Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
Ephesians 5:1
“Be“, also able to be translated as ‘become’. It’s the indication of action. A change from one state to another or the continuance of existence in a state. To whom is the command, ‘BECOME’, addressed? To YOU. To the believers at Ephesus and by conjunction, those other believers in Christ, those who fill the church. To both those in the past and present writes Paul, ‘You become’. This is an imperative sentence. The ‘action’ is meant to come from the reader.
‘Therefore‘ is a recollection back to what had been previously said, specifically, Ephesians 4:32 where Paul states, ‘God in Christ did forgive you: (Young’s Literal Translation)’ therefore . . .
Therefore is the reason for the doing that is being called upon from the reader. What Paul is about to direct the reader to do is justified by ‘God in Christ forgiving the reader.’ That is, God in Christ, dying for the sin of the world that we might be reconciled with Him.
‘Followers‘ or as I prefer to read it, imitators (a more literal reading) – that is what Paul desires the readers to be. It is a calling to imitate. To imitate what? To follow what? The presence of the word ‘imitate/follow’ immediately implies that there is something, someone that is leading, that is the example, the bar, the goal. Who are we to imitate? God. Followers of God. Imitators of God.
In what sense is one to be an imitator of God? As God was in Christ forgiving the sinners, as God so loved the world He gave despite their falling short, so too are those who profess the name of Christ meant to imitate Him.
To all this, we are then given an example, a metaphor if you please: as beloved children.
To this there are some important notes: Jesus said, Except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Mat 18:3). The only way to be in the kingdom of heaven requires something that is found in little children – imitation. Children will imitate their role models – often not always understanding, little or at all, yet they still imitate them, they desire to imitate them. To which one may say, there are times you won’t understand why you should be acting a certain way in a situation, but if you have Christ as your example, then you can imitate Him, regardless.
When one imitates Christ, then he becomes a child of Christ, in that sense, showing the image of one’s father is to show the behavior of the father, that is: to be an imitation of one’s father. (John 8:42-47) The actions one does will reveal which spiritual father one really has – the profession of faith means nothing without the actions to make it reality.
The second note is that these children are beloved. KJV records this word as ‘dear’, but more accurately, it’s ‘beloved’. It denotes the actions of the child that makes them beloved – that is, they are imitating – following – their father. When a child is following their father, obedient, that makes them a beloved child. Likeso, dear Christian, if your father is God, then you ought to be following His example. You need not look up in the heavens to see the invisible God, for the invisible God has been made manifest in the Son – fully man, yet fully God. In the life of Christ, we see God our Father setting the example for us to follow. So speaks Paul then, “Become an imitation of God as He showed us how to live and act in the life of Christ, if you do so, then you will be as beloved children.”
Not much later, in verse 7, will a parallel be given to the ‘beloved children’ with the ‘children of disobedience’ or more literally, the ‘children of disbelief’.
While the ‘children of disobedience’ do not believe God and therefore, do not follow in the footsteps of Christ, ‘beloved children’ believe God and therefore, they act accordingly. This action makes them beloved. Whether God sees you as a beloved or disobedient child has everything to do with YOU. How do you respond to God’s leading?
Therefore become imitators of God, as beloved children.
Modern Literal Version
Talking Bible 
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