When I was much younger, as a family we used to watch comedy shows. My funniest memories of those shows were when the impersonators/imitators did their routines. People like Rich Little, Johnny Carson, Carol Burnett, Steve Martin, Robin Williams and many more made us laugh by mimicking other people. Their ability to imitate and capture the idiosyncrasies of their subjects was incredible. How much time did they have to spend studying the voices, nuances, mannerisms, and behaviors of their originals? Hours of practice were invested to accurately represent the person they wanted to become. Who are we trying to become?
Our passage today describes what we need to do to look more like God, in whose image we are made. Look at these verses:
Here is the interesting thing about being a Christian: the image of God, which we all possess, tarnished by sin, can now be seen in the new creation that we are. The image of God is restored so that we can reflect God, the way we were originally designed to do. This is possible by the cleansing, redeeming work of Christ, and the transforming power and sanctifying work of Holy Spirit in our lives. Is it not a remarkable thing that God can take a wretched sinner destroyed by sin, and through the miracle of regeneration, cause a person to become a new creation, that reflects the image of his/her Creator? ! In other words, as God’s child, we are destined to reflect the image of our Father! And not just our Father, but the whole Godhead! That is what our passage exhorts us to become – Imitators of God! You say, “how is that possible?” Because God the Holy Spirit is inside of us, conforming us to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29; 2Cor. 3:18). As we yield ourselves to the work of God in our lives, we start to imitate our Father, which is what we were destined for (Eph. 1:4-5). As we saw last week, we need to make a conscious choice to put off the old, and put on the new – that means, choose to become like God – imitate Him!
This week’s text is very practical. It tells us exactly what we have to do to imitate God:
Friends, let me be straight with you. We are not trying to be impersonators like the comics of old. We are learning to live out who we are in Christ. We are new creations, created in Christ Jesus for godly living. We have been declared righteous and holy because of Jesus. We just want to be who we are – no more pretending. Like the impersonators I mentioned above, we want to study the One we want to imitate. That involves reading His word and spending time with Him. The more you know Him, the more you’ll be like Him. Live your life like this: WWJD & WWJS – what would Jesus do & what would Jesus say.
“And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17 - NLT)
Have a great week,
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