The principle of imitating “your God”

Ephesians 5:1

1. Jesus Christ our God is in hypostatic union. The essence of His deity cannot be imitated. It is blasphemous and unthinkable that a human being with an old sin nature could even approximate imitating God. Furthermore, it is inscrutable as well as impossible for anyone to even come within a billion miles of the sovereignty, righteousness, justice, love, eternal, life, or any of the other attributes of God. So when we are commanded to imitate God we are not commanded to imitate the deity “of your God.” Your God refers to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is true deity but He is also true humanity in one person forever. Therefore it is the humanity of Christ that we are commanded to imitate. When the definite article in verse 1 is a possessive pronoun it can only refer to the second person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ.

As true humanity Christ was sinless and impeccable, and this we cannot imitate because we possess and old sin nature and we do sin. Therefore the imitation of Jesus Christ must be limited to His humanity and it must be limited to something we can do, not something we cannot do.

2. The humanity of Christ was constantly filled with the Holy Spirit and sustained by the indwelling third person of the Trinity. When the believer is filled with the Spirit, therefore, he becomes the imitator of Jesus Christ. The principle of imitating Christ is related to a secondary command, “Be filled with the Spirit” or “Walk in the Spirit.”

3. A second thing is noted about the humanity of Christ which we can emulate and imitate. Jesus Christ GAPed it to the supergrace life, according to Luke 2:40,52. Therefore in imitating “your God,” Jesus Christ, you are commanded in effect to close in on the supergrace life.

4. Believers of the Church Age are members of the royal family of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we should bear family resemblance of nobility, as per Ephesians 5:1.

The principle of imitating God

1. Jesus Christ our God is in hypostatic union. The essence of His deity cannot be imitated, such a thought is blasphemous. But He is also true humanity, and as true humanity Christ was sinless and impeccable. Neither can we imitate His impeccability or His sinless state. The only way in which we can imitate the Lord Jesus Christ is limited to Bible doctrine. As Jesus Christ took doctrine in His soul, so can we. As He erected an ECS, so can we. As the Lord Jesus Christ became supergrace status in His humanity, so can we.

2. The humanity of Christ was constantly filled with the Holy Spirit and unstained by the indwelling third person of the Trinity. When the believer is filled with the Spirit He becomes an imitator of Jesus Christ — Ephesians 5:18; Galatians 4:19; 5:22,23; 2 Corinthians 3:3.

3. Jesus Christ GAPed it to the supergrace life, according to Luke 2:40,52. The believer is commanded to imitate Jesus Christ, therefore also GAPing it to supergrace.

4. Believers of the Church Age are members of the royal family of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we should bear the family resemblance of nobility. This principle is emphasised in the closing statement of Ephesians 5:1.