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“Let us look at what the Word of God says.”
> “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved 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.”
> — Ephesians 5:1–2 (NKJV)
These two verses form one of the most powerful and concise descriptions of the Christian life in the New Testament. The song you have before you is essentially a sung meditation on this passage. It calls us not merely to admire Christ, not merely to believe in Christ, but to *imitate* God Himself, in the same way that Christ did—through a life of love expressed in self-giving sacrifice.
The central theme is clear:
This is not sentimental love. It is costly, sacrificial, God-centered love. It is the pattern of the Cross applied to daily life.
Ephesians was written by the apostle Paul, most likely from prison (Eph. 3:1; 4:1), to believers in and around Ephesus—a major pagan city, saturated with occult practices, immorality, and idolatry (Acts 19). These were not people with a Christian background. Many of them had come out of deep spiritual darkness.
Chapter 1–3 of Ephesians describe what God has done *for us* in Christ:
Chapters 4–6 then describe how we must *live* in light of this. The order is important. First grace, then conduct. First what God has done, then how we respond.
Ephesians 4 describes the putting off of the old man and putting on the new man:
Then Paul reaches a climax:
> “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, *even as* God in Christ forgave you.
> Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.”
> — Ephesians 4:32–5:1
The “therefore” at the beginning of chapter 5 connects everything. Because you have been forgiven, because you are God’s children, because you are a new creation—*therefore* imitate God. And the primary way you imitate Him is by *walking in love*, patterned after Christ’s sacrificial self-giving.
So this call does not come in a vacuum. It is addressed to people:
Paul is not saying, “Love in order to be accepted.” He is saying, “Because you are already dearly loved, now live like it.”
To penetrate the force of this passage, we need to look at two key Greek words.
### 1) “Imitators” — *mimētai* (μιμηταί)
“Be imitators of God…”
The word is *mimētai*, from which we get the English word “mimic.” It means:
For example:
> “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)
Christianity is not merely admiring Christ, but *reproducing* His character and conduct in our own lives, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul does not say, “Be admirers of God.” He says, “Be imitators.”
This immediately confronts a superficial Christianity that only wants forgiveness but not transformation. True discipleship means we actually pattern our reactions, our choices, our use of time and money, our relationships—after God’s own character, revealed in Christ.
### 2) “Walk” & “Love” — *peripateite* (περιπατεῖτε) and *agapē* (ἀγάπη)
“Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us…”
“Walk” — *peripateite*:
“Love” — *agapē*:
So “walk in love” does not mean “have warm feelings.” It means:
When the lyrics say, “Walk in the way of love… live a life filled with love,” it is this *agapē* that is in view: action, sacrifice, obedience to God, not mere emotion.
### 3) “Offering and Sacrifice… a Pleasing Aroma” — *prosphoran* / *thysian* / *osmēn euōdias*
“…and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”
In the Old Testament, when sacrifices were offered in obedience and faith, they were described as “a soothing aroma to the LORD” (e.g., Genesis 8:21; Leviticus 1:9). It does not mean God likes the smell of burning meat. It means He delights in obedient, surrendered hearts expressed through sacrifice.
Christ’s death was:
When we “walk in love” as Christ did, our lives become, in measure, that same kind of fragrance before God.
Let us walk through the themes expressed in the lyrics and connect them with the Word of God.
### A. “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children.”
This is almost a direct quotation of Ephesians 5:1.
Notice the order:
1. Your position: “dearly loved children.”
2. Your calling: “follow God’s example” / “be imitators of God.”
Many Christians try to live the Christian life without being firmly established in their identity. They attempt holiness as orphans, not as dearly loved children. But Scripture is clear:
> “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God… and if children, then heirs…”
> — Romans 8:16–17
> “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”
> — 1 John 3:1
Our imitation of God is the imitation of children who reflect their Father. Children naturally copy what they see:
Spiritually, the same is true. If we truly believe we are loved children, we will begin to reflect the character of our Father.
The enemy, Satan, targets this very point. He seeks to undermine your assurance that you are loved. He accuses, condemns, and whispers:
But the Word says, “You are dearly loved.” Our conduct flows from that revelation.
### B. “Be imitators of God—live like His loved child.”
This line repeats and reinforces the connection between identity and conduct.
Paul often uses this pattern: “You are… therefore, be.”
The spiritual danger is to reverse this:
That is law, not grace. Grace says:
Imitation, then, is not striving to earn acceptance. It is the expression of a new nature received by new birth.
### C. “Walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us.”
Here we are given both a command and a pattern.
1. The command: “Walk in the way of love.”
2. The pattern: “just as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us.”
The “way of love” is the way of the Cross applied to daily life.
Jesus said:
> “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
> — Luke 9:23
To “walk in love” is to:
“Just as Christ loved us” defines what kind of love we are to walk in:
Our love must be modeled on His, not on human standards. Human love often says, “I will love you if you deserve it, if you satisfy me.” Christ’s love says, “I will give Myself for your good, even when you do not deserve it.”
### D. “Live a life filled with love… He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice to God—a pleasing aroma.”
A “life filled with love” is, in the language of Ephesians, a *perpetual offering*.
Romans 12:1 uses similar language:
> “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
Notice:
Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice on the Cross is unique and unrepeatable. We cannot atone for sin. But we are called to enter into the *pattern* of that sacrifice by:
When the song speaks of a “pleasing aroma,” it is echoing the Old Testament sacrificial language and applying it to Christ—and by extension, to our lives in Him.
2 Corinthians 2:14–15 adds:
> “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
> For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”
When we walk in love, we become the *fragrance of Christ*:
The spiritual reality is this: every believer carries a smell in the spiritual realm. Either the fragrance of Christ, produced by the Holy Spirit through a life of obedience and love, or the stench of self and carnality.
### E. “You are dearly loved—so live like it, walk in love every day.”
This line captures the heart of the apostolic exhortation.
“You are dearly loved”—that is doctrine, truth, position.
“So live like it”—that is ethics, conduct, sanctification.
“Walk in love every day”—that is perseverance, consistency, discipleship.
The spiritual battle often centers on this very point:
Scripture holds these together: You are loved; therefore, your life must reflect that love.
Galatians 5:6:
> “Faith working through love.”
1 John 4:19:
> “We love Him because He first loved us.”
Love received must become love expressed. If it does not, something is blocked—often bitterness, unforgiveness, or unbelief.
Derek Prince always stressed that truth must be applied. How do we actually imitate God and walk in love?
Here are four clear steps, each of which can also be turned into a proclamation.
### 1) First, We Must Accept Our Identity as “Dearly Loved Children”
Many cannot walk in love because they have never deeply received the love of God for themselves.
Ephesians 3:17–19 presents a vital prayer:
> “…that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend… what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge…”
Notice:
Action:
You cannot give what you have not received. You cannot walk in love if you are secretly convinced that you are unlovable.
### 2) Second, We Must Choose the Way of the Cross in Daily Relationships
Walking in love is most clearly tested in how we deal with:
Ephesians 4:32, immediately before our text, says:
> “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
To imitate God:
Unforgiveness is one of the greatest blockages to walking in love. It also opens the door to demonic torment (see Matthew 18:34–35).
Action:
To walk in love is to keep choosing the Cross: choose to lose your life to find it (Mark 8:35).
### 3) Third, We Must Offer Ourselves to God as Living Sacrifices
Christ “offered Himself… as a sacrifice to God.” To imitate Him, we must present ourselves in the same way, not to atone for sin, but to express total surrender.
Romans 12:1:
> “Present your bodies a living sacrifice… which is your reasonable service.”
Action:
Say to God:
This is not a one-time emotional moment; it is a daily position. Every act of obedience, every choice to love when it is hard, adds to that “sweet-smelling aroma” before God.
### 4) Fourth, We Must Rely on the Holy Spirit to Produce *Agapē* in Us
You cannot walk in divine love by human willpower. *Agapē* is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, not of human effort.
Galatians 5:22:
> “But the fruit of the Spirit is love…”
Romans 5:5:
> “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Action:
Then obey the inner promptings:
Imitating God is not imitation in the flesh; it is cooperation with the Holy Spirit, who forms Christ in you.
### Proclamation (Say this aloud, deliberately, as an act of faith)
“I declare that I am a dearly loved child of God.
God is my Father; I belong to His family.
According to Ephesians 5:1–2, I am called to be an imitator of God.
I choose to walk in love, not in bitterness, not in hatred, not in selfishness.
I accept the love of Christ, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
His sacrifice is a sweet-smelling aroma to God, and in Him,
my life also becomes an offering and a pleasing fragrance to God.
I forgive those who have wronged me,
just as God in Christ has forgiven me.
I present my body as a living sacrifice to God,
holy and acceptable to Him.
Holy Spirit, pour the love of God into my heart.
Produce in me the fruit of divine love—*agapē*—
so that I may truly imitate my Father and follow the example of Christ.
By God’s grace, I will walk in the way of love every day.
Amen.”
### Prayer
“Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You that You have loved us with an everlasting love and called us Your children. I ask that You would, by Your Holy Spirit, root and ground each person reading this in the revelation of Your love. Drive out every lie of rejection, every spirit of condemnation, every work of the enemy that distorts their identity.
Lord Jesus, You loved us and gave Yourself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, a sweet-smelling aroma. We honor Your sacrifice. We ask that the pattern of Your love would be written on our hearts.
Holy Spirit, come and fill us afresh. Pour the love of God into our hearts. Expose every area of unforgiveness, every trace of bitterness. Give us the grace to forgive, to release, to bless. Teach us to present our bodies and our lives as a living sacrifice, moment by moment.
Make us, in our homes, our workplaces, and our churches, the fragrance of Christ to God and to those around us. Bring us into a life where we truly imitate God as dearly loved children and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us.
We submit to Your Word, we yield to Your Spirit, and we receive Your love now, in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.”
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