BROADCASTS.com

Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Although all people belong to God, not all people are children of God.\xa0 To imitate God we must be his children.\xa0 Although God loves all that He has made, he calls Christians His children and calls us to imitate him by walking in the way of love, imitating the sacrificial love of Christ for us, His beloved children.\xa0 In his book Knowing God, J.I. Packer writes \u201cWhat is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God for his Father.\u201d

John 1:12-13 says, \u201cBut as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.\u201d\xa0 A foundational part of our identity as Christians is that we are children of God and He is our Father.\xa0 A child naturally seeks to emulate the words and actions that they hear and see in their loving father.\xa0 Believers in Christ are likewise to imitate God.\xa0

Just as children are representatives of their families, Christians are representatives of God to the outside world.\xa0 Christianity is more than a title or a moral code however.\xa0 We can never serve or give or even obey our way into God\u2019s kingdom.\xa0 Because without love we gain nothing and our service and gifts and obedience fall flat.

If I speak in the tongues\xa0of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.\xa0\xa0If I have the gift of prophecy\xa0and can fathom all mysteries\xa0and all knowledge,\xa0and if I have a faith\xa0that can move mountains,\xa0but do not have love, I am nothing. \xa0If I give all I possess to the poor\xa0and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Cor 13:1-3)\xa0 We are to walk in love because of the knowledge of what Christ has done for us.\xa0 This gives glory to God.

To follow or to be imitators of God comes from the Greek word mimetes which means to imitate or mimic.\xa0 This is also where the word mime originates.\xa0 A mime tells a story without using any words, but through actions only.\xa0 So is this passage calling us to a life active in love.

The phrase translated \u201cwalk in love\u201d refers in the original Greek to \u201ccontinuing in selfless love\u201d with the word \u201cwalk\u201d meaning an action that is continuous and ongoing.\xa0 This is the only place in Scripture where this phrase is found.\xa0 It\u2019s interesting that the word \u201cwalk\u201d is used here.\xa0 Paul could have said that we are to run or sprint in love, but instead he used walking to demonstrate a purposeful and consistent habit or practice.\xa0 So, we are to imitate God by continually living a selfless and purposeful life.\xa0 Our actions revealing that love to the world.

When we look to the life of Christ we see the example that we are to imitate.\xa0 He prayed, and He meditated and memorized God\u2019s Word.\xa0 He revealed how much he loved the world by healing the lame, raising the dead, seeking the lost, forgiving the sinners, feeding the hungry, and ultimately giving up His own life in order that those who believe in His name could live in Him.

Jesus never asked a favour, He never wanted anything in return, He didn\u2019t hold a grudge or pass undue judgement.\xa0 We didn\u2019t earn His love.\xa0 He gave it away freely and without reservation, loving completely and unendingly.\xa0 In the verse preceding our verses for today Paul writes, \u201cBe kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ, God forgave you\u201d (Ephesians 4:32).

This is the life we are to imitate.\xa0 This is the life we are to live.\xa0 A life of love. \xa0Continuously, graciously, openly.\xa0 Revealing the love of Christ by the life we live for all to see.