How Do We Imitate God?
"The Lord is righteous in all His Ways and kind in all His deeds" (Psalm 145:17). The Lord is good to all (Psalm 145:9). He wants us to be like He is.
To please God, we must imitate Jesus Christ in our daily behavior (Eph. 5:1; 1 Cor. 11:1). What did the Lord do that we should imitate? In the Bible, people asked the same question. "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" (John 6:28). Notice that the works of God Jesus performed were all done in the Father’s name (John 10:25). We are to do our works for God, in word and deed, in Jesus Christ’s name (Col. 3:17). That is what it means to believe in Jesus Christ, because the word believe means obey and adhere to the teachings of Jesus Christ (John 3:36).
Jesus said He did nothing of His own will, but only what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). What is the Father doing? Psalm 10:14 says God is the helper of the orphan. He provides out of His goodness to the poor (Psalm 68:10). He comes to the aid of the needy when they need help and He helps those who have no helper (Psalm 72:12). He has compassion on the poor and the needy (Psalm 72:13; 16:5). He executes justice for the oppressed. He gives food to the hungry and sets the prisoners free (Psalm 146:7). Remember, prisoners are not only those who are in jail, but those who continue to be enslaved to their old natures because they remain religiously deceived. The deeds mentioned here are the works of the Lord. Jesus performed these works in the Father’s name and we are to do the same.
Job understood that this is what it means to please God and to be blameless in His sight (Job 29:12-16). Daniel knew this is how we please God and overcome our evil natures (Dan. 4:27). New Testament disciples were told to overcome evil by doing good deeds and to be careful to engage in doing good deeds (Rom. 2:7; 12:21; Titus 3:8; Eph. 2:10; 1 Peter 3:10-11, 13). This is how we bear fruit for Christ and prove to be His disciples (John 15:8; Col. 1:10).
You will have to learn to do these things and by your patient perseverance, you will win your soul (Luke 13:24; 21:19). That perseverance is being zealous or enthusiastic for doing good, studying God’s word and praying. This is the armor of God (1 Peter 3:13; Eph. 6:11).
ℹ️Study God’s word daily by subject. Pray for others and for your own needs. Do as much good as you can each day for God’s glory (Matt. 5:16). This is the way to be an overcomer for Jesus Christ and how you imitate God (Rev. 2:26).