Be Ye Followers of God

Text: Ephesians 5:1-2

As we begin to study the 5th chapter of this excellent book, we are immediately confronted by a passage the demands that we do the impossible. We are called to be like God, and we are called to love as He loves. It sounds like an impossible task. How can we, human, frail, failing people, ever be like Him or love like Him? This text has much to say about this call to be like the Lord.

I. V. 1, THERE IS A PERSON TO IMITATE

The word “therefore” again calls our attention back to the last verses of chapter 4. We are reminded that the grace of God has saved the saints of God, and because they have been saved, they are to be different in the way they walk, talk, and think. They are to be different in every area of life. The “old man” of sin, with all his evil desires and appetites, is to be “put off,” Eph. 4:22. The “new man,” created in righteousness, with his appetite for righteousness and the glory of God, is to be “put on,” Eph. 4:24. Since we have been made a new creature in Jesus, we are to live as new creatures in our daily lives, 1 John 2:6.

Having challenged us to bring our tongues, anger, our work ethic, our bitterness, and revenge-seeking under the control of God, and has challenged us to be forgiving, kind and compassionate toward one another, Eph. 5:1 poses the greatest challenge of all. Let’s examine this challenge.

A.  There Is a Command – “Be ye followers of God.” – The word “followers” means to “mimic” to be an “imitator.” The command here is for the people of God to imitate God, and we are to learn all we can about God and mimic His characteristics.

The command to imitate God exclude His essential image. So, in this context, we cannot imitate God in all ways. 

Example: God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, Spirit, and eternal. We cannot be all these things. However, we are to learn about God in His word and put into practice everything we know about Him. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt11:29)

B.  There Is a Condition – We are told to imitate God, but we are told to do so as “dear children.” It is natural for children to imitate their parents. Children often have their parent’s nature, their behavior, and their actions. You can be around a child and see their parents in the way they walk, the way they talk, and in the things they do. 

Like beloved children, who are ever near the parent, learning, observing, and growing, we are brought near to our Heavenly Father so that we might learn His ways and become more like Him. 

When the Lord saved us, He did so with a purpose. 

• God’s purpose in redemption is to make us more like Him. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren,” Rom. 8:29.

• To be conformed to the image of Christ is to become holy like God is holy. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,” Matt. 5:48.

• That is God’s plan for each one of His redeemed children. “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy,” 1 Pet. 1:14–16.

• Ultimately, that is how we will become. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is,” 1 John 3:2.

While we can’t be holy on our own, as redeemed children of God, we have been empowered to live, act, and talk like our Heavenly Father. He has empowered us to live holy lives for His glory.

We are not slaves following in the footsteps of a demanding master. We are the sons and daughters of God. Redeemed by His grace. Adopted into His family. Partakers of His very nature, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust,” 2 Pet. 1:4. We are the temples of God, indwelled by His Spirit and made able to walk in imitation of our Father. Everything God is we are to be. 

Where do we learn these things? from His Word. “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8.

So, walk with Him. Learn from Him. Be like Him.