Darkness. Light. People are one or the other. We are called to be “light in the Lord”. As we live according to Scripture and the Spirit, we come more and more to reflect the light that Jesus Christ is.
Writing from prison in Rome, Paul reminds the Ephesians in chapters 1-3 of their new identity – who they are – in Christ. In the final chapters here he is telling them how they are to live in view of that knowledge. Their new life of purity and preferring one another is quite a stark contrast with their old way of life without Christ. For them, living in a port city on a main trade route provided the opportunity for all kinds of sinful living, much like our own city. Eph.5:8-11 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
In this passage, Paul uses as his central theme the metaphors of light and darkness. Illustration: Turn off all artificial light leaving only sunlight coming thru the windows and light from the candles. The sun is the source of light, the windows merely transmit the light. The flame is the source of light, the candle is merely the bearer of the light. The light of the sun and the flame pushes back, overcomes or overpowers the darkness. There may still be darkness somewhere, but wherever the sun shines or the flame burns, the light predominates.
The Ephesians, like us, surrounded by a sin-filled culture, and who still struggle with the temptation to sin in this in-between time until Christ comes again, need to be reminded who we were, who we are, and what Christ has done and is doing for us. We need to be reminded again of four things:
The source of the light
The Source of the light…is Christ. We see this in verse 8, 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Here we are called “light in the Lord,” and “children of light,” but that is only because of what Christ, who is the source of light has done for us!
Paul reminds us first that at one time “we were darkness” – dead in sin, enslaved to the passions of our flesh, children of wrath like the rest of mankind, as he wrote earlier in chapter 2.1-3. But God in Christ, who is the source of spiritual light and life, 4 being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ– by grace you have been saved–
Isaiah, hundreds of years earlier, tells us that we are in spiritual darkness and in need of spiritual light which he would send in the Messiah, (Isa. 42:5-7) Thus says God, the LORD, 6 “I am the LORD….I will give you as a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. Christ echoed this message when he said, Jn.8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Since Christ is the source of light, if we are in him by faith, we are “light in the Lord.” We are like John the Baptist who himself was not the source of light, but merely a lamp to hold, carry, and shine forth the light. Jn.1:8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. Jn.1:9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. Jn.1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. Jn. 5:35 He [John] was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.”
We are like John. We are not the source of light, but only “light in the Lord” like lamps shining the light of Christ into the world around us. (Matt. 5:14-15) “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. We are like the windows which transmit the light of the sun. We are like the candles which hold the light of the flame; we are like the moon which reflects the light of the sun.
Not only are we “light in the Lord” here we are called “children of light.” We were spiritually dead, but by the new birth have become children of God. As John 1 says, (Jn. 1:9) The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world… to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. Joh 12:36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.
Since we were walking – living – in darkness, but by God’s grace, Christ has shone his light on us causing us to become children of light by the new birth, therefore, Paul commands – here is his first command in this passage – walk – or live as children of light. Live up to your new calling!
Fears and hopes
If you’re like me, I’m afraid that I can’t live as a child of the light, that I will fail in doing so. I hope I can leave my life of darkness in sin and evil behind and live a life that exemplifies my new life in the kingdom of light and my new paternity as a son of the light in such a dark world and because there is still so much darkness in me. It comforts and encourages me to know that Christ is the source of light and new life within me. We can’t be the kind of light Christ calls us to be in our own strength. Christ must do it in us.