The first temptation recorded on the pages of Scripture was the enticement to be like God.
The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3:4–5)
Not only was this the first wicked thought in human history, it was also the first evil thought in angelic history. Isaiah recounts this dark past as a fitting parallel of the fall of the Babylonian king. The gates of hell were opened with this thought.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. (Isa. 14:14)
The curtain will open and close on Satan, with this same blasphemous desire on his heart. Time will do nothing to cure him. The future will prove that even with thousands of intervening years to alter his course, his craving to become like God will not be abated. One day the satanically-inspired man of lawlessness will take his seat, as a counterfeit deity, in the temple of God "…displaying himself as being God” (2 Thess. 2:1).
The longing to be like God was the root of Satan’s fall from heaven. One of the most glorious of all angels became the son of perdition over this single thought. There would be no rebellion, no Devil, and no hell if this desire did not exist. The root of the first sin, and every other sin that pushed its way through the door, can be traced back to this illicit desire to be like God.
We are not invited to join God in His position of supremacy. There is a clear and permanent distinction between the creature and the Creator. Isaiah asks the rhetorical question:
To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him? (Isa. 40:18)
Yet, without fear of contradiction, Paul issues this shocking command in the book of Ephesians:
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children (Eph. 5:1)
In other words, BE LIKE GOD!
Theologians make a distinction between what are called the communicable and the incommunicable attributes of God. There are certain attributes of God that He communes or shares with His creation, such as His justice, mercy and truth. Then there are aspects that are reserved for God alone, such as His sovereignty, self-sufficiency and the right to be worshipped.
The Scriptures never violate this distinction when we are exhorted to be like God. Word of Faith teachers and followers of Mormon doctrine join Satan in their desire to become “little gods” and wield divine power.
However, the biblical context always makes it clear that we are to imitate God in His goodness not in His greatness. I realize this may seem like an oversimplification, because God’s power is good and His love is great. But where we are called to imitate God in Scripture, the distinction is clear.
We are to forgive like God: “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Eph. 4:32)
We are to be faithful like God, our yes means yes and our no means no: “But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no.” (2 Cor. 1:18)
We are to be holy like God, as it relates to our behavior: “But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” (1 Pet. 1:15)
We are to love like God: "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (1 John 4:11)
Satan and false teachers desire to imitate God in all of the wrong ways. They desire to imitate God’s rule over creation but not God’s sacrifice for them. This is made especially clear in one of the most difficult statements that Jesus ever uttered.
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matt. 5:44-45)
Like God, we are called to love our enemies.
For every person that honors and glorifies God, how many more blaspheme His name? To be Lord of all creation is to be Lord of the rebels, blasphemers and ungrateful sinners. Yet, God demonstrates love, patience, and grace toward His enemies (John 3:16).
As a pastor, I am obligated to teach and model this kind of love for my congregation (Eph. 5:1–2). Godliness is much more than quiet meditations, private prayers and secluded reading. And leadership is more than being obeyed, receiving honor and making decisions. My leadership is not to be as the Gentile rulers (Matt. 20:25).
I am not called to be a great man; I am called to be a good man. In part that means that I am required to show kindness to my enemies, pray for my persecutors and seek ways to bless those who desire nothing but my harm.
William Gurnall powerfully illustrates the likeness we are to have to our Heavenly Father with these words.
The greatest miracle in the world is God’s patience and bounty to an ungrateful world. If a prince hath an enemy got into one of his towns, he doth not send them in provision but lays close siege to the place, and doth whatever he can to starve them. But the great God, that could wink all His enemies into destruction, bears with them, and is at daily cost to maintain them. Well may He command us to bless them that curse us who Himself does good to the evil and unthankful. (Quoted in A.W. Pink, The Essential Arthur W. Pink Collection, 86)
This does not mean that there is no place for human justice or divine wrath. Gurnall continues to say…
But think not sinners, that you shall escape thus; God’s mill goes slow, but grinds small.
However, we are not faithful to the Scripture or the character of God, if we eliminate love for our enemies from our pursuit of godliness.
Is this what you teach and model for your people? We are not called to be great leaders but we are called to be good ones. Only as we keep these distinctions clear can we be like God without becoming like Satan.