As disciples, we are preparing ourselves for our eternal lives. To do that, we need to imitate God in this life. In this devotion, we look at how we can imitate God and why we are called children of God.
Nuggets
- It is impossible to just imitate God in our minds.
- Paul told us to resemble God, not to try to be one.
- The example we are to follow is God.
I am about brain dead. I just got home from Trunk or Treat. This is the second year that we decorated our trunks of our vehicles and passed out candy to kids. I almost said neighborhood kids, but one lady told me they came 30 miles. So, we have a huge neighborhood.
It was fun seeing the little kids in their costumes. You know I am a Marvel fall. There were several Spider-Men and Hulks. One Spider-Man had a Captain America bag.
There were three kids and a mom dressed up as witches. There were dragons, Toy Story characters, a policeman, a couple of Cinderellas, and a whole bunch more.
It is fun to dress up as someone else and pretend to be them, even for a little bit. Sometimes, we try to imitate them. Maybe we like their character or abilities and want to incorporate aspects into our own lives.
We have Someone more important to imitate than superheroes or other fictional characters. As disciples, we are called to imitate Christ.
Let's Put It into Context
We were created in the image of God (Gen. 1: 26). However, man messed that up. That damaged the relationship we had with God.
Jesus was sent to earth as a substitute so that He could die to pay the price for our sins. His death restores our relationship with God.
When we admit our sins, believe Jesus is our Redeemer and Savior, and confess God as Sovereign God, we got through regeneration. Regeneration is the change in us that God brings about when we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
First John 3: 2 says, “Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is” (CSB). One day we will be changed into spiritual bodies so that we will live with God forever.
So, we used to be like God, and we will be again. It is just now that we aren’t. For now, we need to practice imitating Him.
Imitators of God
“Therefore be imitators of God …” (Eph. 5: 1 RSV)
Okay. God is all-powerful. He is Creator of the universe. He is perfect.
How can we imitate that we aren’t, weren’t, and aren’t?
Imitate means to come after an example. We would do what the examples does (or not do what the example does not do). That requires an action on our part.
The example we are to follow is God. We are not just to study His Word. It is impossible to just imitate Him in our minds. We have to put it into practice in our daily lives.
The hard part is that we are stilled trapped in these earthly bodies. We still have the capacity to sin — and sin we will, even disciples.
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Paul told us to resemble God, not to try to be one. That is one way we get sideways of the worldview. The worldview wants us to be our own gods. Satan doesn’t want us to look any farther than ourselves and this world for Someone to worship. That way we are worshiping him.
Beloved Children
“… as beloved children” (Eph. 5: 1 RSV)
Once we get a certain age, some of us don’t want to be called boy or girl anymore. We are men and women. Either way, we definitely do not want to be called children.
God considers us His children. He calls us this for several reasons.
We’ve already talked about God being the Creator of the universe. He made us, too. That makes Him our Father.
We also said we were made in God’s image (Gen. 1: 26). That makes us like Him. (No, not physically because He is a spirit). It means that we can resemble Him like a Father.
I really loved Mom and Dad a lot. I didn’t want to do anything to make them upset with me. I didn’t want to lose their love or approval. Of course, I did do things, but they still loved me anyway. Our Heavenly Father is the same way.
I’ve told you before that, for the couple of years, I have been trying to get Adam more self-sufficient. We’ve been working at cooking. That’s what parents do: prepare their children for life after home. God is preparing us for our next life: in heaven.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Making the Connections
If we don’t believe in God, we aren’t going to imitate Him. Once we have made a confession of faith, we are required to imitate Him.
We learn how to imitate God by seeking Him. Jesus’ example is captured in the pages of God’s Word.
God has also given us the Holy Spirit to guide, teach, and convict us. “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord — who is the Spirit —makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (II Cor. 3: 18 NLT).
There is two things we have to remember that, once conversion happens. We are children. He didn’t leave us here to die a painful spiritual death.
All we have to do is ask God — and He will forgiveness of our sins,
The second thing is that we have to remember is that we already have God’s nature. We are made on His image.
How Do We Apply This?
When I was reading Spurgeon’s sermon, he said that “being imitators” gave us a test.
- Are we as knowledgeable as we should be?
- Do we truly love God?
- Have we made a sincere commitment of faith?
- Are we following the promptings of the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus’ teachings rather than just than following the law?
Here is a list of topics of how we can imitate God. Someday, we will come back and flesh this out more.
- Trust
- Purity
- Knowledge
- Love of truth
- Mercy
- Holiness.
Three quick things before we go.
- God will reward us for growing more like Him.
- When we genuinely imitate Him, we are worshiping Him.
- If you are not going to genuinely try to imitate God, don’t call yourself a Christian.
Father. We want to imitate You. We want to be like You. We want to live the way You call us to live. Amen.
Related Links
The questions were developed using Spurgeon’s sermon as a foundation.
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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Elaine, this is such a solid post about being imitators of God. It’s always encouraging when we really ponder how we are made in God’s image. I used to teach kids church and there was a lesson I taught where I brought in sample sizes of the actual product size. Sharing that we should be a sample to let everyone know what God is like. We should always seek to be representing Jesus well.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I don’t think we consider often enough that we are made in God’s image. We are too busy knocking ourselves down. I loved that idea for the kids! Thanks your your comments!
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