Well, it’s a treat to be with you. I have visited here on several occasions with my wife on those Sundays when I happen to have a vacation day and I’m home, and we’ve always enjoyed your fellowship and the faithful ministry of the Word here. I appreciate Carl and his faithful ministry and the influence that God has given him both here and at the seminary and beyond. I appreciate his faithfulness and his friendship. It’s good to have my son with me this evening as well, Jimmy. Jim, for many years when he was young, would travel anywhere with me when I went to preach at various places. And it is just a delight to this old man’s heart that he still likes to do that.
Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. We have already read verses 1 through 21 in this section of Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus when he is giving exhortations regarding what is the shape of a gospel-informed life, a redeemed life. And now in verses one and two we’ll focus on this evening: “Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Let’s read that one more time so we have it well in mind. “Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Be Imitators Of God As Beloved Children
It is, I think, in the experience of most parents, a frightening moment when it dawns on us that our children want to be like us. It’s a sobering thing at the very least, and it’s a very sobering and probably more frightening moment when we realize that they, in all likelihood, probably will be like us. We have some expressions that talk about this: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” or “Like father, like son.” It’s not uncommon at all to see traits of parents showing up in their children, whether good or bad. My dad used to say, “Fred, you’re so much like me, it scares me to death.”
I remember one time when Jimmy was young—I don’t know what age, I’m gonna guess three—he was not old enough to read letters or numbers yet. He had certainly no sense yet of the value of things. We’re walking through a department store and, although he wasn’t able yet to read or to have a sense of the value of things, he was old enough to talk and to talk like a big shot. And he walked by an item that was really very expensive, and he picks up the tag as though he could read it and he said, “Six bucks, they’re nuts.” And my wife looked at me with that smirky grin as to say, without saying it, “Wonder where he learned to talk like that.”
Well, frightening and embarrassing as it is, there’s something about it we love. It’s flattering to realize that that boy, that girl that we have looks up to us and loves us and wants to be like us. And whatever good points we may have, as parents of course we would like to see in our children. The fact of the matter is most of what we learn is by example and by imitation. That boy, that girl that looks up to us, looks up to us and studies, in a way, the way we live, the way we behave, how we act, how we respond. And they imitate and they act accordingly.
And by the time that the child has grown up enough to go to school, they’ve learned really a very lot of lessons about life. Very little of it has been by way of formal instruction where you sit down and teach them, “This is what you do and this is how you behave.” There’s been some of that, but there’s an enormous amount of learning that goes on just by watching and observing, by example and by imitating. And of course that’s a good thing so long as the model that they’re looking at is a good model.
Well, that’s the atmosphere here of Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 1. “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.” We must pay special attention and careful attention to who God is and what he is, and learn from him how we are to behave. This is more than just a “what would Jesus do” kind of thing, but we are to study and observe what God is like and understand that this God who loves us so much and this God who is our Father, whom we love and who is himself the very model of all perfection, is one that we are to imitate. And Paul says, as dearly loved children, beloved by the Father, imitate God.
And that’s the shape of this passage in a large way. Verse two: “and walk in love.” And verse eight: “walk in the light.” Verse 15: “walk as wise” or “walk in wisdom.” This is in a large sense what this passage is about. Then be imitators of God’s beloved children and learn from him what is right behavior.
How Do We Know What God Is Like?
Now the question then is, how do we know what God is like? And of course the answer very simply is—and you know this in this congregation, of course—and that is God has revealed himself. He’s revealed himself in his Word, and we learn from his Word what he is like. But chiefly and supremely we learn who God is through his self-revelation in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are many passages in the New Testament that unfold that in some marvelous ways. Most famously, of course, John chapter 1, where the Lord Jesus is given the title, “the Word.” “In the beginning was the Word.” That is, Jesus is God’s self-expression. He is God talking, as it were. He is God making himself known. And this Word became flesh; this Word who is God from all eternity became flesh and we beheld his glory. And then he winds up the prologue, John does, you remember, telling us that this God who cannot be seen is seen in the person of his Son, the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not far from that in its thinking is Hebrews chapter one, where the writer there reminds us that God has spoken at many times throughout history to our fathers. And as wonderful and as necessary as all of that revelation was, there’s a piecemeal character to it. But now he has spoken climactically in no other than his own Son. God making himself known through his Son.
Paul speaks of it in terms of Christ as the image of God in Colossians chapter one. He is the image of the invisible God. Again, he is God making himself known, God putting himself on display. And more than that, Christ as the image of God reveals to us what God is like so that we now have a flesh and blood model of what it is to be like him. And it is an extremely important part of His redemptive work to restore us to that image, made in God’s image. That image has been effaced—not erased, but it has been effaced by our sin. And Christ reveals to us what the image of God is so that we may then model and by His redemptive work be restored to that model of what we should be.
Jesus then, the model, the example—and you’ll notice that that’s Paul’s thinking here in verses 1 and 2. “Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us.” Imitate God and love like Christ loved. You see the connection. Imitate God as faithful children and love like Christ loved. Now again, this is a very familiar emphasis in the New Testament. Be like Jesus. Imitate Christ. This is the object of his redemptive work to restore the image of God in us. This is the restorative aspect of his redemptive work, and here he tells us that. Be imitators of God, and here the first application: walk in love as Christ has loved us.
And again, this is a familiar emphasis in the New Testament: imitate Christ. As Peter tells us, Christ left us an example that we should follow in his steps. Philippians chapter two, when the apostle would exhort the congregation there to unity among them—and the way to unity is humility of mind—again, he brings in the Lord Jesus as the example. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” And you remember, he goes on to explain that this one who is from all eternity God, humbled himself. And here we have in this one who humbled himself all the way to the cross, providing for us the model for our behavior with one another.
Jesus himself talks like this in Mark chapter 10. “He that would be great among you, let him be your servant. For even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.” We find this over and again in Jesus’ teaching, in the apostles’ teaching as well, that Jesus is given to us in his life and in his words as the model for our own behavior. In fact, the apostle Paul, when he goes to exhort the church at Corinth to give and to give generously to the saints in need, again he pulls in this model of the Lord Jesus, who though he was rich, for our sakes became poor that we, through his poverty, might be rich. And on and on it goes where Christ is set up as the model. And this is what Paul is doing here. Imitate God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us.
Jesus Understood Specifically In Gospel Terms
Now it’s very important to notice this, and you almost can’t help but notice this, that when the apostles give us this emphasis of “be like Jesus,” it is almost never a vague “be like Jesus.” But invariably, it is Jesus understood specifically in gospel terms. That’s what we have here in verse 2. “Walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Consistently, this is the emphasis in the New Testament.
Again, in Philippians 2, as I’ve already mentioned, when Paul exhorts us to unity among ourselves and humility of mind, he points to the great condescension of Christ who humbled himself to become like us and in humbling himself, was obedient all the way to the cross. And again, when Paul would exhort us to giving, it is follow this condescension model of Jesus who gave up everything in order to make us rich.
And in fact, when Jesus himself talked about this, for example, in Matthew chapter 18, it’s the same emphasis. He doesn’t simply say, “forgive one another.” Remember that extended parable of the unforgiving servant? It isn’t simply “be forgiving.” But he draws out this parable to emphasize that we must forgive because we have been forgiven and we must forgive as we have been forgiven. In John chapter 13, we have another example of it where Jesus commands his disciples to serve one another. Again, it’s not just that bland exhortation to serve one another, but he goes to great lengths to demonstrate his own servitude to his disciples in his work on the cross and giving himself to them.
We have this everywhere in the emphasis of the New Testament that Jesus is the model, but specifically it is Jesus as understood specifically in gospel terms. And so it is not just “love one another,” it is “love as you have been loved.” It is not simply “forgive one another,” but it is “forgive as you have been forgiven.” It is not just “serve one another,” but “serve as you have been served through Christ.” And this is the emphasis here as well. Paul tells us in verse one, imitate God and be like Jesus who loved in this specific way. So walk in love.
Well, what does that mean? What is it to love? Well, of course, love is focusing on others. Love is looking to their good, looking to help, looking to serve. It is all of that. If love is anything, it’s a giving, it’s a reaching out to others. And in fact, there’s a real service that was done by the King James translators that we don’t use anymore, when they so often would translate this word love in the New Testament as “charity.” If love is anything, it’s charity. Not maybe just giving your money, but it’s helping. It’s doing good to others and going out to their reach to supply their needs, like God.
And the whole Bible in a sense is given to tell us of the love of God. Of course, it tells us much more about God than just his love, lest we distort it. But in a sense, the Bible is given to us to tell us of the great love of God. But if you want to understand what love is, ultimately, we have to look to Jesus understood in gospel terms. And that’s what we have here in verse 2. “Walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Now this isn’t terribly common language in our churches today. It’s not terribly common in the New Testament, but it’s not uncommon at all in the Old Testament. And Paul is reaching back to that. You remember that once very often cropping up in the Old Testament. For example, Noah offers a sacrifice and it was a sweet-smelling aroma to God. You go through the book of Leviticus and you see the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and so on. And over and over again, you find it was a sweet-smelling savor to God, a fragrant offering, a fragrant aroma to God.
And the point of that all, of course, is not that God likes the smell of barbecue. The point of it is, is that here a sacrifice was offered and it satisfied God. God found it pleasing. Here the offerer brings this victim and it is slain in his place and God is satisfied. Now, of course, no animal could really make satisfaction for sin, but what we find in the Old Testament is establishing this structure in which redemption could be accomplished. And it’s pointing forward, of course, to the great sacrifice of the great victim, the great Savior, Jesus Christ, who offered himself in our place.
This takes us to the very heart of the heart of the gospel, where Christ offers himself up to God in our place as our substitute, bearing our sin, taking our curse. As we sing, “took the blame, bore the wrath,” Christ offering Himself in our place, taking the judgment of our sin, rendering satisfaction to God, or in the language here, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God, and the justice of God is satisfied. And our whole standing before God, our whole standing before God is grounded not in anything to do with us. Our whole standing before God is grounded in what the Lord Jesus has done in our place, offering himself as a sacrifice for our sin.
And Paul’s point here is that Christ himself paid that cost, the ultimate cost. He sacrificed himself. He gave himself up as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. And the really amazing thing about it is that all he got out of it was us. He came to rescue sinners. He himself is no better off for it. There was not something lacking in him that he needed from us. There was nothing in us attracting it. There was nothing he would gain. It was, in fact, charity. Love at its best. And this, Paul says, is the model. This is the standard of love.
We are not to love others merely because they love us. That’s easy. Remember what Jesus said? Any pagan can do that. We are not to love others because they are lovely. We are not to love others because of what they might have to offer us. We are not to love others because of what we might be able to get out of it, what we might get in return. We are to love others because of the love that has been given to us. And we are to love others as we have been loved in the sacrificial love of the Lord Jesus. This is the command of our Lord himself. You will remember in John chapter 13, he does not simply tell his disciples, “love one another.” He says, “love one another as I have loved you.”
A Gospel-Shaped Kind Of Love
This is really a striking emphasis, both in our Lord Jesus’ teaching and in the New Testament writers as well, that Jesus’ great sacrifice in redeeming us and giving up it all on our behalf so that we could be made rich—this is the standard of love that is to define and shape the way we relate to one another. The apostle John, in fact, even speaks of this kind of love in summary terms. This is the message we learn from Jesus, that we are to love one another.
I have to say that I sometimes wonder if we have even begun to consider this demand seriously enough. It is just deeply demanding. We, I think, are generally satisfied if we haven’t done anyone any outright harm. We go about living our generally self-centered lives. But we must know this: when we can turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to a brother in need, or we can love in a way that costs us nothing, or when we can love in a very selective way to those who might give something in return, we may be sure that we are not loving as we have been loved by the Lord Jesus who gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Again, this is just deeply demanding. This is a gospel-shaped kind of love. It is a love that is costly. It is a love that is given and expressed apart from any considerations of “does that man deserve it?” Outside of the Trinitarian love of Father, Son, and Spirit—outside of that love—every act of love our Lord Jesus ever gave was for those who did not deserve it. And Paul says this is the standard. A love that does not ask, “has he been kind to me?” A love that does not ask, “what will I get in return?” A love that does not ask, “this might not be really convenient right now.” It’s a love that’s marked by sacrifice. A love that is costly. A love that’s marked by grace.
This, I think, is just intensely practical. It is intended to shape the use of our time. It’s intended to shape the use of our attention, our energies, our money. It’s intended to shape the use of our tongue—how we talk to one another, how we talk about one another. There’s a verse in Romans chapter 12 that I’ve enjoyed bringing before our congregations about any opportunity I get. I think it’s just so helpful for us. Romans chapter 12, verse 10, the apostle Paul exhorts the congregation: “outdo one another.” Now, you’d think that’s the last thing we need in a congregation is some spirit of competition, right? “Outdo one another in showing honor.”
Can you imagine how this would transform church life and experience? We make it our goal to love in a gospel way without consideration of cost, without considerations of convenience, without consideration of what we get in return, but to outdo one another in helping, in giving, in showing honor, to go out of our way to encourage, to go out of our way to agree, to go out of our way to forgive, to go out of our way to be kind.
I hope you can see this is not legalism. This is gospel-shaped love. And if we had the time to develop it, even in this context back into chapter four, this is gospel-empowered demand. Our Lord Jesus has redeemed us at an enormous cost. We call it, and it sounds so sophisticated, the state of his humiliation. He came from the glories of heaven all the way to the accursed cross. And that to secure for us the blessings that we enjoy. He saw us in our rebellion. He saw us in our need. And he did not shrink away from the cost but paid it for our benefit. And now here he calls us to love in just that way. Here is how we honor him. We honor him by imitating him in loving one another as he has loved us. Amen.
Take your hymnals if you will, please, and turn to, I believe the number is 252.