Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.  

Ephesians 5:1-2 

John the Baptist said of Jesus, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, Who, takes away the sin of the world.’ Paul said, ‘Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us.’ When we arrive at our text, we read that in giving Himself for us, Christ did so as, ‘an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.’ When Noah departed from the ark, the Scripture records, ‘Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma…’ Thus, the language Paul is using harks back to the burnt offerings of ancient days. The Old Testament is full of such burnt offerings, often of a lamb, which the Scripture describes as, ‘a sweet savor.’ As Paul articulates it, he is using the language to raise those images in the minds of his readers. It is significant that the crucifixion of Christ was during the Passover time. In Israel’s history, Passover was the beginning of their year by Divine ordination. It marked their liberation from the bondage of Egypt. It was inextricably associated with the sacrifice of the lamb. Therefore, given Paul’s direct reference to Christ as our Passover, the concept of His sacrifice as ‘a sweet-smelling aroma’ runs from the Old Testament through the New. When we behold the crucified Christ, we are beholding the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world by His sacrifice. We are saved for all eternity by the blood of the Lamb.  

Our Wise and Holy God, 
we rejoice that You have given us Your Son. 
We praise You that He is our Sacrificial Lamb. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.  

Ephesians 5:1-2 

‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’ These words from the children’s song are both simple in their expression of faith and profound in their grasp of the revelation of the love of Christ in the Scriptures. All the Scriptures bear witness to the love of Christ for us and His willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice in order that we might be brought to God and accepted by Him. The account of the sin of our first parents ends with the first declaration of Christ’s sacrifice, ‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.’ There, the pre-incarnate Christ is preaching of Himself to the person least likely to be saved, Satan himself. This is the first of a veritable host of prophecies, types, shadows and pictures which occur throughout the Old Testament all of which point us to the atoning sacrifice of Christ. The New Testament tells the story of HIs life, His sacrificial death and His resurrection. It explains in great detail the ramifications of His sacrifice all the way to the end of the world. Our blessed personal experience is that this sacrifice was for us. ‘Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us.’ When we speak of Him, we must again and again come to His work on our behalf. This means He is, for us, a very personal Savior. 

Our Glorious, Living Savior, 
we rejoice that You have loved us with an everlasting love. 
We praise You that have shown us Your love,  
and have sacrificed Yourself for us. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.  

Ephesians 5:1-2 

What is the imitation of God? The exhortation that begins our text calls us to this. It adds, ‘as dear children.’ This gives us a place to start our thinking. Children are imitators. They do what they see us do, say what they hear us say, and adopt the attitudes they observe in us. Therefore, when Paul says, ‘Therefore be imitators of God as dear children,’ we think of how they imitate us. The second portion of our text sets forth the Grand Example Whom we imitate. Paul says we should imitate God and immediately points to Christ. Therefore to imitate Christ is to ‘walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us.’ This love is self-sacrificial as His was. He gave Himself for us as the ultimate self-sacrifice. We learn to imitate Him. For us to walk in love, that is, consistently demonstrate love in the totality of our life, is to sacrifice, ourselves for others. This may take on many forms and involve many mundane, inglorious activities. These are the unsung deeds of love and kindness for which we may never receive recognition now. The day is coming, however, when Christ, sitting upon His Throne shall say, ‘Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto Me.’  

Our Gracious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You have set Christ before us. 
We praise You that to imitate You, 
is to imitate Him. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children.

Ephesians 5:1

The latter portion of Ephesians is full of New Testament commandments. Our text this morning puts a very familial construction upon what has gone before and what follows. It encourages us with, ‘be imitators of God as dear children.’ Here is a graphic image of our Christian walk. It also leads us directly to Christ. While Christ is, the only Redeemer of God’s elect, He is also the Great Exemplar of the Christian life. How is it that our own dear children, learn to behave? They do so by imitating us. What Daddy and Mommy do, they imitate. So, their patterns of behavior emerge as little versions of the adult examples before them. This is of the utmost importance when we see all these commands set forth in the context of our text. An adherence to the letter of these commandments will produce a barren self-righteousness, devoid of compassion. It is the imitation of Christ that makes the following of these commandments more than a dead letter exercise. As a dear child of God, I must look to Christ to see how these commandments translate into everyday spiritual behavior. There is no true obedience apart from the imitation of Christ. Although it has become a trite and passé cliché, ‘What would Jesus Do?’  The phrase has a validity which we should carefully consider. As we contemplate Christ, so we shall learn to imitate Christ, as dear children. Look to Christ today.   Imitate Him, dear child, the Holy Spirit will conform you to His Image.

Our most Holy and Faithful God,
Enable us today by the power of Your Spirit,
To both contemplate and imitate our Dear Savior.
Make us daily to more closely resemble Jesus Christ.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush Burning

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth). 

Ephesians 5:8-9 

What is the fruit the Holy Spirit grows in the children of light? It is goodness, righteousness and truth. This is a short list of the fruit of the Spirit. Paul gives us a longer list in Galatians 5, where he writes, ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.’ Our text summarizes this list as, ‘goodness, righteousness, and truth.’ What we can draw from the Galatians and Ephesians passages is that the work of the Holy Spirit has an overwhelmingly salutary effect on the whole person. The Galatians list is full of virtues which savor of Christ. He has the Spirit without measure, and therefore exhibits these qualities to their superlative degree. As we follow Him, walking in the light as He is in the light, the Holy Spirit grows this fruit in us. As He does we grow in grace and in the knowledge of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The fruit of the Spirit shows in goodness, righteousness and truth. What is encouraging to us is that whereas we are utterly incapable of transforming ourselves, the Holy Spirit ‘renews us in the whole person after the image of God and enables us to die more and more unto sin and to live unto righteousness.’ What we cannot do ourselves, He can and does do, to conform us to genuine Christlikeness.  

Our Kind and Gracious God, 
we rejoice in the work of Your Holy Spirit. 
We praise You that He forms us to the Image of Christ. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning