Be Imitators of God

 

Being a Christian was a new thing for everyone in the New Testament era. The ways that had become widespread practice were no longer effective ways to go about living one’s life. A new standard was in place for the people. The gods of the Greeks and the Romans were mean, cruel, dishonest, lustful, deceptive, greedy, and so much more. In fact, the people may have been more righteous than their deities.

As Paul instructs the church at Ephesus, he highlights for them the things for which they should strive. Ephesians 4:25ff says Speak the truth, be angry, but do not let your anger smolder and build into resentment, resolve your differences on the same day, do not steal, earn your money with your own hands so you will have something to share with the poor, use words that will encourage one another, be kind, forgive.

It is an extensive list, isn’t it? Paul was trained as a Pharisee. That meant he knew the law of the Jewish people backwards and forwards. He knew what was allowed and what was forbidden. He knew not only what was “black and white,” but he also knew what was allowed in the gray areas, those expectations that had, or required, exceptional circumstances. If you were not allowed to work on a holy day, well, what exactly constituted “work?” If you had animals that needed care, was that work or not?

In all of this, Paul could see that this new way that called for forgiveness and grace could very easily turn into another extensive list of rules, even more comprehensive than the Jewish people had lived under for centuries. How was that, Grace? How was that forgiveness? Would all the attempts to follow this Jesus turn into another system where people were simply trying to balance the scales between sin and righteousness?

Finally, Paul gave the Ephesians one simple bit of encouragement. He says, therefore be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1 NASB). Paul was boldly telling the new converts all over the world, that they should act like Jesus did in all things. Here we see just how differently Christian behavior was from the pagan world. Jesus was not only a model of behavior, but he was also the power to fulfill the life that was that showed forth the model.

Craig C. Krueger