"Imitate" 5-11-25

Overview

Unique—and Called to Imitate

Scripture insists that every one of us is an unrepeatable creation of God. "We are the clay, and you are our potter" Isaiah 64:8; "you knit me together in my mother's womb" Psalm 139:13; "before I formed you in the womb I knew you" Jeremiah 1:5. Whether introvert, extrovert, or somewhere in between, each believer bears God's unique stamp. And yet alongside our uniqueness, Scripture gives us a second, equally clear calling: we are to imitate.

When Paul, Silas, and Timothy evangelized Thessalonica, they came not with words only "but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction" 1 Thessalonians 1:5. The Greek word for power is dynamis—the gospel is dynamite that breaks open hardened hearts so that faith is born. Paul gives thanks for their "work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope" 1 Thessalonians 1:3—the same triad Jesus would later commend in Ephesus Revelation 2:2-3. He also reminds them that their faith was no accident: God chose them before the foundation of the world Ephesians 1:4. Because the missionaries didn't merely speak the gospel but lived it, the Thessalonians "became imitators of us and of the Lord" 1 Thessalonians 1:6, and from them the word of the Lord sounded forth throughout Macedonia and Achaia 1 Thessalonians 1:7-8.

If we're honest, we don't always imitate the best examples, and we aren't always the best examples to imitate. Like Adam and Eve, we can drift toward selfishness, control, and the temptation to be our own god. Too often we settle for "do as I say, not as I do." But notice carefully what Paul claims when he writes, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1; see also Philippians 3:17). Just verses earlier he confesses, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own" Philippians 3:12. Paul calls us to imitate his pursuit, not a perfection he never claimed to possess.

That is good news for every work-in-progress disciple. On the cross, Jesus bore all our sin—including our neglect of godly examples, our hypocrisy of saying without doing, our failure to actually live the lyric "I want to be like Him." By His grace, we receive the gospel with joy "in spite of persecution" 1 Thessalonians 1:6, and by His ongoing work in us we slowly become people worthy of imitation ourselves. God is not finished with you this side of heaven—but He is at work, shaping unique souls into faithful imitators of Christ, whose lives in turn point others to Him.

Transcript

Would you open your Bibles, please, with me to first thisologians the first chapter. 3s

If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that in the New Testament, 9s

page 179. 13s

First, theologians, the very first chapter. 17s

You unique. 22s

You unique. 24s

The Bible gives the repeated message that all of us have been created by God as unique creations. 27s

We all bear the unique stamp of God upon our lives. 38s

When God created us, He broke the mold, He threw it away. 42s

We are all unique individual miracles of God. 45s

Some of us are introverts, some of us are extroverts, some are in between. 55s

We're all wired differently gifted uniquely. 61s

Each of us, an unrepeatable creation of God. 66s

The Bible tells us, in Isaiah, the 64th chapter. 74s

Yet, who Lord you are our Father, we are the clay and you are our Father. 79s

We are all the work of your hand. 85s

Psalm 139, 88s

For it was you who formed my inward parts, 91s

you knit me together in my mother's womb. 95s

Jeremiah 1, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. 97s

And it also, what we hear in Scripture, is that we are called as unique individuals. 113s

We are also called to imitate, to imitate. 120s

The Thessalonica was the capital city of Macedonia. 128s

It was really the administrative center. 134s

And Acts 17 chapter says that Thessalonica was evangelized by Paul and Timothy and Silas. 138s

Scripture tells us that after evangelizing Thessalonica, Paul went to Beria 149s

from Beria, he went to Athens, from Athens, he went to Corinth. 155s

And in Corinth, he received the word from Timothy, 161s

that those new Christians, those new Christians in Thessalonica, 166s

they were holding firm. 170s

They were steadfast in the faith. 173s

And Paul was just filled with joy to receive that word. 176s

Look at what he writes in verse 2 of First Thessalonians, the first chapter. 183s

He says, we always give thanks to God for all of you, 189s

and mention you in our prayers constantly, remembering before our God and Father, your work of faith, 194s

and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 203s

That reference to work and labor and steadfastness with regard to those new Christians in Thessalonica, 211s

interestingly, those are the exact three same words that Jesus uses to compliment the church and Ephesus recorded in Revelation the second chapter. 219s

And when it says of their work and labor and steadfastness, 234s

well, work of what? 238s

Scripture defines it, work of faith in other words. 240s

God has been at work transforming those unbelievers into believers, 246s

God's work of faith. 252s

And labor, labor of what? 255s

Scripture says, the labor of love. 257s

That that faith born in them now is expressing itself in loving words and loving, 262s

deeds and steadfastness of what? 268s

steadfastness of hope. 273s

Remember that's the biblical word for confidence. 275s

Confidence in what? 278s

Scripture says, in our Lord Jesus Christ. 279s

Paul the lights in God's work in what he has accomplished in those Christians that are holding fast. 285s

Infessel in Ike. 296s

He goes on them. 299s

In verse 4, 301s

For we know brothers and sisters, 303s

be loved by God that he's chosen you. 305s

That's Ephesians 1, isn't it? 307s

The Papal writes in Ephesians 1, 309s

that before the very foundations of the world, 311s

we were chosen to be in him. 313s

Now the words before God said, 315s

let there be anything. 317s

God knew that there would be us, 319s

unique creations, 323s

and God had chosen us, 324s

elected us to believe in him. 326s

He's reassuring these new Christians of their election, 329s

that goes all the way back before creation. 334s

He then says in verse 5, 340s

because our message of the gospel came to you, 343s

not in word only, 346s

but also in power. 348s

And in the Holy Spirit, 350s

and with full conviction, 352s

that word there for power in the Greek, 356s

it's dynamists. 358s

Can you guess what word we get? 359s

Dynamite, right? 360s

Paul saying, 362s

we came with a word that it wasn't just a word 363s

that word is used by God that word that word 366s

does something to you. 369s

It's like the words I love you, 372s

those words do something to the other person. 375s

They're words of action. 379s

Here Paul is lifting up that is Paul and Timothy and Silas 383s

evangelized these people in Thessalonica. 387s

He came with a word of dynamite, 390s

the gospel, 394s

and that dynamite blew up the hardened heart, 396s

softened it, 402s

and faith was born, 403s

and the spirit entered in. 404s

Paul says in Romans the first chapter, 407s

he says, 410s

I'm not ashamed of the gospel. 410s

It's the power. 412s

It's the dynamite of God, 413s

for salvation to everyone who has faith. 416s

Not only do they come with the dynamite of the gospel, 422s

but look at the second part of verse 5. 427s

Just as you know what kind of persons 431s

we proved to be among you for your sake. 434s

When Paul and Timothy and Silas evangelized these people 441s

in Thessalonica, 447s

it wasn't just a word of the gospel that they came with. 450s

They lived the gospel. 454s

They showed them what a life transformed 458s

by the Lord Jesus Christ looks like, 460s

but it sounds like what it acts like. 463s

Paul said, 468s

when we came to you, 468s

we came with the dynamite of the gospel, 469s

and by the grace of God, 473s

they could see in Paul and Silas and Timothy, 474s

they could see the heart changed. 479s

They could see the life of the Christian, 485s

lived, 488s

lived out in front of you. 491s

And then he says it. 497s

Then he says it. 499s

Look, please, at verse 6. 501s

And you became 504s

imitators 508s

of us and of the Lord. 510s

For in spite of persecution, 514s

you received the word with joy, 516s

inspired by the Holy Spirit. 520s

Those unique, never-to-be repeated people 525s

that had been converted 529s

in Thessalonica. 532s

Those unique people became 536s

imitators, 541s

imitators of the Lord. 543s

Imitating them, 550s

God in His justice and mercy and compassion 552s

and love and imitating, 556s

imitating, 561s

Paul and Silas and Timothy. 563s

Nemaking, 569s

what they saw in them, 572s

and it delights the lights, Paul. 576s

They were imitators, 583s

imitators, 586s

but 593s

his name was Harry Chappen. 596s

He was a singer in a songwriter, 601s

70s and 80s. 603s

Probably his most famous song was 606s

Katzen the Cradle. 609s

He was reflecting on a father and son relationship. 613s

And he wrote this. 620s

Said my child arrived just the other day. 622s

He came to the world in the usual way. 625s

But there were planes to catch and bills to pay. 629s

He learned to walk while I was away 634s

and he was talking for I knew it. 636s

And as he grew, he'd say, 639s

I'm gonna be like you, Dad. 642s

You know? 646s

I'm gonna be like you. 648s

Katzen the Cradle and the Silver Spoon, 654s

by the boy Blue and the Man in the Moon. 657s

When you come home, Dad, don't know when. 661s

We'll get together then, son. 665s

We'll get together then. 669s

She'll go through the lyrics of that song. 673s

You see that the father was one that would 677s

politely tell his son of the times 682s

that they would have a head. 686s

But they never materialized. 688s

Song also says of when the man became older and had more time. 695s

And he picked up the phone to call his son. 701s

But his son, he's son gave back those very polite push-offs. 704s

In a lyric says he's grown up just like me. 714s

My boy. 720s

It's just like me. 723s

Sometimes, if we're honest, 728s

we don't imitate the best of examples. 734s

And if we're honest, 743s

sometimes we're not the best to imitate either. 747s

Why? 756s

So often we can imitate our first parents 758s

Adam and Eve and their selfishness and their sin 760s

and their wanting to control and their wanting to be 765s

God and if we're honest, 768s

so often we can not be the best people to imitate. 773s

So often we might say or 781s

the minimum live out that saying, 785s

do as I say, don't do as I do. 789s

Do you think about that? 794s

Well, sometimes we're not the best to imitate. 797s

Poll writes in Philippians the third chapter. 806s

He says, brothers and sisters, 812s

join in imitating me and observe those 814s

who live according to the example you have in us. 819s

But a few verses earlier than that. 825s

The apostle Paul writes, 829s

the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings 832s

by becoming like him in his death. 838s

Even if somehow I may obtain the resurrection from the dead, 841s

by the way, that's not works righteousness. 845s

He's just saying, there he doesn't know how he's going to die. 847s

And then he goes on and he says, 850s

not that I've already obtained this 853s

or have already reached the goal, 857s

but I press on to make it my own 859s

because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 863s

In the verses that proceed when he says, 868s

imitate me. 871s

He admits he hasn't arrived. 874s

He admits that he's still a work in progress 878s

and he'll always be a work in progress. 882s

He admits this side of heaven that none of us 886s

none of us reach perfection in Christ likeness. 891s

We will all continually fall short, 897s

so when Paul says, imitate me, 900s

he's calling for them to imitate his pursuit, 904s

not his perfection, 909s

because he knew for well his perfection didn't exist. 911s

He was calling them to imitate the pursuit 917s

because we're all. 924s

We're all. 928s

A work in progress. 931s

The Lord Jesus Christ came to the cross 938s

and he bore our sin, all of it, all of it. 942s

He paid the sin debt we could never pay, 948s

and he bore our sin of the uniqueness 953s

of each of our sin. 959s

Jesus on the cross, 964s

bore our sin of the neglect of the ungod of the godly examples 966s

that surround us. 972s

He bore the sin of our neglect of the godly example of God. 974s

When Jesus went to the cross, 980s

he bore our sin of having the pinched of saying 982s

but not doing. 987s

When Jesus went to the cross, 989s

he bore our sin of when we say, 991s

I want to be like him. 995s

But the reality of the lyric in our life is far different. 1000s

The Lord Jesus Christ bore it all, 1006s

and bore out of the grace that was Paul's 1010s

and ours in the Lord Jesus Christ. 1013s

What does Paul write? 1017s

Philippians III chapter, 1020s

verse 12, 1022s

not that I've already obtained this 1024s

or have already reached the goal, 1028s

the goal of Christ likeness, 1030s

not that I've already obtained this or already reached the goal. 1035s

But I press on to make it my own 1038s

when he writes in 1 Corinthians 11, 1042s

the imitators of me as I am of Christ. 1045s

He's saying, 1050s

imitate, 1054s

imitate the god, 1057s

born and god, 1058s

pursued, 1067s

of being more and more like Christ, 1067s

because we're all. 1077s

We're all at work in progress. 1081s

We're all at work in progress. 1084s

Verse 7 of our text, 1091s

Paul writes that you became an example 1095s

to all the believers in Macedonia and Ikea. 1098s

For the word of the Lord is sounded forth from you, 1105s

not only in Macedonia and Ikea, 1109s

but in every place your faith in God has become known 1113s

so that we have no need to speak about it. 1118s

Unique, unique, 1125s

and god was at work. 1132s

Book at verse 6, 1140s

you became imitators of us and of the Lord, 1143s

for in spite of persecution, 1149s

here it comes. 1150s

You received the word with joy inspired 1153s

by the Holy Spirit and what was the result. 1159s

So that you became an example to all the believers. 1164s

They received that dynamite of the god. 1175s

And the word that gospel, 1180s

message of what's been accomplished in Jesus Christ, 1186s

that gospel message, 1190s

that's what birthed there being an example. 1194s

That's what birthed there ability. 1203s

To copy, to imitate. 1216s

And God's at work in you, 1228s

and God's at work in me. 1232s

And He's not going to be done this side of heaven, 1236s

but He's in work at you and me, 1242s

so that by His grace and His power, 1248s

we become worthy. 1257s

Of being imitated. 1264s