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The objective of this lesson: to stress the importance of Christians imitating God in their behavior. Let the Father influence the way you behave every day of physical life.
Paul often used the word "therefore" in his letters in the same way we of today would use the statement, "In conclusion," or, "Because these things I have shared with you are true, this should be our focus." [Consider Paul's use of "therefore" in passages like Romans 5:1; 1 Corinthians 8:13; 2 Corinthians 12:10; Galatians 4:7; Ephesians 2:7; Philippians 2:28; Colossians 2:6; 1 Thessalonians 4:18; 1 Timothy 2:8; 2 Timothy 1:8; etc.]
Stress the importance of learning, knowing, and following God's priorities in God's values.
Remember Paul wrote to former idol worshippers who converted to Jesus Christ [gentiles] (Ephesians 2:1-12; 4:17, 18]. In our lessons and texts this quarter, Paul instructed these Christians not to behave in ways consistent with their unconverted lifestyle, but to behave like the new creatures God made them in Christ (4:22-24).
Stress the fact that these Christians were just in the process of learning God's values and priorities as declared in Jesus Christ. These new Christians previously had worshipped through idols, and the common values in idolatry were quite different to the values found in Jesus Christ. There is quite a difference between having faith in Jesus' identity and God's resurrection of Jesus and having the kind of faith in Jesus that changes your daily behavior. The first is adequate for conversion. The second is necessary for a godly existence. The person who is converted to Christ but does not live a godly existence cannot imitate God.
Today's lesson focuses on the conclusion that points to the motivation for appropriate Christian behavior. The new self will imitate the God Who created him/her in Christ. Christians will imitate God, not the emotions, thoughts, and behavior of their pre-Christian existence. This imitation will occur because they are "beloved children" of God. God was their Father, and He was quite willing to acknowledge them as His children.
In the last paragraph of Ephesians 4, Paul contrasted the godless behavior of idolatrous existence with the godly behavior of Christian existence. In the first two verses of Ephesians 5, Paul drew the obvious conclusion about daily, godly living: people who belong to God through Christ use God's character to imitate in their character.
In the Roman world of the first century, it was possible [and common] for a man to have sons by his wife who would be his heirs, and also to have sons by a woman who was not his wife who would never be heirs. Such sexual involvement with a woman not your wife was not considered immoral by the standards of that time. It was just a fact of life. Those sons who were not the man's heirs were often neglected by their physical father.
Stress the fact that those who understand God's values know there are no inferior children of God. Though Jewish converts had known God's true identity and will for generations, gentile converts were in no way inferior, no less loved by God, and no less valuable to God as heirs. God was not ashamed of gentile converts! In the same emphasis, God today does not regard a person who is a fourth generation Christian as being superior to someone who is a first generation Christian. Even if there is a difference in the spiritual maturity level in the two people, God in no way is ashamed to acknowledge the first generation Christian as His full heir!
God does not have sons who are not His beloved heirs. Though they were gentile converts rather than Jewish converts, they were not second class, tolerated offsprings. They were full children of God, children whom God felt no hesitance to accept as His (Paul made the same type of argument in a different context in Galatians 4:6, 7). God has no children He rejects or refuses to acknowledge as His heirs.
God is not ashamed of any child who trusts and follows Jesus Christ. His grace and mercy is abundant with every child! The issue is a person's willingness to learn, not his/her rate of learning.
Consider Paul's argument in this text. Idols produced slaves for the religion to the benefit of the religion--the concept being exploitive. God produces beloved children for His family. Idols functioned on the basis of obligation. God functions on the basis of love. In idolatry one functioned on the basis of giving a benefit. In Christ one receives the benefit.
Paul's point is understood in the contrast between being a slave and being an heir.
Examine the contrast. [As you do, remember Paul did not write in chapter and verse divisions. Chapters and verses were added long after New Testament writings existed and were collected to make it easier to locate statements. Because there is a chapter break between chapters 4 and 5 does not mean the content of 4 has no connection with the thoughts in 5.]
Stress the continuation of thought as chapter 4 ends and chapter five begins.
As chapter 4 ended, there was a powerful contrast between their past and God's kindness, between their bitterness and God's love, between the fruit of malice and the fruit of forgiveness. In the contrast, God is the example. The proof of His love was [is] His gift of Jesus to us.
Rather than being bitter like godless people, we seek to be loving as God is. Because of God's influence in our lives, Christians seek to forgive rather than hurt.
So what is the conclusion? Imitate God, not the idolatrous society. Imitate God as would children who are loved by their father. Allow the love that guided Him to send the Christ for your forgiveness to guide you to imitate His love. You imitate God's love by allowing your behavior to be lead by love for others just as God's behavior was expressed by love for you.
Stress the fact that Christians choose to let God, not a godless society, be their primary influence in daily behavior and in the motivation for their attitudes and emotions.
God's love expressed in Jesus Christ led to two behaviors in him. First, Christ loved you. Second, Christ sacrificed himself for you. In doing those two things Jesus became an offering to God. That offering was a pleasant smell. The issue is not "would a burning sacrifice smell good to us." This was a world where sacrificial worship [in the ancient form of burning parts of butchered animals] at times filled the air in all societies [whether the Jewish or the idolatrous] and created a scent associated with respect of the divine. This is NOT intended as a verification that God is a human, has a nose, and has some scents He enjoys more than others. It is a declaration to a society accustomed to animal sacrifice that God was pleased with the surrender, dependence, and praise Jesus' sacrifice represented.
Stress that different smells had different meanings to them, just as to us. The smell of garbage is not to be confused with the smell of honor. God knows when someone is giving Him garbage and when someone is giving Him honor!
The point is that surrender to God involves much more than determining the "correct" rules and regulations, and following "properly" those rules and regulations. Do not miss the point that Paul wrote to people who believed in the resurrected Jesus Christ, who had turned from sins [repentance], and who had been baptized (Ephesians 1:1). While certainly important [not to be minimized], that was not enough.
One might get the impression in some of today's congregations or from some of today's individual Christians that God's primary concern for people is the baptism of an individual. As essential as baptism is as a "faith and repentance response," baptism is not the stress of the New Testament epistles. The letters to congregations and individuals stressed the importance of the way the baptized lived after baptism. Conversion is essential, but it is not the end of response to Christ and God the Father. A life of maturing surrender to Christ and God reflected in the behavior, motives, and attitudes of the person is a continuing response to Christ and God.
Paul focused on their behavior after baptism. As Christians, they could not lie and deceive; they could not ignore the well being of others; they could not nurse anger and let it fester; they could not steal; they could not use words that corrupted; they could not grieve God's Spirit; and they could not be a bitter people. They could not imitate society. They must imitate God. Deceit, neglect of others, prolonged anger, stealing, corrupt words, grieving God's influence in their lives, and becoming a people who resented others did not imitate God! Had God treated them in that manner, there would have been no salvation resulting in forgiveness and redemption.
There are attitudes, motives, emotions, and behaviors that are unworthy of the man or woman in Christ. Such are unworthy of the Christian individual because such attitudes, motives, emotions, and behaviors do not imitate God the Father. They first learn God's priorities and values by reflecting on the way God reacted toward them when they were still God's enemies, and how God reacted toward them when they rejected rebellion against Him.
The conclusion: those who belong to Christ imitate God's character, not a godless society's values.
The stress is on who or what you allow to form your character.
For Thought and Discussion
He often used "therefore" as we would use "in conclusion," or, "Because these things I have shared with you are true, this should be our focus."
We should remember that Paul wrote to former idol worshippers [gentiles] who converted to Jesus Christ.
He instructed them NOT to behave in ways consistent with their unconverted lifestyle, but to behave as the new creatures God made them in Christ.
It focuses on the proper motivation for appropriate Christian behavior.
God was their Father and was quite willing to acknowledge them as His loved children.
God does not have sons [children] who are not His beloved heirs.
Paul's argument in this text is that idolatry produced slaves who functioned for the benefit of the religion, but God produces loved children for His family.
It was the powerful contrast between their past and God's kindness, their bitterness and God's love, and the fruit of malice and the fruit of forgiveness.
The conclusion: imitate God, not the idolatrous society.
They would imitate God as children who are loved by their father.
He focused on their behavior after baptism.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 13
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