…walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:1-20
In response to God’s free gift of salvation, Christians are enabled, also, to live a life of gratitude that displays itself in good works. Paul tells his readers that, in this life, emphasis must be upon the importance of truth-telling, purity in speech, restraint, kindness, and forgiveness which today’s verses describe. We must “be imitators of God, as beloved children.” In our verses today is the only verse in Scripture to command us explicitly to imitate the Lord. Yet, we find many biblical passages which tell us of our Father’s desire for His children to copy His character, insofar as creatures are able. In Leviticus, we are called to model our holiness after the holiness of God, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” Jesus also tells us to be kind, for that is the way in which our Creator treats His creatures, even those who are ungrateful. Being made in God’s image, all human beings have the capability to imitate Him. But, due to the fall, only those who belong to Christ can now put this imitation into practice. But, creatures cannot imitate the Creator in every way. So, we imitate God primarily in our ethical in nature. Ancient church father, Jerome, commented: “Admittedly much that God has done we humans can hardly be said to imitate. But in the way he is merciful to all and rains on good and bad, so we may pour out mercy upon all we meet.” Here, Paul confirms our imitation of the Lord is chiefly ethical as we are commanded to “walk in love, as Christ loved us.” This love was supremely demonstrated in Jesus’ willingness to give Himself up for our sake, paying the necessary price to save God’s elect. God’s love cost Him the death of His only begotten Son. Imitating our Creator means that we will pay a price in love that we will have to surrender our own well-being at times for the good of others. In Matthew 16:24-25, we learn that imitating God is costly requiring daily self-denial and the narrow road of discipleship. If we think that there is no price to following the Savior, we are kidding ourselves. This price might even mean a martyr’s death, but for most of us it will mean putting up with the flaws of others, being eager to forgive, and being willing to give up what we want to do in order to serve others.
Source: S C Ball February 4, 2024
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