BE IMITATORS OF GOD
Thomas R Dohling
Seeing
Jesus is what Christianity is all about.
Christian service in its purest form is imitating Him Whom we see. To see His majesty and to imitate Him – this
is the sum of Christianity. Getting a
vision of your Maker can be like starting a whole new life. It can be like a new birth. In fact, Jesus Himself said: “Unless a man is
born again, he cannot see the
Man was
not meant to live ignorant of his maker.
That is why God came near – so that man may see Him. Yet, man was reluctant to acknowledge his
Maker; he still is. The reason is spiritual blindness caused by the deceiver –
Satan. He has deceived man into thinking
that he has evolved, not created. That
he is still evolving into superior beings and he can be self-sufficient apart
from God. This is a lie. Man, apart from God is in darkness (Romans
1:21). God knows it. That is why in Jesus Christ, He came to man
as the Light of the world to enlighten him, to make him aware of his need of
God, aware of a higher, better, abundant, everlasting life (John 8:12).
The higher and better life that man is called to is possible
only when he discovers his weakness and impotency in the flesh, life apart from
God, and desires to be born anew in the spirit of his being. In order for him to be saved from himself
(carnal life), God’s plan for man’s salvation was put in place before time
began. In the Person and work of Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God and of man, man is saved and by being dressed with
Him he becomes a new, spiritual being, a child of God Himself. He discards the ‘self’ [carnal life] and
clothes himself with Christ [spiritual life].
His nature undergoes a metamorphosis.
Just as an ugly caterpillar emerges from the apparently dead cocoon,
changed into a beautiful butterfly, so also carnal man emerges from the watery
grave of baptism a metamorphosed beautiful creature after the nature of Jesus
Himself! The change is effected by God
Himself, through His Spirit [contained in the word]. This change is not physically apparent; but
the transformation occurs in the real person i.e. the mind of the soul. The transformed man now desires his Creator
only and how he might please his Maker.
Little by little, over a period of time, the nature of the carnal man is
replaced by the nature of God as revealed in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Such a new creature has little patience with or interest in
the works of the flesh or ‘highs’ of this world. His only goal now is to patiently wait on His
God in absolute surrender and marvel at the countless blessings that he now
enjoys in continuous fellowship with and from his Creator.
In Ephesians 5:1-5, the apostle Paul says, “Therefore, be
imitators of God as dearly loved children and live in love, just as
Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant
offering to God. But among you there
must not be either sexual immorality, impurity of any kind, or greed, as these
are not fitting for the saints. Neither should there be vulgar speech,
foolish talk, or coarse jesting--all of which are out of character--but rather
thanksgiving. For you can be confident
of this one thing: that no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a
person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
What a contrast is presented in the above passage between
the godly and ungodly lives! The first
refers to love and sacrifice for others; the second refers to the carnal life
lived for the gratification of fleshly desires.
To the spiritual man, the carnal life is immoral and impure and he can
no longer be attracted to it having found the higher, better life in his Lord
Jesus. He lives to please his God and
always thanks Him for His love, mercy, grace, and providential care.
The example of the Christians at Thessalonica is a case of
being imitators of God. After their
conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ brought about by the apostles’ teachings,
Paul says that they “became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you received
the message with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, despite great
affliction. As a result you became examples to all the believers in
The imitator of God [and of Christ], does not seek to please
people but God, who examines his heart.
He does not seek glory from people.
He lives his life according to God’s will. He now becomes like a little child – innocently
trusting, loving, and pleasing God. He
is now without guile. He also becomes
like a nursing mother caring for her own children. He is now willing to share not only the
gospel of God with all but also his life.
He is now holy and righteous and blameless in his conduct
and he lives in a way that is worthy of God who called him to his own kingdom
and his glory (see 1 Thess.2).
Once the Christian has received the elementary instructions
about Christ, he is instructed to move on to maturity (Hebrews 6:1-3), and
imitate those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises (Hebrews
6:12).
A word of caution for those who fall away. It is impossible for him who has once been
enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit,
tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, and then have fallen away, to be renewed again to repentance, since he is crucifying
the Son of God for himself all over again and holding him up to ridicule. He is reserved to be burned. (Hebrews 6:4-8).
Paul the apostle, after saying that
he had more reason to boast of his achievements in the flesh and listing out
his credentials, says that he counted his human achievements as “loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them but rubbish, that I may win Christ, and
be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness … but that which is through
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith; that I may know
Him, and the power of His resurrection” (see Philippians 3:8-11).
The imitator of God is not content
to rest in a limited knowledge of his Maker; he yearns to know Him better
because he knows his own lack and knows that only God can satisfy him. Once he has received the upward call of God
in Christ Jesus, he cannot rest until his humble body is transformed into the
likeness of his Master’s glorious body! (read Philippians 3 for details).
Sadly, there are
many who claim to be imitators of God but are really enemies of the cross of
Christ because their god is the belly, they are not ashamed of the shameful
things they do, and they always think about earthly things; their end is
destruction (Phil.3:18, 19). The
imitator of Christ knows he does not belong to the earth; he belongs to heaven
where his Lord is and his longing expectation is to be with his Lord forever!
(v. 20). The man who has truly seen
Jesus will never be the same again. His
pride will be laid at Jesus’ feet and in humility and total surrender he will
imitate his Master always.
God is eternal and unchangeable love.
In His sovereignty, He decided to treat man in grace. His love motivates His grace. Righteousness and Justice stood in the way
because of the sin barrier between man and God.
In Love, God the Father sent His Son to the cross to die for the sins of
the whole world. Righteousness and
Justice are thus satisfied, the barrier is removed, and love and grace can be
given to man.
©
1995-2006 Thomas Dohling
Printed
in the Bible Teacher April 2003
Permission is granted for
non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
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