Father in heaven, I pray that we can set our minds on things of the Spirit. Because it’s only when we set our minds on the things of the spirit that we can have life and peace. Lord, the problem is not that we don’t want to set our minds to the things of the spirit, it’s that our flesh distracts our minds. Often our flesh confuses us, tricks us, and clouds our vision so that all we can think and see are the things of the flesh. We are tired of seeing things that die and fade. Show us everlasting things, eternal things, and alter our perspectives through those visions.

Lord, we long to please you. Give us your favor, fill us with a double portion of your holy spirit so that we can live doing your works. As we study your word, let your Spirit convict us of our fleshly desires and ambitions, and regenerate us with the spirit of life through your son, Jesus Christ. Lord, give us life where there is death and allow your righteousness shine in us and through us and radiate in our relationships and interactions with people in our lives. We pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen.

We’re in week 9 of our series, “Becoming Saints,” where we’ve been trying to learn how we can become radical followers of Jesus.

When we started the series 9 weeks ago, we defined “saint” as a person set apart by God to be holy like he is holy. This comes from the Old Testament where God brings the nation of Israel out of slavery and tells them in Leviticus 19 that he set them apart as his own nation for his own purposes in the world, so they are to be holy because their God is holy.

That idea of being a saint traversed into the New Testament extending to Gentiles, whom through faith in Jesus Christ and his death on the cross, have the same calling on their lives as the Israelite nation: children of God, holy for the father’s purposes. We pick off where we left off last week with practical applications on how we live as saints, radical followers of Jesus, doing the work the father set aside for us in this world.

Ephesians 5:1-14.

¹Therefore 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.

³ But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴ Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. ⁵ For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not become partners with them; ⁸ for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰ and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹ Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹² For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³ But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴ for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

(Ephesians 5:1-14 ESV)

Are you familiar with the saying: “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”? That idiom, if you’re unfamiliar, means a child has similar character or similar qualities as his or her parents.

[put up pictures on screen]

See I know these two are mine. They know the right team to cheer for. More than what they wear. I know the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree because they imitate me: They have my mannerisms, they exhibit aspects of my personality, they like what I like, they like whom I like, most of the time anyways. There imitation of me goes even further than that, you see even in their rebelling, it’s a reflects back my own sinfulness.  

They imitate me because they love me. That’s the thing about people. People imitate those they love or the things they love.

But, there’s one thing I want you to recognize. I loved them before they started imitating me. Their imitation of me didn’t cause me to love them. Sure, do I love them even more when they root for Notre Dame, absolutely. But the love started with me first. It’s the same with God. He loved us first. When we received his love and began to love him, we started to imitate him because we’re children of his love.  

Now, look at your own character and your own qualities. Would you say you’re imitating God’s character and qualities? Whose child would people say you are by demonstration of character and qualities?

Listen to what Jesus says to the Scribes and Pharisees in John 8:42-44: ⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. ⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

If the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, who is your father?

I’ll admit it. My character and qualities don’t always reflect the qualities and character of God. I’m a sinner and there times where it is so evident that my desires are not God’s desires. But glory be to God because last week, the Apostle Paul reminds us at the end of chapter 4 that even though we are sinners, children of the devil, bearing the fruit of death, we have been forgiven of our sins through Christ’s death on the cross and have been created with a new self, in the likeness of God, in true righteousness and holiness. God doesn’t let the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, so in our new, redeemed selves we:

Big Idea: Live imitating God

This is what the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 5:1. Therefore be imitators of God, as [his] beloved children (Eph 5:1 ESV).

We are God’s beloved children. Like children, we reciprocate the love of our father by imitating him.

• If your qualities and characteristics do not reflect God’s own, that doesn’t mean God’s love for you ends.
• Just like my love for my daughters will not end, no matter their sins; God’s love for us, even in our worst sins, will not end.
• In fact, if you are struggling with sin in your life right now, the good news is that God’s grace continues to wash over you in love until you are completely sanctified into his image because God’s love for his children is never-ending.

The Apostle Paul wrestled with that same dichotomy himself. He wanted to imitate God and his characteristics but found himself continuing to sin. Listen to what he writes in Romans 7:18, “¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. (Romans 7:18-19 ESV)

We struggle with sin in our lives because we are still in the process of becoming holy in a sinful, corrupt, broken world. So be encouraged. You will sin, but you are forgiven, so get up and try again to imitate God. You have been set apart for holiness by our Father. Keep imitating him, and you will become holy because your father in heaven is holy.

Today, we’re going to examine three practical ways we can imitate God in his holiness as his beloved children as we work out the sins in our lives.

The first way we imitate God’s holiness is to:

Point 1. Walk in Christ’s love (vv1-2)

Go to verse 2.

² And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Jesus is the perfect imitator of God’s holiness. He was God, but he did not consider equality with God, instead took on the form of a human being, and walked with us and remained perfectly holy. It was out of love for us that he decided to sacrifice himself even though we didn’t deserve it. That is the good news of Jesus.

People, this is what true love is!

If Christ’s love is true love, then this verse actually breaks down Christ’s love into a practical application. Check this out. Jesus’ love is action driven and sacrificial. “…As Christ loved us, he gave himself up for us…” That is what love looks like when it is applied. We imitate God’s holiness by our acting sacrificially – giving up ourselves for those we choose.  

Christ’s love was not sentimental, there were no butterflies in his stomach. Nowhere does it say Jesus had butterflies or that his heart skipped a beat. This is for you single people or you married people expecting butterflies and hearts fluttering. The true mark of love can be seen by his active sacrifice for you. Saying “I love you” costs nothing. Practicing “I love you” by sacrificing himself for you at personal cost is true love.

When we meditate on Christ’s sacrificial love for us, we realize that it was practical, it was sincere, and it was generous.

• We were condemned to die because of our sin, so, Jesus’ sacrifice gave us new life. That’s practical.
• Jesus’ love was sincere. Through his sacrifice, he died, we were adopted as God’s own children.
• It was generous because none of us deserved it, but he chose us, people who couldn’t reciprocate it to receive his love in faith by God’s grace.

Imitating Christ’s love and applying love in your life requires us to be practical, sincere, and generous as we sacrifice at personal cost. When we practically, sincerely, and generously sacrifice ourselves as an act of love for others, here’s what happens: we become “a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

In the Old Testament, the act of a loving sacrifice is described as a pleasing aroma to God. The Bible says it was a pleasing aroma because the act itself glorified God by honoring him. Similarly, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross for undeserving people like us was a pleasing aroma to God. God was honored as righteous, just, and holy because the sacrifice was so acceptable, even people who did not know God gave acknowledged God. The Roman centurion witnessing Jesus’ final moments commented in Matthew 25, “Truly this was the son of God.”

We live imitating God by loving like Jesus – practically, sincerely, and generously sacrificing ourselves for others so the beauty of God’s holiness becomes apparent to the world watching us. This is what holiness looks like in action.

Two questions for you this week:

• Who do you need to love with Jesus’ sacrificial love in your life?
• How will you sacrifice yourself practically, sincerely, and generously for that person so that God gets the glory?

The second way we live imitating God is when we:

Point 2. Walk in Christ’s light (vv3-9)

That’s to say we imitate God’s by aligning with his plans, presence, and character. Let’s go to verses 3-5.

³ But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴ Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.  ⁵ For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (Ephesians 5:3-5 ESV)

Engaging in sexual immortality, impurity, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talk, crude joking activities is sinful and sin has nothing to do with God; they are not in alignment with God’s plans, presence, and character. Here’s the problem, no matter how hard we try, all of us engage in one or more of these types of activities. Maybe not all of them all at once, but given the opportunity or temptation, we all succumb. That makes it hard to live in alignment with God’s plans, presence, and character.

If you are wrestling or have wrestled with these sins, let me give you some encouragement, Jesus loved us despite these sins and he died for our sins past, present, and future. So we leave our sins at the cross of Jesus, moving forward toward holiness, turning away from our past sins and instead moving toward our Father in heaven who loves us and sanctifies us toward holiness. Most of us are at church because Jesus did exactly that. When we were at our worst, when we were the most lost, Jesus redeemed us, he found us at the gutter and showed us his love.

If you never experienced that, know that here, you will experience that. You will not be judged here by your sin, because we are all sinners. So, know that you were meant for much more than the culmination of your sins. Jesus’ practical, sincere, and generous sacrifice allows you to align with God’s holy plans, presence, and character.

I want to define the sinful activities Paul mentions here. Not to give anybody a guilt trip, but to make us all cognizant of the presence of hidden sin in our lives.

Sexual immortality. That word in the Greek is translated from the word, “pornei.” It’s where we get the word “pornography” from. Getting into porn is not okay. More on that in a minute. Just so we’re clear. Pornei covers the broad scope of all sexual sin: homosexuality, fornication (sex outside of marriage), adultery (sex with people not married to you), bestiality (sex with animals), and lustful thoughts (idolizing sex in your mind and hearts).

Seeking sexual pleasure outside the bounds of God’s intended means for satisfying sexual desire are not in the plans, presence, and character of God. Our drive to satisfy sexual desire cannot come at the cost of sexual sin. The Bible is clear, sexual sin must not be practiced by those of us claiming to imitate God in holiness. The presence of sexual sin in our lives means we have a worship problem. It’s a worship problem because the moment we start to engage in sexual sin, we stop honoring God and how he created people in his image. Sex is not a means of satiating our appetites and desires for intimacy. When we do so, we worship ourselves as god by seeking after our own satisfaction.

• We’re not God!
• God wasn’t created in our image, we were created in his!

Let me clarify, the Bible is not anti-sex. The Bible is pro-sex within the bounds of covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, to be enjoyed as a gift, the way God intended. So we must rightly place our worship in him and honor God with our sex.

Impurity is sin that derails us from living holy. If we are engaging in activities, the activities may in themselves not be sinful, but if they occupy the time, space, and devotion you would have God, then then it’s impurity. For some of us, it’s binge watching TV, for other’s it’s a hobby, or your job, or it’s relationships, or even food. Things that derail us from living in alignment with God’s plans, presence, and character is impurity. We need to hold God to a higher esteem.

Covetousness is greed. Greed is the insatiable desire for more. Greed is sinful because the fundamental drive for greed is placing hope in stuff and not in God who richly provides. In our culture, greed is sneaky, we just call it the American dream. Here’s the dream: we buy a house for us to live in, and we buy a storage unit for our stuff to live in. Maybe you’ve don’t better than the American Dream, you buy a house attached to a garage, so now under one roof you have your stuff and your family living together. Greed is worshiping our stuff instead of worshipping God who created stuff to be used. Realign your dream, let it be God’s not the American one.

Filthiness is behavior or speech that is simply obscene or tasteless. God is neither obscene or tasteless and so imitating him cannot be either.

Foolish talk and crude joking are the sins you bring curses to life with your words against people created in the image of God. It doesn’t matter if you’re drunk or high when you say them. We cannot imitate God if our words are victimizing, shaming, or cursing the existence of people interacting with you in life.

Verse 6.

 ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not become partners with them; ⁸ for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:6-9 ESV)

In the first century, as now, we have the tendency to rationalize our sins. Paul cautions the Ephesians by saying we should not be deceived by attempts to justify sinful behavior. Sin is sin is sin. The definition of sin has not changed since Adam and Eve first brought sin into the world. Sin is deliberate and emphatic independence of God. It’s not doing what he requires of us, not living as he has called us to live, and, therefore, never fully being who God created us to be. Sin is living without reference to God, not viewing him to be the defining reality of our lives around which our entire lives need to be centered.

If you are in sin, stop listening to the voices that indulge in the same sins as you do. Stop believing the echo chamber or tunnel vision you created around yourself as the justification needed for your sin to suddenly not be sin. Paul says that these are just “empty words,” devoid of any truth at all. Sin will never be anything other than sin, nor will God look the other way.

• Don’t be fooled by lies or people that redefine sin or justify sin as normative!
• God loves us, he will not stop loving us, but he abhors sin in us!

Understand this in the deepest fabric of your soul: we are all sinners, and we regularly stumble in our sins, but God is still for us. He is still patiently pursuing us with his true love. There is not a single one of us who can stand before God on our own merits. We all fall very short of the glory of God, especially me. But in faith we believe Jesus Christ declares us righteous before God and we continue to turn to God to make us more like him.

The reason God gave us the Bible is precisely to help us sort out what’s empty words and what’s God’s word. When we study the Bible, the Word of God testifies to what our Father deems as normative and what a normal relationship with him is like and what it looks like to imitate him. And unlike politics, culture, philosophy, and whatever else in the world, the word of God doesn’t change. The word of God doesn’t bend to our whims. Instead, the Word of God convicts us of our sins and teaches us God’s plans; guides us into his presence; and identifies his character so that we can find delight in the love of God through Jesus Christ.

The Bible moves us toward God in repentance. Repentance acknowledges what God requires of us, living as God has called us to live, and embodying fully who God created us to be. When we humbly repent and call others to repentance, we are living in deliberate alignment with God’s plans, presence, and character for us.

If there is any sin in your life, then turn to God in repentance, our heavenly father is opening his arms wide for us. Walk as children of the light because we are redeemed from sins.

Finally, in imitating God, we:

Point 3. Walk to uncover the darkness (vv9-14)

Verse 9.

⁹ (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true)  ¹⁰ and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹ Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹² For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³ But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴ for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:10-14 ESV)

When Jesus came to earth, he came to be in relationship with sinners so that he could free us in God’s goodness, righteousness, and truth. So in Jesus’ death we experienced God’s goodness, righteousness, and truth in our lives. His love for us was practical, sincere, and generous. When God resurrects Jesus on the third day, we too are awakened from the finality of death into the light of eternity on us. With that hope in eternity, we live uncovering darkness in the world by living in God’s goodness, his righteousness, and his truth with other people. As imitators of God, we need to live awakening people from the dead by seeking relationships, sharing Jesus’ love with them so that God’s goodness, righteousness, and truth would expose the darkness of death in their lives to God’s light.

The key to living imitating God is to be in relationships with people so God’s light can expose people to all that is good, right, and true. How do we do this? It’s by exercising the spiritual practice of confession in our relationships.

• Confession is exposing the festering areas of our humanity where faith and sin collided, and sin won. Simply put, it’s airing out your sins so the power of sin, sorrow, darkness, hurt, and failure becomes nullified by Christ’s redemption for your life.
• Testimony is the past tense of confession. It’s the story of how Christ entered your sins, sorrows, darkness, hurt, and failures and made them void in your life.  

Some of us have been wrestling with deep, dark sins, sorrows, darkness, hurts, and failures and you’re at the cusp of losing control or keeping control of them. If that’s you, then don’t wrestle with sin, sorrow, darkness, hurt, and failure by yourself. Confess it!

Expose sin, sorrow, darkness, hurt, and failure to the light of Christ in your relationships with others.

When you confess your sin, sorrow, darkness, hurt, and failure with people who practically, sincerely, and generously love you. You will experience God’s goodness, righteousness, and truth through Jesus Christ. In fact, your act of confession or testimony will uncover areas of darkness and death in the lives of people you are in relationship with so they too can experience God’s goodness, righteousness, and truth through your practical, sincere, and generous love for them.

Every week, I get with my Growth Group, and this is something all of us do. We confess the areas of our festering humanity with each other and pray for one another, and talk about it openly so that that the power of those sins dies and Christ’s light shines in us and through us. Is it awkward sometimes, absolutely, but it’s so liberating afterward. The elders at this church, we do the same thing every time we meet. We confess and testify to our humanity and God’s goodness, righteousness, and truth to make us saints.

• Do you regularly confess your sins, struggles, hurts, and issues can be exposed to God’s goodness, righteousness, and truth?
• If you answered no, then go find somebody, get in a relationship with them this week and experience God’s goodness, righteousness, and truth through confession.

This morning before we close our service, I want to take a moment to practice confession.

• If you came to church with somebody huddle together and practice confession.
• If you’re not ready for that yet, confess your sins, sorrows, hurts, and darkness to God, in prayer. He is listening.
• If you want to pray with somebody, make your way to the left side of the stage and somebody on our prayer team will be there to pray with you.

[wait 2 minutes – pad underneath]

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we want to imitate you because we are your children. Help us imitate your holiness. We recognize we fall radically short of your holiness and we need you to help us. Fill us with your Holy Spirit to help us in our weaknesses, in our sins, in our sorrows, in our faithlessness. Lord, we need you to intercede on our behalf, through our groans of pain because we do that we don’t want to do when our faith is confronted by the culture of the world. Lord, we fall into idolatry, it tricks us over and over again and we have come to a place where we make excuses for our unrighteousness. But despite that you still pursue us in love. This week, from now and into the future, I ask that we can intentionally align ourselves with your plans, presence, and character. Continue to remind us of your sacrificial love until we are with you in heaven, perfect, as you designed us to be.

For those of us who have been struggling with sin in secret, allow our confession of those secrets liberate us. Transform us by your will into the truly free person we always craved of being. For those of us who have never received you, give us faith to accept your sacrifice, and make you lord of our lives and heirs to your kingdom, as your beloved children. We thank you for allowing us to worship you this morning. In Jesus name. Amen.

[Play King of Kings]

Benediction

We don’t know what the next 7 days may hold, but until we see you again: beloved children, walk in our Father’s love. Let Christ shine upon you. Bear the fruit of light through the Holy Spirit. Live exposing the darkness, and awakening the sleeper to the glory of God. Amen.