Becoming Like God Part 1

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. We've all seen boys who look like their dads.

The resemblance tells us that father and son came from the same family. There's a family resemblance we're to pursue, looking more and more like our Father in Heaven. Today, lessons from Ephesians 5 on becoming like God.

From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, the thought of imitating God is a tall order, isn't it? You know Dave, the way you put it, I'm very afraid that somebody could misinterpret what we are saying. We certainly are not saying that we can somehow become God. And in many respects, obviously, we will never, never be like him.

But in the Bible, there are certain attributes that God has, such as love, that we are to imitate. So that's the emphasis of this sermon. Today, we come to the end of our fiscal year. And that gives me an opportunity to thank the many of you who support this ministry.

But we also want to end very strong. If you have a pencil and a piece of paper, you can write this down. Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Not only is it the end of our fiscal year, but also your gift will be doubled.

Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now let us become like God in our love, in our generosity, and in our concern for others. If you've had the opportunity of looking at the sermon topic today, becoming like God, you might be a little confused because you might say, well, that's exactly what the New Age movement teaches, that we should become like God. Maybe Pastor Lutzer has conceded to heresy.

No, I don't think that you have to worry about my orthodoxy. For years, theologians have made a distinction between what they call noncommunicable attributes, that is attributes that we can never enter into, that belong only to God, omnipresence, omniscience. Those kinds of attributes can never be a part of us. But there are also what is called communicable attributes. Communicable attributes, I should say, are those that God can share with us. God is love, as we shall see in a moment.

We should be love as well. Now, why is it that we should become like God? A couple of reasons. First of all, because this will help us to understand what God's intention is in our lives, that we should be like him. A second reason, so that you can better interpret the events that happen around you. You know from time to time it is very true to say that someone else is making up your day and your days don't go like planned.

There might be a doctor walking into your hospital room and telling you that you have cancer. And so the question is, what has God up to? What is his intention?

What is he doing? Well, as we shall see, he is developing within us qualities that look like him. Now, that should not be surprising, because when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, the Scripture says that we are partakers of the divine nature. And because we partake of the divine nature, we begin to look like our Father, because implanted within us are those spiritual chromosomes that begin to develop, and pretty soon we look like Dad.

We look like our Father who is in heaven. And that's why Paul can say in Ephesians chapter 5, the passage that I want you to turn to. That's why Paul can say in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 1, be imitators of God therefore as dearly beloved children. And the Greek word imitators is the word from which we get our own word mimic. So what he's saying is, I want you to learn to mimic God as his children.

You should do that. Now, what I'd like to do in the next few moments is to help us to see three ways in which we can be like God. Three ways in which we can be like God. We continue to read the text and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. The New American Standard translates it, walk in love, and I like that imagery. Here it says live in love.

The idea is the same. If we want to walk in love or if we do walk in love, we are walking like our Father who is love. Love is of God for God is love. You want to be like God?

You love. What are some of the characteristics of the love that enables us to be like God? Well, first of all, it is a love that knows the meaning of the word forgiveness. You'll notice in the previous verses at the end of chapter 4 and just before the break in chapter 5, it says, forgiving each other, this is verse 32 of chapter 4, even as God for Christ's sake forgave you. Now, there's a good start if you want to be God-like. We pray, I want to be Godly. Well, the way you begin to be Godly is to make sure that you forgive others as God forgave you.

That's a good start along the way. You know, it says in the sixth chapter of Luke, the Lord is talking about loving your enemies and he says, I want you to do good to those who despise you. I want you to pray for those who despitefully use you and I want you to bless those who curse you. Some of you may be working in vocations in which the people who are around you are not totally committed to your personal happiness.

It's possible. And the question is, how do we handle these situations? What do we do? Well, the text says that you should even love your enemies and there are three things right there that you can do. You can bless and not curse.

You can pray for them and you can do good for them. That's what the scripture says. And then it goes on to say, now, if you do this, you will be like your father in heaven because he is kind to evil and ungrateful man. Do you ever pray and say, Lord, make me godly? And then God sends somebody next to you who's difficult to live with, difficult to work with.

And immediately you complain as oftentimes we do as humans. And what God is saying in heaven is, now, wait a moment. I thought we had an agreement. I was supposed to answer the prayer that you wanted to be godly.

So I put you in a situation in which you could display my characteristics. Isn't that sweet? God answering prayer. It's a love that forgives.

It's also a love that sacrifices. Here we're in chapter five again, verse one and verse two. Live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave up for us, gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. There's a part of God the Father that did not delight, of course, in the death of Jesus Christ.

There's another part that delighted because Jesus was being obedient and God is saying that that's the kind of love in which you should walk if you want to be like God. Someone has said, rather accurately, that the world can pretty well do everything that the church can do. But one thing they cannot do is love and they cannot show grace. They cannot show grace. And grace is very unfair. It's terribly unfair.

It's unfair for an abused child to be asked to forgive her abusive father. It's unfair. But grace is always unfair. It was unfair that Jesus Christ should die in our behalf since he was innocent.

It's unfair. But that's the way grace is and it's our responsibility to make sure that we display that kind of love to the world. So the question is, if you want to be godly, you walk in love. Now, what Paul does here in the text is he begins now to take off and to talk about those who are not walking in love at all, who are walking as in a form of perverted love.

And what he is arguing is this. Just as we have the chromosomes of our Heavenly Father and therefore should be like our Father walking in love, in the very same way the world who has the devil for their father, Jesus said, you are of your father the devil. The world, of course, they have their father and so they walk after him and they reflect him. Makes sense, doesn't it? Now let's look at how the world walks. Here it is. Verse 3, but among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality.

Wow. Or of any kind of impurity. Have you ever thought how our television viewing schedule would be severely curtailed if we put that phrase above our television sets? Let it not even have any kind of impurity. Apart from the news, most of what is seen today is impure. He says no impurity or greed.

Why does he throw that in? You say, well, you know, I'm only greedy. I'm not an idolater. I'm not immoral. Yeah. Paul says you're greedy.

Wow. Because these are improper for God's holy people. You're God's people. You don't live like the devil's sons and daughters after having been redeemed by God, surely. Now notice.

Or should there be obscenity, foolish talk, coarse joking, joking that oftentimes is very degrading, which are out of place but rather thanksgiving. So that's the way you live in contrast to the world. Now, Paul begins the next verse by saying, for this of this you can be sure. How many things are there in life that you can be sure of?

Well, it is sometimes said death and taxes. You can always be sure of that. You can always be sure that the sun is going to shine in the morning. You can't be very sure about the future.

A lot of things that people have banked on have not come to pass. But there is one thing that you can be sure of. Don't leave here today and say, you know, Pastor Lutzer preached they never told us one sure thing.

No, listen to this. Of this you can be sure. Verse five. No immoral, impure or greedy person, such man as an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Wow. Let nobody deceive you. With empty words, for because of these things, God wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore, do not be partners with them. You say, well, what does that mean? Does it mean that these kinds of people are not going to get it to heaven or they're just not going to have an inheritance or what is it that they're saying? Whatever Paul is saying is it's serious business because he says you can be sure of this, that a person who lives that way does not have an inheritance. And then he says, do not deceive yourself.

Why does he throw that in? Because in the area of sin, particularly sexual sin, we are most easily deceived because we always use our minds to rationalize what our hearts want to do. And therefore we can learn to live with our sins and make do pretty well because we've rationalized it. We've deadened the conscience. He said, do not be deceived. Do not be deceived, he said. Don't be deceived. Now here at the church, because we have a web page, we get a lot of email. Friday morning, this is the email that came from a radio listener.

He says, I'm a man and he gives his age and his name. I have a beautiful wife and a child. I'm born again Christian, but the gigantic problem I'm fighting, no one knows about. And it has taken me far from the Lord. Pastor Lutzer, I am addicted to pornography and I can't seem to overcome this cursed weakness. It makes me want to do things I would never want to do.

Could you please help? Is there any hope for me overcoming this weakness that I hate so much? If my wife knew what was going on behind her back, she would divorce me right away. And I'm determined to not let this happen. I need your help.

Please write back for my marriage and life depends on getting help. Now let's read that in the, let's read the text here. No immoral, impure or greedy person, such man is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Do not deceive yourself. What is the answer for this man?

I haven't written back yet, but will most assuredly. Obviously he needs to experience the cleansing of Christ. He needs to be in the scripture for the renewing of his mind.

And that's why this message ties in with the one that I preached last time on breaking stubborn habits and the previous one has to do with the renewing of the mind. All of that is important. But at the end of the day, I want you to know that he cannot fight this battle alone.

He just can't do it. The key phrase there is this. I am fighting a battle that no one knows about. In a moment we're going to talk about darkness and secrecy, the power that it has in the lives of people. What he needs to do is to find a confidant. I am very sorry that his wife has the opinion that if she knew this, he said she would divorce him. That that's too bad because she could be a tremendous help in helping him overcome this if she did not take this so personally.

But that's another matter. But what he needs to do is to find someone who's going to help him and pray with him and hold him accountable because you cannot come out of that pit alone. But I want you to notice what the text says, that that kind of impurity, he says that if that is characteristic of a person's life, if this is the way he lives day in and day out without any evidence that God is working in his life and bringing him to repentance and I'm thankful to say that this man does give indication that he seeks repentance and restoration but if all that were not present, if he simply did it without any compulsion, with all the rationalizations, we most assuredly would have to question whether or not he was born again of the Spirit because to walk like this is to walk after your father Satan, not your father God because the text says that you are a holy people. We live in a day and age that is so difficult, so difficult.

Never before in history have you been able to be in a hotel room or hotel room and have pornography just on the television set. But Paul would say don't deceive yourself, don't excuse it because it's part of society. Don't be deceived with empty words for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient therefore do not be partners with and get help. How can we be like God? Well, first of all, we walk in love, not the kind of love that we've just talked about here in the last few moments but the kind of love that is forgiving, the kind of love that is sacrificial. That's the way you begin to look like your father who is in heaven. Let me give you a second way that we can be like God and that is to walk in light. It says in verse 8, for you were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth and find out what pleases the Lord.

Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness but rather expose them for it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said, wake up oh sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine upon you. Why should we walk in light? Because God is light and in him there is no darkness at all and what is that light? It is the light of God's righteousness, it is the light of God's holiness, it is the light of reality. Have you ever been caught in a sin that you have justified and then suddenly somebody comes along and says, you know, I saw you do that and they rebuke you and instantly you know to the depths of your being that you have been deceived and sinful because reality has come to you, you see.

And there are many people who do not accept reality, they do not live because they've lived with so long with rationalizations and with such a sense of denial that that only God can get through to them. My friend today if you could look into my heart you would find that I'm so deeply grateful for the ministry of running to win. God has blessed us, this ministry has expanded during the past few years and we continue to expand. Recently we signed a contract to go into three more languages and we can do that because God has seen fit to bless this ministry. And from my heart I want to thank the many of you who pray for us, who support us financially and this happens to be the end of our fiscal year.

Would you consider helping us? Here's what you could do, go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. I'm going to be giving you that contact info again but I want to tell you that it is because of the faithfulness of God's people that running to win continues to expand around the world not only in radio but also with a digital presence. Thank you, thank you for your prayers, thank you for your help. Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Perhaps I already mentioned that your gift will be doubled.

It's an opportunity to bless us but more importantly to bless people around the world. rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life.

Melissa lives in Florida and left us this question on our website moodymedia.org. I met a married woman while traveling recently. At the end of our visit she told me she was pregnant and did not want kids so she was going to abort the baby. I was devastated and did not know what to say. I tried to gently ask, are you sure? I shared my experience about a friend who regretted getting a divorce but I could see I was not going to change her mind. We exchanged contact information and I still feel obligated to say more to her but I don't know if I should or what to say. Any advice on what to do? Melissa, first of all I want to commend you for trying to help this woman to understand that to abort this baby would be wrong, destructive and also something that I'm sure she would come to regret.

So thank you for the effort that you made. In terms of more to say there is all kinds of material that you can give to her that shows actually that babies even in the womb feel pain and to help her to understand that we're dealing here biblically with a human being. This is not a small decision on her part and if she's married what is standing in the way between her and having this child? What value is she placing on her own lifestyle, on work, whatever excuse she may be using? Help her to try to understand the importance of this decision and why human life is so critical. Now if at the end of the day she is not willing to investigate this, if she's not willing to listen, well then we have laws in this country today that allow her to abort the child.

But I believe that she'll come to regret it because the minute a woman is pregnant she knows that she is a mother and this woman knows that she's a mother whether she aborts the baby or not. So thanks for your help in trying to enable her to see a broader more biblical perspective. I hope that you'll be successful.

You can write to us at Running to Win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard Chicago Illinois 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. Pastor Erwin Lutzer has brought part one of Becoming Like God, the fifteenth message in his series Between Heaven and Earth, taken from Ephesians. Next time, some concluding lessons on our obligation to come out of the darkness into the love and light of God. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.