Ephesians 5:7-10

Day 46

“Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:7-10

Light and the Glory of the God of Truth and Righteousness
Genesis opens with this great theological statement, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  In the next verse, Genesis 1:2, darkness envelops the creation providing a cosmic showdown between the Creator and the dark.  God intrudes on this malady with the first spoken words in the Bible, “Let there be light.”  However, God does not eliminate darkness.  Instead He separates light from darkness.  The darkness remains.  Its reality dictates much of our lives even today.  Street lights, headlights, reading lights, stadium lights, florescent lights, flashlights, porch lights and on and on it goes.  Why does God allow this thing to remain?  That’s an odd question.  Darkness is not really a thing.  Light possesses the attributes of both particles and waves.  Light is.  Light does.  Darkness really describes the absence of light.  Even at night, when it is dark, in reality it is just not as light as it is during the day.  At night, there is some light, just not enough to function without assistance.  If we are in a place of utter darkness, then there is absolutely no light.  Why does God create light and why does He leave the darkness in the creation?

All of creation exists to reflect the glory of God.  The glory of God is the coalescence of all the attributes of God.  Glory functions as a comprehensive term to describe all that God is and all that He does.  The creation becomes the kaleidoscope through which God displays His individual attributes – a prism by which we can distinguish specific traits of the One who made us.  If so, what does the existence of light tell us about God’s character?  I John 1:5 says, “God is light; In Him there is no darkness.”  Scripture contains other attributive statements like this.  From John 4:24, “God is spirit.”  I John 4:8 states that, “God is love.”  From Psalm 34:8, “God is good.”  In Deuteronomy 4:31, “God is compassionate.”  II Chronicles 30:9 states that, “God is gracious.”  From Psalm 93:4, “God is mighty.” “God is” also righteous, true, faithful, and holy.  (Daniel 9:14, John 3:33, I Corinthians 1:9, Psalm 77:13)  These are communicative attributes, attributes disclosed by God through His creation and through His acts in human history.  As with these other statements, “God is light” communicates something about Him.

Throughout Scripture, light depicts two fundamental themes: truth and righteousness.  God is light because everything He says is true.  God is light because everything He does is right.  With respect to humanity these two themes work as follows.  First, for us light means possessing and living out the truth.  Darkness indicates living or believing a lie.  Second, light marks moral goodness while darkness illustrates moral evil.  In the case of truth, Isaiah 9:2 prophesies that when Christ comes “the people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.”  Matthew 4:16 quotes this verse in reference to Christ.  This prophecy predicts the teaching ministry of Christ in regions beyond Judea.  Jesus says it this way, in John 12:46“I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”  In the prologue to the Gospel of John, John describes Jesus as “the true Light which…enlightens every man.”  Christ, as the Light, enlightens or brings truth to every person.  Light describes the mind clearing work done by Christ when He comes into the world.  The world is in darkness because it lacks truth.  Christ intrudes on this darkness through His incarnation and ministry.  

Moving from believing what is true to the arena of light and darkness as symbols of right and wrong, Isaiah gave a serious caution to “those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness.”  (Isaiah 5:20)  John’s Gospel says, “This is judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)  We love darkness.  We are darkness lovers by nature because we love sin by nature.  Darkness equates to moral deeds of evil.  However, because of our God given conscience we wish to hide the evil we love.  The Bible describes this as “deeds of darkness.”  We by nature are in darkness and God is by nature in the Light.  We are unrighteous.  God is righteous.  We love evil.  God loves the good.  This is why we choose to remain in the darkness.  We cannot bear to come into the light.  Just like when we wake our kids in the morning, when we turn on the light they scowl.  It is painful to wake up that way.  They are enjoying their darkness and their slumber.  The light comes and they pull the sheet over their heads to cover their eyes.  “Please dada, turn off the light.”  This is the picture of humanity with relation to God.  We don’t want the light to come.  We are enjoying our darkness.

This creates a barrier for individuals to come to Christ.  We do not want God to interrupt our slumber in the darkness.  However, deep down, we know that danger lurks in the darkness.  There is spiritual death where there is no light.  Intuitively we know we need to be rescued.  When we are saved, God rescues “us from the domain darkness.”  (Colossians 1:13)  He takes darkness loving individuals and changes the disposition of our hearts.  We loved darkness and now we love Jesus Christ, the Light of the world.  Just as God overwhelms the dominance of darkness in the creation, He suddenly overwhelms the darkness of sin in the hearts of hell bound rebels.  We receive a transfer.  Our environment changes from the cold, darkened world of human depravity to the warm, lit world of grace.

The change should be dramatic.  Like the difference experienced by someone first waking up in the morning on a sunny day.  The sleeper is shocked by the light.  Now that we are awake, the darkness should be the shocking reality, not the light.  Now that we have seen the light, we should be repelled by the darkness.  The one already awake is just as shocked by sudden darkness as the one sleeping is shocked by the overhead light.  After God saves us, we are to be different.  Believers are to live differently.  Romans 13:12 says, “Let us lay aside the deeds of darkness.”  Just as here in Ephesians, Paul used this concept from the fashion world in Romans too.  The analogy in this verse presents us with a fashion statement.  If my wife tells me that my jacket does not match my pants, I lay aside the jacket and pick up a new jacket that hopefully matches.  It is the same when we become Christians.  We set aside the old way of doing things.  We lay aside the old ways of thinking, speaking and acting.  We put on new garments, garments that reflect the thinking, speaking and acting of those now awake. 

Paul told the church at Ephesus to no longer participate in the deeds of darkness.  We now belong to Christ.  Jesus Christ is the light of the world.  Believers in Jesus Christ have been adopted into God’s family.  As such we are now children of light.  Transformation must mark the believer.  We can no longer do what the fallen world does.  In I John, the apostle affirms the significance of moral purity when we encounter God.  In order for us to be close to God we must imitate God in this attribute of light.  We must maintain a holy, pure, and righteous life in order to have an healthy, meaningful relationship with God.  This is what John says in I John 1:6-7, “God is light… If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth, but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”  Notice in the depiction of both light as truth and righteousness, and darkness as lies and unrighteousness.  If we walk in darkness (commit deeds of unrighteousness), we lie and do not practice truth.  Living a life of sin is to live a life of deceit.  Living a life of righteousness is to live a life of truthfulness.  Here is truth.  We cannot claim to have a closeness of relationship with God and carry out the evil that once controlled our lives. 

Children of Light produce fruit.  In other words, there are behaviors and thinking that distinguish the believer from their prior life.  The fruit consists of goodness, righteousness, and truth.  The increase in godly fruit comes through a process of pursuing the things that please God.  This takes time.  Becoming a Christian happens in an instant, in a moment of faith in Christ, we become children of God.  The growth and maturity as a Christian happens over time.  Paul used the developmental phrase of “trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”  Believers pursue theological and moral understanding.  We learn and then apply our knowledge in order to bear fruit.  It takes a lifetime of humble study followed by consistent application

Suggested Prayer:  Help me to walk in light and not darkness.  Teach me Your ways.  Direct my paths.  Bear the fruit of righteousness and goodness and truth in me, all of this for Your glory and honor.  Amen.  

Ephesians