“Be Imitators of God as Dear Children”
(Ephesians 4:30–5:2 – Pentecost 12 – August 11, 2024)
Ephesians 4:30–5:2 – 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. 1Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
Dear Redeemed children of God in Christ:
How often, children turn out like their parents, both in looks and mannerisms. “He’s a chip off the old block” someone might say, referring to how closely a son resembles his father. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” another person might quip, noticing how similar a daughter is to her mother. “Like father, like son; like mother, like daughter,” as they say.
Our text encourages us: “Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children” (5:1). To be a child of God in Christ does not mean that we are yet perfect like our Father. In heaven we will be made perfect. But this side of heaven, we are at the same time saints and sinners. As children of our earthly parents, we were born in their sinful image, the image of Adam who first sinned and lost the perfect image of God and whose nature we also have inherited. This is why we still struggle with temptation and fall into sin. Yet at the same time, through baptism and faith God has given us a spiritual rebirth as His children. He has made us His new creation, born again in the image of the second Adam, Christ. God baptized us into the death of Christ, a death to sin and Satan’s rule. He raised us with Christ in forgiveness and newness of life. He poured out His Holy Spirit on us, sealing us as His children. So even though we are sinners, God calls us saints; for He sees His holy image restored to us, as His children in Christ.
Therefore, it says: “Be Imitators of God as Dear Children.” In other words, since God has graciously made you His children in Christ, live in such a way that it may be said: “Like Father, like children.”
1) Do not grieve the Holy Spirit by bitterness and anger
Often, children share certain obvious traits with their parents. Seeing how a child looks and acts, we might say: “That must be so-and-so’s child.” But there are also times when a person might say: “Could this really be so-and-so’s child? He doesn’t act anything like his parents!” Yes, there are times when children do not behave as their parents raised them, and it brings dishonor and grief to the parents.
In a similar way, as we live in this world as God’s children, battling against the sinful nature, our text begins with this necessary exhortation: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (4:30). Through baptism and faith, the Holy Spirit has marked us as God’s children. On the day of redemption, when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead, the Spirit who dwells in us and gives us faith and life in Christ, will be the seal guaranteeing our heavenly inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14). It gives the Holy Spirit joy to make us God’s children and keep us in saving faith by His Gospel in Word and Sacrament. It gives the Holy Spirit joy to continue to sanctify us and make us mature as God’s children, so that we imitate God more and more in righteousness and holiness, and it can be said: “Like Father, like children.” But on the other hand, as God so earnestly desires this true good for us as His children, it can also grieve His Spirit very much if we begin to turn away from Him and His Word and walk in a path of sin.
There are many ways this may happen, but our text gives some examples. It says: “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice” (4:31). All these terms have to do with anger, expressed in words and fighting, which is not befitting of God’s children. Notice how, when one sin is allowed to go uncontrolled, it leads to other sins with increasing intensity. Take that first term: “bitterness.” It is an attitude in the heart when a person feels he has been wronged. It is the same word used of plants that produce inedible or poisonous fruit. That bitter fruit begins to ripen in the heart with the next two terms: “wrath, anger.” Here we think of a grudge one may harbor, as he finds it hard to forgive an offender. It grieves God’s Spirit to see this hateful wrath grow, as a person imagines in his heart what he might say or do to get even. How easily it leads to an outburst of anger. Like red hot lava that has been boiling under the surface, erupting in a volcano. The wrath that has been kept hidden in the heart with an unforgiving spirit finally blows up in a fit of rage. Now we are confronted with the next two terms: “clamor, and evil speaking.” We hear the outbursts of angry words, intended to hurt another’s feelings; or the gossip or slander, intended to hurt another’s reputation. We hear the cursing, the evil wish that another be damned.
Need it be said that all this grieves the Holy Spirit, who wishes only good and salvation for everyone? How hard it would be for one seeing such behavior to say, “Truly, this must be a child of God!” Such a bitter, angry, unforgiving and unloving spirit is not from God’s Spirit, but from the devil and our sinful flesh.
Therefore it says: “let… [all this] …be put away from you, with all malice.” Earlier in the chapter, the apostle Paul wrote: “Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27). If someone has hurt you, sure, he may be in the wrong. He may not even realize how he has grieved you, or have any inclination to say, “I’m sorry.” But do not let his problem become yours by returning evil for evil, sin for sin (Romans 12:17). Put all this away from you. Remember, the battle is not really against flesh and blood, it is a spiritual battle. Do not let the devil win this one; quench that fiery dart that he has shot at your heart, with the shield of faith (Ephesians 6:12, 16). If bitterness, wrath, and malicious thoughts are eating at your heart, the solution is not to bottle it up and hide it under the surface; nor is the solution to let it out in a temper tantrum of hurtful words or deeds. The solution for a child of God is to bring it into the open before the Father. Confess whatever failing and sin there is on your part, asking God’s forgiveness in Christ. Pray for His strength against temptation and evil. Pray for His help to forgive and love the one who has offended you, for Jesus’ sake.
A true child of God is not one who lives perfectly in this world, free of struggle with temptation and sin. A true child of God is one faces the problem by living in daily repentance, trusting the forgiveness and salvation God freely gives in Christ.
2) Forgive one another, just as God in Christ forgave you
When we take to heart God’s boundless forgiveness and love for us, it empowers us to do as it says in our text: “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (4:31-5:2).
God did not just dismiss our sins with a trite comment like, “Oh, it’s no big deal!” or “Don’t worry about it.” That would not really deal with the problem. But God removed our sins. He absolved them by His forgiveness, paid for by the blood of His Son. God took all our sinful bitterness and wrath, all our hurtful words and deeds, and He punished them in the bitter suffering and death of His innocent Son.
All this God the Father did for us, long before we ever realized our sin and how much we grieved His Spirit, long before we had any inclination to repent or say, “I’m sorry.” God’s forgiveness is not conditional, based on how sorry we feel. “It is finished!” (John 19:30). He nailed all our sins to the cross. He has forgiveness in His heart for all, offered in His Word; though many, by their impenitence and unbelief, reject His forgiveness to their own harm. But by the grace of God, His Holy Spirit has given us true repentance and faith to receive His gift.
When we believe and know God’s unlimited forgiveness for us in Christ, no matter how badly we have sinned, this cannot but change our own hearts and lives. When the sinful woman wept in repentance at Jesus’ feet, He pointed out how she loved much because she had been forgiven much (Luke 7:47). So also, as repentant children of God, we know we have been forgiven so much by the saving work of His Son. Therefore, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Now, like Father, like children. God’s tender heart of love, demonstrated to us in Christ while we were yet sinners (Romans 8:5), dissolves the hardness in our heart. It gives us a tender heart of love in Christ toward those who have sinned against us. As our heavenly Father looks upon us through Christ, covering all our sins by the blood and righteousness of His Son; so also as His children, we are moved to look upon one another through Christ, and as 1 Peter 4:8 says: “love will cover a multitude of sins.” As our heavenly Father has reconciled us to Himself in Christ, not counting our sins against us (2 Corinthians 5:19); so also as His children, we are moved to be reconciled to one another, as it says: “forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (4:32).
“Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children” – because you are His children in Christ! We are not perfect this side of heaven; but we are forgiven and dearly loved by our Father. He has given us His Holy Spirit, who is renewing us in His holy image (Colossians 3:10). And when others see something of His image in us, His tenderhearted forgiveness and love in Christ, may the Holy Spirit move them to say: “I also want to know this heavenly Father who loved me and gave His Son for me.”
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.