I’ve always loved doing imitations. Movie stars. TV celebrities. Athletes. Friends. Teachers. I tried to mimic their voices, speaking patterns, vocabulary, walks, gestures and attitudes. There’s only one problem. I’m really not very good at it. A lot of times, people have no clue who I’m imitating. As a matter of fact, my best impressions are impressions of other people doing impressions. Yeah, I know. Pretty sad. Paul encourages his friends back in Ephesus to work on their God imitation. “Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children” (v1). I’m to imitate my heavenly Dad. Do I look like my Dad? Do I act like my Dad? Do I sound like my Dad? Do I love like my Dad?
So as we imitate God, do those around us know Who we’re imitating?
Paul begins chapter five with the word “therefore.” As the old adage goes, anytime we see “therefore,” we need to ask “what is it there for?” The apostle didn’t just scribble it on the page out of nowhere. It’s here for a reason. It’s pointing back to something he’s already written. There are a couple of things he wants us to see. That’s just a couple of reasons it’s there for. Generally, Paul is building off all of chapter four. Imitating God is what it looks like to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Eph 4:1). It’s what it means to “put off your old self” and “put on the new self” (Eph 4:22-24). What are the traits I should emphasize in my God imitation? Humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another (Eph 4:2). We’re to have a supernatural unity with other believers (Eph 4:3-7, 13, 16). More specifically, the apostle has just told us to forgive each other, “as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:32).
The man from Tarsus tells us to “be imitators” of our heavenly Dad. This is the Greek word mimetes. It’s where we get our word “mimic.” The term describes an actor, one who represents someone else, one who follows another’s example or someone who looks and acts like another. Some places translate it as “follower.” But an imitator is more than someone who walks behind another. You follow because you’re trying to walk just like they walk. Talk just like they talk. Act just like they act. Live just like they live. They only way we can imitate God is to imitate Jesus. He’s “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). The radical Rabbi/Carpenter said Himself, “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:6). So in order to perfect our God imitation, we must keep our eyes focused on “Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12:2).
There’s a problem in doing our God imitation. The bar is set pretty high. I mean REALLY high. INCREDIBLY high. IMPOSSIBLY high. According to Jesus, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36). That’s gonna be pretty tough. Let’s face it, nobody in the history of the universe has shown as much mercy as God. He’s “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4)! We’ve already seen that we must be “forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:32). Remember, this is the same Savior that begged His Dad to forgive the very same people who were murdering Him (Lk 23:24). Hoo boy! That’s a level of forgiveness that I continually fall short of. And if that’s not enough, Jesus announced a standard for imitating God that I’ll never match. “You must therefore be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48). Perfect?!? Yikes!
But here’s the good news. And it’s VERY Good News! I don’t have to be perfect. Jesus did that for me. He lived the perfectly sinless life that I completely failed to live. He died the bloody and brutal death for my sin that I should have died. He rose to a spectacularly glorious new life that I certainly don’t deserve. I trust in what He’s done that I could NEVER do by myself! He’s done it for me. He’s perfect! I told you it was Good News!
That’s not all. God Himself is helping me with my God impression. How crazy is that?!?! God doesn’t just want me to imitate Him. He’s not just looking for an impression that I can do at parties. He’s growing me and the rest of His church up “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of Christ” (Eph 4:13). When it’s all said and done, He promises to conform me to look just like Jesus (Rom 8:29). So we’re not just putting on an outward act. This isn’t like some celebrity impressionist who simply pretends to be somebody they’re not. Our God imitation is actually comes from what He’s already doing in you and me on the inside. He’s given us His Spirit to live in each of us and give us the supernatural power to speak and act like Jesus (Eph 2:22; 3:16). He’s given us a brand new mind to think like He thinks (Eph 4:23).
More than once, Paul tells the Corinthians that if they were unsure what it looked like to imitate Jesus, to simply imitate the apostle. “Be imitators (Gr. mimetes) of me, as I am of Christ” (1Cor 11:1). If you’re having trouble with your Jesus impression, work on your Paul impression. Be VERY cautious about imitating Paul. The apostle isn’t Jesus. As a matter of fact, he goes so far as to admit he’s the worst of all sinners (1Tim 1:15). But he’ll continually point to the sinless Christ as he imitates Him. He loves the fact that the Thessalonians had nailed their imitation of both Paul and Jesus (1Th 1:6) as well as other churches in the area (1Th 2:14). The writer of Hebrews encourages followers of Jesus to be “imitators (Gr. mimetes) of those” who fully embrace and live out God’s promises (Heb 6:12).
Having trouble with your God imitation? Is that too much? Is that too hard? Look around. Who’s doing a great job imitating Jesus? Start watching them. The writers of the Bible continually encourage us to have spiritual mentors. Find one or more and start imitating them. Understand that this person is NOT Jesus! Know ahead of time that they are going to stumble. Know that they are in God’s process just the same way you are. Once you follow them for a while, you reach the point where you can imitate Jesus on your own. It’s like taking off the training wheels. And don’t forget, God Himself is making sure people will know Who you’re imitating before it’s all over.
The good news is that Paul gives his readers tips and pointers on what that looks like to imitate God. Stay tuned to the rest of this letter for more specifics. We’ll learn to “walk in love” just as Jesus does (Eph 5:2). We’ll learn how to “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18). We’ll learn how to imitate God as we live at home and go at work (Eph 5:21-6:9). Perfecting your God imitation doesn’t stop here. Keep reading! And keep your eyes on Jesus as you follow Him.
We imitate our heavenly Dad because He loves us, “as beloved children” (v1). He’s not forcing us to do our God impression. We do it out of an overwhelming sense of gratitude and thanks. You know the old saying, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” My imitation of Him is a result of being on the receiving end of His promiscuous grace.
My other imitations may stink. My Forrest Gump is pretty weak. My Godfather isn’t anything to write home about. But I’m really hoping my imitation of God is getting better and better. Hopefully folks will know that’s who I’m imitating!
So what do you think? Agree? Disagree? Would love to hear from you. Post a comment below.
So what do you think? Agree? Disagree? Would love to hear from you. Post a comment below.
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