1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
Who on earth would attempt such a thing as trying to act like God? Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? We are so accustomed to such phrases as, “Who are you to try acting like God?” However, such notions reflect poor efforts at acting like God, rather than good efforts. We are not to “be God” to people, like sitting in judgment over others (James 4:11). Yet we are to imitate the way God loves. As the saying goes, “Like Father, like son.”
We are to excel at loving people as God loves them, because there should be a family likeness. It does no good to say, “Well, I am only human, you know. No one is perfect.” But, Jesus said, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt 5:48).
So how does God love us? Paul switches to speaking of Christ’s love—which incidentally points to the deity of Christ. Jesus’s love is demonstration of God’s love. This is what the Gospel of John means when it says, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (John 1:18). The term “explained” means to exegete, explain, bring out the full meaning of something. Jesus was the full exegesis of God’s love. This is epitomized in His sacrifice on the cross. He gave Himself up for us, His very life was substituted for ours. He died in our place, so that we might have life. The author of Hebrews writes, “He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.” (Heb 10:12).
Christ’s sacrifice is described as having an aromatic bouquet. The metaphor here is rich and reflects the Old Testament sacrificial system (see for example Ex 29:18). Bible students recognize in this a literary device called “anthropomorphism,” where God is pictured as having human characteristics. God is said to enjoy the sacrifice of Christ the way a human would enjoy the fragrance of incense or some other pleasing smell. The imagery of what the Old Testament called a “burnt offering” (Lev 1:4, et. al.) giving off a pleasing odor is hard to miss here.
Paul’s point here is that we followers of Christ, as sons and daughters, should likewise provide God the pleasurable fragrance of our actions of love. When we sacrifice for others this is like offering a “burnt offering” to God. He takes a deep inhale, and finds it very, very pleasing.
Lord, I want my life to be a pleasure to You. Show me today whom I may demonstrate Your love toward, even if it means sacrificing something great.
0 Comments