Imitate God: Love, Sex, and the Glory of Christ

IMITATORS OF GOD: LOVE, SEX, AND THE GLORY OF CHRIST
Ephesians 5:1-14 • FCBC • 07/23/23
Good morning church, it is a privilege to be worshipping with you this morning. If you are
visiting with us for the first time my name is Ryan and I am the pastor for worship and
counseling and one of the elders here at FCBC and I have the privilege of opening up the Word
to us this morning. I want to start by simply reading our passage and then we’ll jump right in.
This morning we’re going to be looking at Paul’s exhortation to us to be imitators of God in
love, sexual integrity. And the temptation I fought this week was just jumping right into what
that might look like for us as believers this practically (to just go right for the implications and
applications of this text). But I want to pause pretty significantly to unpack that term “Be
imitators of God.” What in the world does it even mean to be imitators of God? I wrestled with
this exhortation from Paul all week and I think if you can read right over that and go directly to
the application and the “how” behind this call to imitate God without even a second thought
(or a small mental breakdown), I want to gently but honestly tell you, you have WAY TO HIGH A
VIEW OF YOUR SPIRITUAL CAPACITIES AND ABILITIES.
Let’s go backwards for a bit. We’ve spent the last five weeks going through the imperatives of
chapter 4. As Steve mentioned at the beginning of the book, Ephesians is really broken up into
two parts; chapters 1-3 where Paul puts on display the glorious realities of the of the gospel.
This is what we’ve referred to as the indicatives (declarations) that are so predominate in the
first 3 chapters of Ephesians. And chapters 4-6 are what a life lived under those glorious
realities looks like. We’ve referred to these as the imperatives or the commands that are so
predominate in the last 3 chapters of the book. And so, before we move on, I just want to jog
our memory for a moment and go backwards because I think that will serve us well as we get
into the 5th chapter of this book. In chapter 1 Paul breaks down the fact that it takes a work of
the entire trinity to bring us to God. The Father chooses a people for himself before the
foundation of the world according to the good purpose of His will which brings Him glory and
promises that remnant of people to the Son. He then commissions the Son on a rescue mission
to save and redeem those people through His own blood giving us the forgiveness of our
trespasses and the riches of His grace as an inheritance which Paul says He lavishes upon us (in
other words he’s not stingy with His blessing of salvation). And then the son commissions the
Spirit which we see in Ephesians 1:13-14 as promised in John 14:16 and John 15:26 to seal or
secure this promised hope of a people that will one day live with their God forever. The Father
makes the promise, the Son makes the provision, and the Spirit guarantees our hope until
redemptions done until we join in endless praise to God the three in one… and why does Paul
say He does this!? It’s as we sing “to the praise of His glory, to the praise of His mercy and
grace, to the praise of His glory YOU are the God that saves!” If you’ve come in here this
morning and are wondering, “Why am I here? Why have I come? I am overwhelmed by my sin
and have grown weary of doing good, what could possibly happen this morning that would
change my life, my outlook, or my circumstances?” It’s this, you are beloved! In love he
predestined you to adoption as sons and daughters through the blood of Jesus Christ, in love he
has called you and given you the forgiveness of your sins and the lavish riches of His grace, in
love he has blessed you and called you beloved, in love he is making known to you the mystery
of His will which is this great gospel that is making all thing new and right again, in love he has
sealed you for the day of redemption despite your ever challenging growth and sanctification
he will PERSONALLY see it through!!! That’s why you’re here this morning because Christ loves
you and has called you to Himself! And that’s just chapter 1 of the book. Chapter 2 Paul goes on
to describe our condition and what we’ve been called from and called to. We who were sons of
disobedience walking according to the passions of our flesh have been saved by grace. Not
saved by our own hard work but saved by grace having been given faith as a gift to believe in
God. This is not a result of our own doing rather as Paul says it is a gift of God, not of works so
that our only boast is in Christ ALONE! This gospel of grace that levels the playing field for all of
us, gives us a unity as one body so that you can’t look over to your neighbor and say I was more
acceptable than you were, more lovable, less dirty, just flat out better. It’s so that in Paul’s day
the Jews couldn’t look at the gentiles whom they despised and say “You have no place in this
family” rather “this same gift of grace we’ve received as God’s special people has been
extended to you through the blood of Jesus, so that you are now as Ephesians 3:6 says, ‘fellow
heirs, members of this same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the
gospel’.”
Over and over and over Paul is hammering away at this simple truth, you were saved by
God, for God, and to God. To put it another way from one of Paul’s other New Testament
letter’s “to live is Christ and to die is gain!” This is the most important thing about you, your
identity in Christ, because that is what you were created for; to dwell with, fellowship with, and
worship your creator! So why do I bring all this up again? Well, as we said at the beginning,
we've spent the last five weeks going through these imperatives or these commands that Paul
is totally unapologetic about. He's saying if your life has truly been transformed by the gospel it
should look like this:
1. Don’t lie rather tell the truth
2. Don’t sin with anger rather be angry and don’t sin
3. Don’t steal rather labor with honest work so you have something to share
4. Don’t speak corruptly rather use your words for building up and giving grace
These are all good things and should definitely characterize the life and living of a Christian! I
mean who doesn’t want an honest, gentle, hardworking, generous, and encouraging person in
their life? I’d even say even non-Christians would consider this type of person to be generally
good for their communities, businesses, and society in general. But I want us to consider
something before moving on to our passage which contains another (what feels like) weightier
imperative waiting for us in the very first verse of Ephesians 5. Consider this:
• There are plenty of honest, gentle, hardworking, generous, and encouraging people in
the world who haven't been transformed by the power of the gospel. This begs the
question, “What’s the difference between a non Christian who’s life can be
characterized by these virtues, values, and imperatives and a Christian who obeys these
commands from Paul and bears fruit?”
o The power by which you accomplish these good works and…
o The purpose for which you accomplish these good works
§ And that’s going to be so important as we look at this next imperative
• You see the power by which the unregenerate person seeks to be a decent person
ultimately rests in and relies on SELF and the ultimate purpose for which they seek to
accomplish these virtues is FOR SELF
• But the power by which the Christian can bear fruit of this nature is his/her UNION in
CHRIST and the purpose for which the Christian bears fruit is FOR the GLORY of CHRIST
The reason why this distinction is SO important is because we get to Ephesians 5:1 and we see
this command “Therefore be imitators of God.” That’s almost seems like an incredulous
statement. “Really Paul, imitate God!? You might as well ask me to swim across the Pacific
Ocean or jump to mars.” God is holy, God is perfect in wisdom, love knowledge, and power. He
does all things well. He is perfect in justice; he upholds the universe with the Word of His
power. He never sins. And yet Paul seems still to implore us to this anyway and I think this is
why he can do this Paul summarizes three chapters of indicatives (or declarations regarding
your identity) and it’s in the three words in the rest of that verse, “As Beloved Children!” You
see, if we aren’t saturated in the gospel realities of Ephesians 1-3, if we don’t have a robust
view of our identity in Christ, then we’re going to read right over the phrase “As beloved
Children” and not believe that imitating God, as Paul is understanding it, is possible. You see
this is why Paul spends so much time unpacking the glorious realities of the gospel for us in
Ephesians 1-3. He realizes the only power by which someone can imitate God is by the power of
the gospel. And we throw that word around here a lot; the gospel, the power of the gospel,
applying the gospel to our lives, gospel, gospel, gospel. It can almost become white noise. So,
when I say that Paul realizes the only power by which someone can imitate God is by the power
of the gospel what I am saying is “Christ’s life and righteousness working in and through you,
applied to you through the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross, and working in you by the
power of the Holy Spirit!”
• You see the Greek word for “imitator” of God in verse 1 comes from the root word:
μιμεομαι (mimeomai) this is a verb and noun form from where we get our word mimic.
• But the actual word used here specifically in Ephesians 5:1 is the word: μιμητής
(mimites) which is actually primarily a noun form.
• You might be wondering, “Why does that matter, and it matters because if we’re going
to stay consistent with Paul’s line of thought through this whole book, we have to
understand that being an imitator of God is not some impossible thing to be
accomplished but rather a position in Christ to be assumed that yields fruit! I love how
Calvin put it, he said:
o This principle is followed out and enforced by the consideration that children
ought to be like their father. He reminds us that we are the children of God, and
therefore bear a resemblance to God just as an earthly son bears a resemblance
to his earthly father.
o You see this is as much about resemblance through identity as it is about bearing
fruit through action
o And that is really good news for us as Paul is about to implore us to do this is
primarily in two ways in the text: by imitating Christ’s love, and in our sexual
integrity
So, with all that in mind: let’s look at this first way in which we bear a resemblance as children
of God and that’s through:
• Imitating Christ’s love
• Bears the question what does the love look like that I am supposed to imitate
• And how did Christ love us? Well, Paul tells us in verse 2 by giving himself up for us
sacrificially.
o Twice in this book Paul describes the love of Christ as a giving up of himself to
the point of death. He says it again in verse 25 giving husbands an example of
how they ought to love their wives. He says “as Christ loved the church and gave
himself up” for her. He says something similar again in Philippians 2 talking about
Christ’s humbling himself to come to His creation and giving himself up for us in
obedience to the point of death, even death on a cross. 1 Timothy 2:6, Paul says
he gave himself up as a ransom for all. Or Galatians 2:20 where Paul says, “and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave Himself up for me.”
o Paul seems to narrow in often throughout his epistles on this unique nature of
Christ’s love which is that of utter and total selflessness in a spirit of “giving
himself up” in sacrificial love for his own people, for sinners like you and me.
o And of course he focuses on this, this is at the very core of the gospel. In this act
of giving himself up we see Christ’s truest display of love which was sacrificing
his own life for His enemies. He gave himself up for you and for me. And Paul
says to us here in Ephesians 5:2 imitate that. And guess what, you actually can.
You can die to self, and live to Christ and sacrifice for others, and give and live
selflessly for the good of those around you and even towards your enemy
because remember; You are a child of God, you bear His resemblance and the
resemblance of Christ. You share the same DNA. Paul says it this way in Romans
8:11:
§ the same spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead (and that is the
Spirit of God) dwells in you and is right now giving life to your mortal body
§ And that is not only power to be saved but also the power to look like
Jesus in the ways that he loves. It’s power to change you more and more
into the image of God.
o God had Jesus give himself up for you so that through his sacrifice you might be
able to give yourself in sacrificial love to others resembling the love of Christ. You
see, you can’t give what you haven’t received but for those who have received
the love of God, He has made them children of God who can live and act in the
light of His love
• He also calls us to imitate God in our sexual integrity:
o Verse 3 says not to let any immorality, impurity, or covetousness be even named
among you.
o Your Bible might say fornication but the Greek word for sexual immorality is
πορνεία (porneia) where we get our word pornography and came to mean all
forms of sexual immorality including but not limited to incest, prostitution,
polygamy, adultery, and any other form of sexual gratification outside of God’s
good design
o Something interesting to note about the word porneia, In the Septuagint, the
term refers specifically to adultery and, metaphorically, to Israel’s idolatrous
betrayal of her marriage to God. I think this is significant because it speaks to the
very nature of our sin which manifests in many ways but at it’s root is idolatry
o And Paul distinguishes sexual immorality from impurity which is the Greek word
ἀκαθαρσίᾳ (akatharsia) this is the idea of general uncleanness, or filthiness. It’s
the idea of loving something dirty or corrupted from it’s original state of beauty.
Paul uses this word over and over in the New Testament and it’s often preceded
by the word ἐπὶ (epi) which denotes aim or intention. In other words the
intention is viewed as the basis for whatever act of impurity Paul is referencing.
It’s not just careless or thoughtless falling into uncleanness but rather an
intention, pursuit, a trajectory driven by motive and desire.
o And then he says covetousness which is not a word we use often in this day and
age. It’s the Greek word πλεονεξία (Pleonexia) which his often interchangeable
with the word greed. As a matter of fact Paul uses this same word in Ephesians
4:19 but there it is translated greed and not covetousness. And yet even in that
passage was tied closely to sensuality. It’s the idea this intense desire for
something that’s not yours and you’ll stop at nothing to get it. It’s this insatiable
lust that tricks you into thinking you should have something that God never
intended you to have, and you’ll do whatever it takes to get it.
o Paul is saying let none of this be a part of you don’t even let it be named among
you. He says in verse 4 don’t even joke about or talk about it or take it lightly.
o And then he says God is so serious about His holiness that anyone who is
sexually immoral, impure, or covetous (which is ultimately idolatry) has NO
INHERITANCE IN THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST AND GOD.
NOW HOLD ON A MINUTE!!! Let’s get really honest, you might be asking yourself and rightly so,
Ryan, what does this say about me and my condition. I’ve been sexually immoral. I’ve been
impure or unclean. I’ve coveted and lusted after things or people that aren’t mine. Maybe the
scarier thing is, if I’m honest my flesh still does at times!? I struggle. I’m a sinner. I’ve looked at
porn or am currently looking at porn. I find myself as the psalmist says devising evil or
ungodliness in my heart. There are moments in the idleness of time I find myself drawn to sin in
my thinking, wanting, and lusting. What does this mean for me! That’s makes sense!
• We’ll look at two ways which we might be tempted to interpret this passage that we
ought not to and one way in which I think we have an answer from Paul:
o Ignore it: We might be tempted to make light of this warning and say, “God is
benevolent and would never actually intentionally reject someone from his
kingdom who sins like this. Who in the world could stand, everyone is a sinner
which means no one would have access to his kingdom and his fellowship.” And
while I understand why we as sinners feeling the weight of our guilt and shame
might be tempted to think that; I don’t think Paul is lightening up here in regards
to sin. He’s not apologetic over God’s standard and holiness. This isn’t the first
time Paul has said this in regards to these sorts of sins. He gives a similar list and
warning in Romans 1, I Corinthians 5, 1 Corinthians 6, Galatians 5, Colossians 3, 1
Thessalonians 4, 1 Timothy 1, 2 Timothy 3, and Titus 3. He obviously is trying to
make a point about who inherits the kingdom of God and who God’s people are
throughout the majority of the New Testament. God doesn’t capitulate with sin.
You don’t brutally kill your only son in order to make a deal with the devil. No,
God sent His Son to die not to make amends with sin but to destroy it once and
for all, defeating Satan and his enemies, overturning the fall and to establish a
people and a kingdom where righteousness, love, and holiness is the very air we
breathe. Let’s not think Paul doesn’t mean what he says here because he
obviously does as does God who inspired Him to write it.
o Earn It: The other thing we may be tempted to think (and some certainly have
pressed into) is that this is some beckon call to perfection and that any struggle
with sexual immorality, impurity, or covetousness (especially in seasons of
intense struggle with sin) is evidence of disqualification from the kingdom of God
and Christ. Oh church how we have such a limited view of our sin and depravity.
We are so quick to measure our holiness by how much we are or aren’t actively
sinning but we forget that Christ didn’t just die to atone for sinful acts, he died to
atone for sinful natures. Inevitably in a body this size there are degrees to which
some are wrestling with sin. Just because you aren’t in the heat of the battle
regarding sexual sin or perhaps other sins doesn’t mean you are any less in need
of a Savior than those who are. If that’s the case for you praise God that He by
His grace is giving you victory in certain areas of your life, He promised he’d
continue shaping you into His image. But don’t be deceived sin is deceptive and
our enemy is smart and knows how to gain a foothold in our affections so take
heed lest you fall. Continue to see that your nature is always in need of a Savior.
But perhaps you are in here and struggling with sexual sin and temptation and
are in the heat of the battle right now.
§ And listen just as an aside, let’s not just reduce our sexual brokenness
down to pornography only. Yes, that is a massive issue in our culture and
not just in our culture but in the church. But there are so many other
ways in which we fight against sexual brokenness in our lives. Remember
Satan’s strategy always is to take God’s good gifts and distort them by
telling us that there is a better way to enjoy what God intended; and
there is no limit to that line of reasoning. He is crafty, he is a liar, and he’ll
say and do whatever is takes to convince you otherwise that God is good,
His ways are good, and He is to be trusted. Marriages are broken
sexually, single people are broken sexually, our children are broken
sexually, the way men view women and women view men is often
distorted and fueled by the enemies tactics. So, let’s not kid ourselves.
Yes, our sexual sin isn’t less than pornography but we are complex beings
so it is certainly more than that as well.
o So you might be in the heat of the battle as we speak and saying “what is wrong
with me, why can’t I just stop!” I read my Bible and pray but it doesn’t seem to
be working. Listen don’t stop reading your Bible and certainly don’t stop praying
because those means of grace will eventually bear you fruit, but you aren’t alone
in that feeling of failure. Listen to these words from Romans 7:21-25:
§ [21] So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at
hand. [22] For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, [23] but I see
in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and
making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. [24]
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
[25] Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself
serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of
sin.
o This is Paul talking here, the very person writing this letter to the Ephesians and
giving this very warning. He seems to be well acquainted with the deep struggle
against sin and he’s honest about it. He says “my sin is so intense it seems like
there are two natures at war inside of me and that’s because there is.” We often
say that God has saved us from the power of sin through the cross but he’s left
us in sin’s affect here on earth until he comes again eradicating the very
presence of sin and Paul’s just honest enough to call that reality out. He says I
want to obey the law of God with my mind but often I end up serving the law of
sin with my flesh!?
o And notice, he doesn’t say, therefore I’m going to do better and try harder and
fix myself. He literally just throws up a cry to Heaven in verse 24 of Romans 7 “O
wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death!?” And he
has an answer to that question which will lead us to our final point today.
If the answer to our question of, “What do we do with this warning from Paul regarding our
future hope and inheritance” isn’t just ignore it and live with our sin and the answer isn’t we
have to earn our spot in the kingdom of God and Christ by waging war on our sin and doing
better and trying harder than what are we left with!?
• Expose it: This would be terrifying if it weren’t for the nature of our relationship to God
in the gospel! This is why we spent SOOO much time in understanding our union with
Christ before we jumped into this passage. Remember Paul’s words “As beloved
children?” Because you are a child of God you’ve been transferred from the kingdom of
darkness into the kingdom of the beloved Son where you have redemption and the
forgiveness or your sins. And you might say “yea but I still struggle with my sins…” and
I’d say “I know and so does everyone else in here this morning who has a pulse.” But,
you’ve been transferred from darkness into light. You’ve been given the forgiveness of
your sins not the absence of them, at least not yet. Look at what Paul says in the
following verses. The wrath of God (which is the rejection of those identified by their
immorality, and impurity, and covetousness into His kingdom as we’ve just talked
about) comes on the sons of disobedience, those still living in darkness and rejecting
Christ and his reign completely. But he says to these Ephesian believers and he is saying
to you today, that’s not your identity anymore! You no longer walk in darkness. At one
time you were darkness but you are now light and get to walk as children of the light.
What does this mean? It means you no longer have to hide your sins from the wrath of
God but instead you get to expose your sins in the light of His love and watch Him
forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The vehicle we have
through the work of Christ that continually draws us to Christ is repentance. Yea but
Ryan, what if I sin again today, repent! What if I sin again tomorrow, repent! What if I
keep struggling with this sin, then keep repenting! Repent to God, give your sin to Christ
and confess your sin to one another! Exposing your sin to God isn’t cause to run away
from God, it’s cause for God to draw near to you and cleanse you from all impurity.
Don’t get me wrong you can spurn and quench the Holy Spirit and create distance in
your fellowship with him but only by not repenting of your sin. God didn’t kill his own
son for sin to create distance between you and Him rather He killed his own son so that
you could have an advocate to the father despite your sin and that advocate is the man
Jesus Christ! This is the beauty of the gospel, the beauty of your union in Christ, and the
beauty of the Pauline epistles, you can be free from sin because you are free from sin
because you belong to the family of God, through the grace of Christ, and the wok of the
Holy Spirit in you and that’s where Paul started this whole book and where we started
our message today.
Be imitators of God in imitating the love of Christ and in your sexual integrity not in order to be
children of God but “As Beloved Children of God.” The kingdom of God and Christ is made up of
those who resemble the Father and look like Jesus and they resemble the father not by not
struggling with immorality, impurity, and covetousness, but by repenting of their immorality,
impurity, and covetousness and repenting often!
• In other words the kingdom of God is made up of repentant people because repentant
people reflect His holiness and want God. Unrepentant people don’t care if they
resemble God because God and an eternity with Him in His kingdom is not what their
hearts truly long for!
• Church can we start normalizing our sin nature? Not normalizing sin but normalizing the
fact that we are all in the same battle the apostle Paul was in wherein two natures
diametrically opposed to one another are waging war over our affections. BUT, through
the work of Christ and the gift of repentance we can walk alongside each other and
encourage each other to be imitators of God. That means we can’t gasp in disbelief
when one of our brothers or sisters confesses sin to us as though we can’t believe that
their first father and mother were Adam and Eve like the rest of us. But instead, gently
yet unapologetically come alongside one another and say, “Hey you’re a beloved child, a
child of the light, you can take that sin right to the cross of Christ and be freed from it
right now. So, let me help you in your growth and fight to kill that sin or idol.” And Lord
willing they’ll do the same for you!
• This requires us to be honest about our sin and to be vulnerable. Church, listen I am one
of your elders and pastors and I am constantly fighting against my flesh. I have to fight
the sin of sexual immorality with the help of my amazing, wise, and Godly wife in our
marriage and with brothers who care for my soul. I have to fight the sin of impurity and
carelessness over uncleanness. I have to fight the sin of covetousness and idolatry
lusting after and wanting what I don’t have. I have a great need for a Savior but I have a
great Savior for my need and so do you and I’d rather you know that and glory in a God
who saves then pretend that’s not true for some false sense of piety.
There are three things we can do this morning and today as we close:
1. So often I hear the question how do I get involved in ministry at FCBC. We’ll I’m going to
give you an answer. Look at the person next to you or around you and commit to saying,
“Hi, I’m so and so and I am committed to your growth in Christ and would love to get
coffee this week and ask you how I can pray for you and where you’re struggling and
how I can encourage you in your repentance. And then say, “Would you do the same for
me?” There are roughly 1200 of us here at FCBC and there are 9 elders. Could you
imagine if our entire church bought into the idea that each of us are responsible for and
to each other as a family, could you imagine the affect? That’s doing ministry in the local
church, that’s always what “doing ministry” in the local church has looked like!
2. Tonight we’ll be coming back to continue the conversation on how we fight for sexual
integrity in this church. If all we do tonight is encourage the conversation towards what
God intended for sex and sexuality in His good design and how we so often fall short of
it but have an avenue to freedom and joy despite our brokenness, then it will have been
a success.
3. Start now. We are going to close with singing “O Come To the Alter” and while it is a
beautiful song of repentance and salvation we want it to move from our heads to our
hearts and act on it. So I’m going to ask you to do something a little uncomfortable and
say, “If you’re hurting and broken within, overwhelmed by the weight of your sin, Jesus
is calling” so come up front during this next song and pray with someone. We’ll have
members from our sexual integrity ministry as well as members from our prayer team
up here who would love to pray with you and minister the gospel of repentance and
redemption to your soul. Maybe you’ve realized this morning I’m not bothered by my
sin. Or maybe you’ve discovered that the power and purpose by which you try to live
your life is ultimately self and not Christ. Then come, repent of your sins, confess Christ
as Lord, become an imitator of God “As a beloved child” and find true and ultimate
freedom from your sin in a Savior who loved you and gave himself up for you! Paul’s
final words to us this morning:
a. Ephesians 5:14: for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
b. Listen, do you want the warmth of the light of Christ to shine upon you, come,
repent, and believe