CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT
With “Thanksgiving”, we know that every Christian is blessed –
1. Salvation and forgiveness
2. Deliverance from the darkness of sin and disbelief
3. Given hope for tomorrow and an eternity with the Lord
4. Strength for living each new day
The Bible tells us that we haven’t always had it that good.
1. We used to live in darkness
2. We didn’t really know how our sins were destroying us
3. We weren’t sure about where we spend eternity…heaven or hell?
4. We totally relied upon our own stamina and determination to get us through this life
Most of us know that living the way we used to live was not good. And yet, sometimes, we find ourselves living like we used to live. We didn’t intend it to be that way, again.
That is what is called “backsliding”. We slide back into our old habits, old conversations, old way of thinking, old friends, old hangouts, and our “old man”.
What we thought was harmless (at the time) we realized was threatening our relationship with Christ.
Text: Ephesians 5:8 – 14
Let’s consider what we know before we learn something we didn’t know.
We know –
1. Where we have come from
2. Where we are (or, are not) with Jesus Christ
3. Our salvation was and is (without a doubt) the greatest influence on our lives
Here’s what we might not be sure of –
1. What are we doing about this change that Christ has brought to our lives?
2. Are we really accountable to the Lord with how He has saved us?
The fact is this - Until you get to heaven, you will never fully understand and comprehend what Jesus did for you by saving your soul.
I am not sure that any of us can really see the condition of our soul before Christ saved us. Only the Lord knows.
When we look in our mirror, at home, all we see is this outer shell of a person. We cannot see our heart and soul for what we are.
Before we got saved, we could not see the sin that was within. Until we got saved, we only saw a person that was doing everything they thought they should to do what was right.
A good father, mother, boy, girl, etc.
But the Truth is found in verse 8.
“You were once in darkness…”
Did you know that?
Don’t answer yes unless you mean it.
You see knowing this Truth will
1. Enable you to be humble before God
2. Make you reliant on Him to never let you wonder off (“backslide”) back to where you came from.
3. Cause you to be more thankful to the Lord.
4. Cause you to “Live as Children of the Light”
Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus and wanting them to walk out their relationship with the Lord, and to be CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT.
Ideally, having Jesus as our Light has made things much more obvious.
As an example - Jesus has become our flashlight while walking down a long-lonely and dark road.
We’ve all been down that road.
With Jesus illuminating our road we can easily see all of the road hazards:
· Pot Holes – that can cause us to stumble and fall.
· Road Signs – that let us know where to turn and where not to turn next.
Christ is deeply concerned with our walk with Him. He wants us to stay on track with where He is taking us.
The Christians "walk" or lifestyle is described in chapters 4 and 5.
The Christian is to walk -
1. In unity and in community with his fellow saints.
2. In a way that is dramatically different from his walk as an unbeliever (4:17-32).
3. "walk in love" (5:1-6).
4. And now, Paul speaks of the Christian’s lifestyle, as we "walk as children of light".
We are to walk in such a way that is consistent with our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
We are to live as those who are "children of light."
Many Bible Scholars agree that, in our text, Paul was referring to Isaiah 60.
We see that text in our Responsive Reading (in our bulletin).
But actually, the connection goes back further than the Prophet, Isaiah.
The first creative act of God recorded in Genesis chapter 1 is the creation of light:
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness
In the book of Psalms, light and darkness are used symbolically. Light becomes the symbol for salvation (27:1), life (36:9; 49:19; 56:13), righteousness (37:6), truth (43:3), the Word of God (119:105, 130), and God’s splendor and presence (104:2; 44:3; 89:15; 90:8).
Whereas, darkness symbolizes ignorance (82:5).
In Isaiah, however, the symbolism of light and darkness becomes more prominent to us. As well, other prophets join in with Isaiah:
Daniel, Micah and Amos…
But no one made the connection of God’s Goodness and His Light until Jesus came to the world.
It stayed this way until the final hour of Jesus Earthly life.
That is when our Lord died for sinners on the cross of Calvary. Darkness supernaturally fell upon the earth for three hours. Here, I believe this “darkness” represented the divine wrath of sin which God poured out upon Jesus as our substitute.
What does all of this mean to us?
Light produces certain fruit. The fruit of the light, Paul tells us, is goodness, righteousness, and truth. What this means is we are to genuinely desire to do what is right in order to please the Lord Who has delivered us from darkness into light.
We should know that learning to walk, as CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT, is an on-going process, and sometimes is difficult for some of us.
Another simple comparison would be marriage. When we marry, we make vows and commitments to our mate. We are obligated to keep our vows. But there is also a process of –
1. Getting to know our mate (cp. 1 Peter 3:7).
2. Learning how to please them (cp. 1 Corinthians 7:33-34).
This is not automatically going to happen in any marriage. These things take time and effort from the husband and the wife. The marriage relationship is never complete until these two things happen.
The same goes for our walk with the Lord. We will find that to be CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT will take time, effort and discipline on our part.
Specifically – How can we do that?
In Ephesians 5:7, Paul urges the saints to not become partakers with those who are godless.
How do we decide who is godless?
Light reveals that which darkness conceals. Darkness conceals sin and even promotes it. Light exposes the sin in any situation.
Verse 11 says that we are not to participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness. We do have to protect the righteousness and holiness that Christ has given us.
Where do we draw the line with our friends/relatives who are lost?
The Corinthian church had a good answer for this in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13.
God is serious when it comes to excusing willful sin within the fellowship. Is He not? We must be careful whom we take up company with, especially those who claim to be Christians but do not walk in the Light.
As well, we are not to shun the unbelievers. They need the Light!
But we are to avoid close fellowship with the “backslider”, especially if they are doing anything that you know is displeasing to God.
As Christians, we are not to fellowship with those who profess to trust in Christ, but are purposely living in sin and dishonoring God.
In our day, permissive sin is becoming more acceptable with church leaders everywhere. My concern is that many churches today, which proclaim to be evangelical, are not “living in the light”. It is becoming more apparent that some churches are trying to win the lost by “turning the lights down low.”
Some Christians are saying,
“We need to make the unbeliever comfortable with Christianity if we are to attract them to our church.”
I’m not so sure that is a good idea.
It is the Holy Spirit Who will convict people of their sin. And, unless they repent and get saved, there won’t be anything comfortable for them.
Jesus did not come to minister to the healthy, but to those who are sick. He did not come to speak to those who were comfortable, but rather to those who mourned and were broken-hearted.
He spoke words of comfort, healing, and salvation to the hurting, and He spoke words of rebuke and warning to those who were comfortable & complacent.
Why should we do anything less?
The cause of Christ is not to ignore sin, but to expose it. This is done when we are living righteously, as CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT.
To walk as CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT is the ultimate calling of any Christian. We do this when we obey and please God.
This is how we can glorify God and proclaim the gospel.
Only those who are in Christ can be CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT.
This makes me want to ask you a simple question:
“Have you seen the light?”
These are dark days. Come to the light. Trust in Him who suffered and died for your sins, and whose righteousness can be yours by faith.
