Be A Mimic
Be imitators of God as dear children.
Ephesians 5:1
Imitating God may be easy to discuss, but it is difficult to do. You cannot do it in your own strength. But Jesus gave us the starting point for imitating God in the Sermon on the Mount. We need to mourn over our sin with a broken and contrite spirit. When we are overwhelmed by our sinfulness, we will hunger and thirst for righteousness. So there is a paradox: we are to be like God, yet we must know we cannot be like Him on our own.
Once we are aware of the paradox, then we know there must be some other power to make imitating God a possibility. The apostle Paul prayed that God would strengthen us “with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph 3:16). The Holy Spirit provides the strength “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:19). We can be like God (in terms of His character), but we can’t do it on our own—that is the Spirit’s work.
MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 190). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
Listen to this entry
Ephesians 5:1
Imitating God may be easy to discuss, but it is difficult to do. You cannot do it in your own strength. But Jesus gave us the starting point for imitating God in the Sermon on the Mount. We need to mourn over our sin with a broken and contrite spirit. When we are overwhelmed by our sinfulness, we will hunger and thirst for righteousness. So there is a paradox: we are to be like God, yet we must know we cannot be like Him on our own.
Once we are aware of the paradox, then we know there must be some other power to make imitating God a possibility. The apostle Paul prayed that God would strengthen us “with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph 3:16). The Holy Spirit provides the strength “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:19). We can be like God (in terms of His character), but we can’t do it on our own—that is the Spirit’s work.
MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 190). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
Listen to this entry
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