Imitate God (Part 2)
A sacrifice that’s worth it
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Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2 (ESV)
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The imagery that Paul shares here is one of classic religious ceremonies.
Everyone understands the religious significance of burning incense as part of the ritual. Even today, many Eastern religions use incense as a way of showing a fragrant offering to their deities.
Except they offer it to idols while we can offer our lives to the living God.
If you think back to Genesis, we see one of the original pictures of offerings to God, where Cain offers fruit from the produce of the land and Abel makes an offering of innocent blood. Of course Cain’s offering was putrid to God and Abel’s offering was a sweet aroma.
We know how that turned out.
But the important point here is that this was an early picture of the perfect sacrifice that was to come later.
Christ became the perfect sacrifice.
His offering was perfect, able to cover our sins and restore us into right relationship with God.
And that example is the one set for us to follow.
That we are to walk in love like Jesus did. We are also to be a living sacrifice, filling the world with the sweet aroma of Christ and pleasing God with our actions.
You might say that these are big shoes to fill.
Yet we have the empowering Holy Spirit living within us that can make it possible. My challenge is to lean into Him more and allow Him to direct my path.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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