"Be imitators of God..." Ephesians 5:1-2

The Greek word used here for “imitators” is ‘mimetes’ which frequently depicts an actor playing a role. God wants us to mimic him and be filled with His thoughts, His love, His deeds, and His character.  So when we play the part, it is a matter of God filling us with Himself to accomplish what our desire is setting out to do which is to be more Christlike in our lives.

“Let the Lord Jesus Christ be as near to you as the clothes you wear. Then you won’t try to satisfy your selfish desires.” Romans 13:14 (CEV)

Paul is saying that we imitate, or as he says in Romans 13:14 “To clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ…” or in other words put on Christ as you would put on your clothes and let Him become as intimate to us as the clothes we wear, that way we have a tangible grasp of the closeness of His presence.  This is always the challenge, how do we portray an invisible God?  We do it by His faith, by reckoning.  We present (or surrender) the vessel (our bodies) and ask God to use it for His glory, which He does.

As we surrender our daily walk with Christ back to Him, something marvelous happens, we experience the love of God.  Paul describes this love as “extravagant”, truthfully it is more than extravagant, it is overwhelming and without words to express.  God’s love embodies all of creation down to the tiniest molecule, in fact, it is God’s love is so "extravagant" that is the creative force behind all things.

“God’s Son was before all else, and by him everything is held together.”  Colossians 1:17 (CEV)

It is that creative force which is described by Paul as “agape love”, which is a benevolent type of love which exceeds anything which might try to emulate in our own attempts, but is made alive in us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord has been showing me lately that the majority of my Christian walk is about remembering what has been done by Him in the past, both ancient history and recent past, so that I always have Him front and center in my mind and trust Him for my present day.  I am not to live in the past or have the past control my present day, but to utilize the past as evidence that the Lord will intervene and see me through every situation with victory and assurance of His presence in this present day.

The glimpse into the future with the book of Revelation is only a primer for what is to come and gives us all hope that a great gathering is coming with a victory feast that awaits us.  Our focus must be on the present as God leads us into the direction He wants for us to go, and prepares us to become even more like Him as we imitate Him.

It has been said that in time you become like the one you love, this is evident in older couples who have been together for many years, they tend to become very similar in their mannerisms and lifestyle.  As we put on Christ we become like Him as we surrender our minds to Him, we pick up the His characteristics and mannerisms as we grow in His love, and as we spend more time with Him.

The remembering part is knowing that Jesus sacrificed Himself as an offering to God for us that we might live lives pleasing unto God.  Jesus did what was impossible for us to do, He provided access for us back into our heavenly family from which we originally came from.  He surrendered His body to death that we would not be lost without hope by something we couldn't do.  The sacrifice of Jesus so pleased the Father as an aroma of adoration before Him, that the sweet savor was received as payment for our transgressions, and forgiveness was offered to all mankind.  Jesus became our substitution, our propitiation.

Jesus also became our healing balm or healing fragrance which heals all of our diseases, we call upon our great physician to heal us and to restore our health when we are weak.  He is able to save us to the uttermost no matter our condition or malady.  We call upon Jesus to become what He does best, to be our God and live His life through us.

I would like to close this post with this thought, one verse which summarizes this sentiment:

“God's plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God.” 
Colossians 1:27 (GNT)

May you partake in God’s glory in all of the ways He interacts with you moment by moment, and may you receive His healing fragrance in any area of your life where you are weak, God is able to demonstrate His love in ways to encourage and inspire you to wear Christ as you wear your clothing,

And lastly continue to walk surrendered to the love of Christ, His love will only grow and develop in your life to make you more Christlike in all that you do.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett