DEARLY LOVED CHILDREN CAN DEARLY LOVE
by Tim Thomas
September 13, 2006
Ephesians 5:1-2
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1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (NIV)
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I really love these two little verses. For so few words, they say so much. The first verse begins with an exhortation to be imitators of God. That phrase forms the theme for much of this chapter, which focuses both on behavior and heart attitudes. We are to be like God outwardly and inwardly. I will write more later as the Apostle Paul tells us more about how to be like God in the verses which follow.
The phrase which comes next helps motivate why we should follow his example, and makes plain a truth that Paul keeps coming back to in the book of Ephesians: we are dearly loved children of God. Awesome! Why are we dearly loved? Is it because we have worked hard to earn His love? No, it is NOT because we earned His love. We are dearly loved because He loves His children, as any good parent does, not because they perform well, but because they are that parent's children. We are God's children, adopted into God's family as a result of Jesus's sacrifice on the cross, and because of our willingness (perhaps even boldness) to believe that Jesus's sacrifice was the total payment required for our forgiveness of sins, reconcilitation to God, freedom from darkness, and adoption as God's dearly loved children. I'll say it again: Amazing!
Try to let the truth get from your head to your heart: You are a DEARLY LOVED CHILD of God! I'm guessing that around half of the people reading this are having serious reservations in their hearts (or perhaps their guts -- whatever part leads us to think of what lies deep inside) that this could be true of them -- yes, easy to believe it might be true of others, but not them. Please don't let this issue go unresolved -- don't give up until your heart agrees with your head on this. You are a dearly loved child. Let me pray for you if you are having difficulty believing this in your heart, and please agree with me in prayer (i.e., say in your heart that this is what you desire): "Father, there are those reading this who want to believe in their hearts that they are dearly loved children of Yours, yet feel such unbelief that you could truly love them, much less DEARLY love them. Lord, this way of thinking is a stronghold in their lives, built up by lies of the enemy. I pray, Lord, send forth Your mighty power and tear down these strongholds. I pray for gentleness (I know, Father, You are both mighty and gentle) towards these dear ones, but power against the strongholds. May these dear people come to believe in and embrace your incredible, deep, abiding love for them. May they be freed in their hearts, and empowered for all that you have created them to be. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen."
The Apostle Paul continues with what is rendered in the NIV as beautiful alliteration: "Live a life of love". Wow! Isn't that a great mission statement for a Christian, to "live a life of love". When we live a life of love, we are like God, for God is love (1 John 4:7-8). My guess is that you can have bad theology on a lot of things, but if you live a life of love, many will be drawn to God. But good theology, without living a life of love, will either repel people or lead people to a poor understanding of God.
Paul's point is that living a life of love was exactly what Jesus did for us, and we are encouraged to follow Jesus's example. Jesus could have refused to suffer the pain and disgrace of the cross, and could have established a successful kingdom on earth during the days of his life. But instead he gave up his life, loved God and people, and sacrificed all he had. As a result, he will reign eternally with His Father. He chose the better path. He chose to give up what he had for the sake of something better. We are called to do that. Living the life of love is living the sacrificial life, humbling ourselves as Jesus did (Philippians 2:1-10).
If you don't feel loved yourself, it is very hard to love others. But when you are secure in being unconditionally loved, you are free to love that way, as well. Verse 1, reassuring us not only of being dearly loved but of having such a close relationship to God that each of us is His child, is aptly positioned before verse 2 in which we are challenged to live a life of love -- the latter being possible only with the assurance of the former.
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