Eph 5:1,2 Imitating God

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Imitating God

Eph 5:1,2  Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

How would you imitate anyone if not by first getting to know that person, how they react to circumstances, what are their goals and desires, their attributes and virtues, what are their attitudes and their disposition. This is one of the functions of Bible study - to discover what God is like so that we may imitate Him.

One of God's attributes is his love reflected in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, whom he gave up to be sacrificed to reconcile sinners to himself. How does God demonstrate his love for us? "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Rom 5:8 Notice that in doing so he did not compromise his holiness nor judicial nature. Likewise with our love we are not to compromise our moral character. God's love is largely unappreciated by the world obsessed with material things and who care little for holiness and judicial matters with regards to their sin. Likewise it should not be surprising that Christian love is treated much the same. In response to sharing the gospel Christians will receive hostility. In fact the sacrifices Christians make are often at the hands of the very sinners they seek to saved, much as Christ also was murdered by those he would die for.

Also Paul writes, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God— this is your spiritual act of worship." Rom 12:1 Worshipping God is more than words. It's a life lived in service to him.

The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources

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