appearance, or were there shared behavioral features that were similar?  My suspicion is that this phenomenon came about because of two factors. First, strangers and acquaintances are conditioned to look for similarities between parents and their children. Second, similar behavioral patterns actually identify a parent-child relationship as much as genetic markers. 

For believers in Christ, the moment we put our faith in Him, God adopts us into His family. As those professing to be followers of Christ, we are also claiming to be children of God. This is biblical theology. God has adopted us into His family.  As such, when others know our identity, they will look for the resemblance.  Some seek a resemblance out of a desire to be encouraged by the work of God in His adopted children, a desire to see us as we become more like Jesus. Skeptics will look for ways that our lives reflect poorly on our divine adoption. As with all adopted children, the resemblance to our Father in Heaven will be in our behavior. Paul told the church at Ephesus, be imitators of God, as His deeply loved children.  We have a loving Father who has gone to great lengths to adopt us into His family and has treated us as His own. As we have been adopted and as we spend time with Him and His family, our behavior should reflect our relationship to Him and His family.  He loved us so we should love one another. “Walk in love just as…” We must live in a way that our love demonstrates our imitation of God. We are not left to our own devices to determine what love should look like.  Rather, God points us to the model He has provided for us as our loving parent. “Do this task as best you can, in the way you have seen me do it.”  That parental encouragement that earthly parents give their young children is found in the divine mandate to us as God’s adopted children. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, members of His family, imitate God in the way we love. 

The standard of this life of imitation follows in the next verse. Christ willingly and sacrificially laid down His life for us. That’s the standard for the imitating behavior. In doing so, His life became an act of exalting God the Father in praise and worship.  We too, as God’s children, exalt God with worship and praise through our demonstration of Christ-like love for others.  Here the motive of our love for others distinguishes our life from any other love this world might display.  It is certainly true that Christians and non Christians alike can love others.  We all know non Christians who love their families, friends, neighbors, and coworkers.  Loving others, in the broadest of senses, does not necessarily mean divine imitation.  The specifics delineate the behavior.  We are called to walk in love, meaning live a life of our love for others, so that others will see the divine resemblance.  The true distinction isn’t just love but the measure and motive of our love.  The measure of our love must be a love that is sacrificial like Christ.  We love to the point of personal loss of time and resources, counting the other person as more important than our own conveniences and pleasures.  We love for the sake of the good of the other person, even if difficulties and sorrow become our experience in the process. The measure of our imitation of God’s love is Jesus Himself who offered His life in exchange for ours.  The other distinction between love in the broad sense of the word versus the love that imitates God can be found in our motives.  Christ loves us sacrificially with the outcome of praise and worship.  Our love for others becomes an offering of praise to God. God glorified motives the imitating follower of Christ.  To live like Jesus is to love like Him in measure and motive.  We love sacrificially and as an act of worship. 

Suggested prayer: God, I want to love like Jesus. Transform my life in both measure and motive in the way that I love others.  Help me love sacrificially and as an act of worship. Amen

Ephesians