EPHESIANS 5:1: “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.” NLT

OBSERVATION: Imitate God? Talk about a statement that causes you to stop, dead in your tracks. As I began to read the opening of Ephesians, chapter 5, these two words became a roadblock that made me stop. How can I imitate God? How can the finite emulate the infinite?

Paul doesn’t stop there. He calls us to imitate God – in everything we do! This is not an option but an expectation. Paul writes this as if it were easy. He seems to say, “…after all, you are His dear children.” Children act like their Father, right? This is no big deal. It should be easy. If this is true, why am I struggling just with the thought of it?

When I opened my Bible today, I also opened my Bible App. This was the verse of the day.

“Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God, everything is possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

Humanly speaking, I cannot imitate God. In fact, in my own human wisdom and strength, I will do exactly the opposite of what God would do, almost every time. My life, apart from God, is like a bent arrow. No matter how hard I aim at the target, I always veer off course. Like Paul, I cry out…

“I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” (Romans 7:15 NLT)

So, is the call to imitate God just a pipe dream? Is it given to show us how impossible it is? As Jesus said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible…” Yet, what a wonderful promise that follows these words – “…But with God, everything is possible!”

Paul reveals God’s answer to our inability in the book of Romans.

“The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.” (Romans 8:3 NLT)

What was God’s answer to our inability? It was Jesus! God became a man to fulfill all that we are called to do, perfectly and without sin. Jesus, God in human flesh, fulfilled all of God’s will and then willingly gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. When Jesus cried out, “It is Finished!” He broke the power of sin and death forever. Jesus declared that in Him the impossible becomes possible.

To those who call upon His name, Jesus saves, breaks the power of sin and death, and pours out the Holy Spirit into their lives. It is not in our human strength that we are called to Immitate God. It is in the power of the Holy Spirit who transforms the impossible into the possible. The Holy Spirit leads us into the fullness of God’s life and gives us the power to walk in His steps!

“He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit…For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” (Romans 8:4, 14 NLT)

It is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus that lifts me above my impossibilities and freely empowers me with the possibilities of God. These possibilities are without limit. Jesus said, “…But with God ALL things are possible!” even the call to imitate God. We don’t imitate God by trying to obey every single commandment in the Scriptures. We imitate God as we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and walk in the power of His love!

“Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” (Ephesians 5:2 NLT)

This is not a call to human love. It is a call to be transformed and led by the love of God in Christ Jesus. As we deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Jesus, we are transformed in the power of His love. As we abide in His Word, our minds are renewed by the love of God. And, as we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, He leads us in the pathway of God’s love. Then, it hits us!

The Holy Spirit is helping us to imitate God!

Jesus is living in us and through us. We are seeing life through the wisdom of God. We are walking in humility and forgiveness and making choices out of love for God and our fellow man. The old nature is no longer controlling us. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that is changing us from one degree of glory and freedom to the next. We are on the pathway of change, and it is a glorious and miraculous thing!

“For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NLT)

Heavenly Father, thank You for making the impossible possible through Jesus Christ, my Lord! I want to Immitate You. I want to walk today in the power of Your Holy Spirit. I want to be transformed in Your love. Grant me the grace to meet each challenge, each question, each choice, in the power of Your transforming love.

In Jesus’ Name!