Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
One of my lesser known talents, for good reason, is my ability to talk like Donald Duck. Other than stopping babies from crying and entertaining children, I have had an awful time working this into my daily life in a productive manner. The Apostle Paul had a better idea of who to imitate and he communicated that secret to the church in Ephesus. Paul was in the process of imitating Christ as a suffering servant. He was arrested and was in prison. He eventually would pay the ultimate price for imitating Christ. There were practical applications revolving around submission and humility. Those are seemingly strange results of imitating Christ.
That is, until we read the gospels. Jesus came to earth and rode into Jerusalem with the full knowledge that he would be betrayed, arrested, tortured, and executed. He willingly submitted himself to men. He endured a criminal’s death so criminals could be free from their sins. He died for you and me. In his death, he imitated us.
It is a tall order to ask earthbound sinners to imitate the King of Kings. First of all, we cannot do it. Secondly, we refuse to submit and to be humiliated and mistreated. After all, we have rights. It is time we remember this one fact. Jesus had the right to reign in heaven and let us all be destroyed, deservedly so, for our sins. He gave up that right. Let us be imitators of Christ in our humility and submission today. A group of Ephesians 5 followers will result in an Ephesians 4 church in unity…
A fragrant offering.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church