I want you to close your eyes. Keep them closed. If they are closed, then you shouldn’t be reading this. Ok, now open your eyes. What did you see when your eyes were closed? Well, if you weren’t peeking like I’m sure that you were (how else would you have made it this far?), then you saw darkness. That’s a strange phrase, isn’t it? To see darkness is to see the absence of light or, as in most cases, the partial absence of light. Now, imagine that you are in a deep dark cave in the heart of the earth. There is no light. There is no tour guide. There are no exit signs. There are no lanterns, flashlights, or glow sticks. There is only darkness. Quickly, as it would for all of us, you panic. You begin to grope around feeling the walls as you aimlessly wander for the exit that you aren’t sure even exists. The more you try to escape the darker it seems to get. The darkness is thick, and your hope has vanished. Suddenly, you see a gleam of light. Is this your imagination? No. You continue now toward that light, though faint, yet it radiates hope back into your heart. As you get closer it seems to grow brighter until finally there you are. You joyfully breach the exit and step into the warm radiating sunlight. You are alive. You can see. You are free from the darkness that held you captive. However, some time passes. You begin to remember the cave that you were once in, and you start to think that the sun may be too bright as you look down and see your dirt covered body. You didn’t see the dirt that caked your body or the cuts on your arms and legs while you were in the cave. The darkness covered it, but the light shows you the reality of what that cave did to you. To feel better about yourself, you willfully crawl back into the hole that you desperately had searched for to escape. Back into the darkness you go.
Our salvation is much like bursting forth from the darkness. We are in an instant, delivered from the dark damp hold of death that entrapped us. We bask in the light of Christ by grace through faith. We have a new life. We have hope restored. Life is brand new. Then, as we continue on somehow, someway, sin finds us. We go back to the darkness that we’ve been delivered from. Those who are in Christ no longer belong to the darkness nor do we need to go back to its domain. Christ has set us free. God wants us to live in the light because we have been delivered from darkness to live in, and for the glorious light of Christ. 2 Cor. 4:6 says, “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Your new life in Christ is from the light of Christ. It is the glory of His person and work for you so that you may be saved, sanctified, and one day glorified by grace through faith. Jesus not only gives light, but He is the Light. John 1:1-12 declares all life and light to flow from Jesus Christ, the True Light of the World. Jesus declares Himself to be the Light of the world in John 8:12 which says, “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.” There is no life apart from light. Nothing grows in darkness. Jesus as the light of the world has delivered us from darkness and this new relationship demands our response of walking in the light of Christ. All who are in Christ are now children of the light as this passage will command us to live. Jesus says in John 12:35-36, “Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.” Then in John 12:46 Jesus says, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.” The believer is not to abide in the darkness that we once lived in, but instead to abide in Christ (John 15) who Himself is light and the light in us.
Today, we will be continuing our study of Ephesians by looking at the command for the believer to be living in the light because we are “children of light.” Because of our wealth in Christ, we should walk according to the reality of our new identity of being in Him. God wants us to become who we became and to not go back to our old way of living. When God saves someone, He not only gives new life, but that new life is completely in Christ. All that we are and all that we do is found in Him. Eph. 1-3 tells us who we are and what we have in Christ. This is our wealth in Christ. Eph. 4-6 tells us how we are to live life in Christ. This is our walk. Our walk is to match our wealth and our wealth in Christ is the motivation of our walk. Because I am in Christ, I want all of my life to be in Him and for Him. We must learn who we are in Christ in order to live who we are in Christ. Once we establish deep within our hearts our belief and belonging in Him, then our behavior can match who we truly are in Christ. In Eph. 5:8-14 we will see the contrast of our walk in V.8 and the conduct of our walk in V.9-14.
Eph. 5:8-14 says,
“8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”
Let’s look at the contrast of our walk in Eph. 5:8 that says, “8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:” Paul opens up this next section of exhortation for our walk which he began in Eph. 4:1 by showing us the stark contrast between who we were and who we are. If we don’t know the contrast between who we were and are, then we are going to struggle in having a “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Eph.4:1). Everything in life is much more black and white than we think. Much of life comes down to the simplicity that either it is good or evil, right or wrong, light or dark. G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “The issue is now clear. It is between light and darkness and everyone must choose his side.” You are either still in darkness without Christ still in your Adamic nature or you have been redeemed into the kingdom of light in Christ and may now put on the new man as Eph. 4:20-24 describes. To properly understand what it means to live in the light we must look at the contrast between darkness and light.
The contrast of our walk begins by looking at what it means to walk in darkness. Paul opens up this verse with the phrase, “For ye were sometimes darkness.” Remember, this letter is to and for believers. We must see who we were to appreciate our wealth in Christ and appropriate in our daily walk. Notice that Paul doesn’t say that we were merely in darkness or did the deeds of darkness. He says, “ye were sometimes darkness.” This shows the severity of sin and sin’s punishment. Further, it shows that when we were in Adam and not yet in Christ, we ourselves were darkness. Darkness is characterized by two key things.
One, darkness is characterized by ignorance. In the Bible and in life we use darkness to represent ignorance. We use idioms (a phrase or expression that has a figurative meaning that is different from the literal meaning of the words it contains) like, “I’ve been left in the dark.” When we use this idiom, it is to express that we’ve been left unaware or uninformed about something. For example, a mother may receive a call from her child’s teacher who is concerned with their child’s grades and the mother may say, “I’ve been left in the dark. I didn’t know their grades were so bad.” Throughout the Bible we see darkness characterized by ignorance of a lack of knowledge, enlightenment or revelation. Paul talked about this privilege that the Jew had for so long but neglected and that now under the New Covenant in Christ the gentiles who were once “left in the dark” are now included in God’s plan, purpose, and people (the Church) as seen in Eph. 3:1-7. Eph. 4:17-19 describes the ignorance of those in darkness saying, “17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” Romans 1:18-32 also shows the significance of the ignorance of those who are in darkness. They are in darkness due to their ignorance of God, meaning both their ignoring God and being ignorant of Him. As individuals continually neglect the light of God their foolish hearts become darkened, yet we find throughout the Bible that ignorance is no excuse to stay in the darkness. As Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:18-21, “18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” Adoniram Judson, the Baptist pioneer missionary said, “If God gave light and wisdom, the religion of Jesus was soon learned; but without God a man might study all his life long and make no proficiency.” What everyone needs to truly know Christ is the light of Christ to shine through the word of God by the power of His Holy Spirit doing an illuminating work through the sufficient Word of God.
Two, darkness is characterized by immorality. This is probably the first thing that you thought about when you read the phrase “ye were sometimes darkness.” The two go hand in hand. The more that we are ignorant of God (once again through ignoring Him and remaining ignorant of Him) the more immorality overtakes one’s life. Look at the world around us. We are living in a dark world, in dark days, surrounded by dark hearted people without the light of Christ. We are living in a day where there is more information available than ever before, yet there is more ignorance of God and immorality than ever before. We must understand that what we believe will show up in our behavior. The reason that Paul shows this contrast is to remind the believers that they are no longer to be ignorant because the light of Christ has changed them, opened their eyes, and filled their hearts. He is showing that they are no longer to be identified by immorality because now they have been set free from its grip. Ignorance breeds idolatry (the worship of false gods or the false worship of the True God) which then gives birth to immorality. Immorality is the offspring of rebellious idolatry and ignorance of God. Notice Eph. 2:1-3 12; 4:22 that show us our former life that was only in darkness, both in ignorance of God and immorality against God. Praise the Lord that we have been delivered. Eph. 5:11 shows that the deeds of darkness were unrighteous and unfruitful. To live our life in the light we must be reminded of the terrible darkness that we’ve been saved from.
The continued contrast now turns from what life was like when we “were sometimes darkness,” and gives way to life now that we are “light in the Lord.” All life and light come from God Himself, provided in the person and work of Jesus Christ, and revealed by the Holy Spirit. By way of the new birth, we are united to Christ and His Church. This means we are united to the most pure and powerful light that there is, and that is Christ Himself. We know that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and now walk daily in communion in the light of Christ. The moment we believed we received the light of Christ and now belong to Christ, the Light of the world. Our new belonging to Christ the Light now motivates and moves our behavior to coincide with the new reality of our wealth and walk in Christ. For more on this, go and read 1 John 1 to see what living in the light looks like. The reality is that we’ve been delivered by the light to walk in the light of Christ. Light in the scripture pictures enlightenment, illumination, truth and knowledge through the revelation of God. Darkness is the opposite of light (specifically its absence). Furthermore, light in the Bible also gives the picture of holiness, purity, order, or righteousness. Light is characterized by these two things. Let’s look at the details.
One, light is characterized by the truth of the mind. It is not merely intellectualism, but the divine illumination of the knowledge of God through the light of God to our minds and hearts. This is a matter of our will (thoughts, feelings, and choices). God doesn’t want us to be ignorant or live in ignorance. Jesus is not just light, but He is the “way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). All truth is in Christ. Paul has addressed this already in Eph. 1:17-19; 3:16-19; 4:12-24. We can’t learn to live in the light until we learn from the light of God’s Word (Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path – Psalm 119:105). As we learn of our wealth in Christ (Eph. 1-3) then we can live accordingly as we walk in His love and light (Eph. 4-6). We only walk in the light as we surrender to the scriptures and leading of the Spirit. Our walking in the light hinges on truth because as we know, the darkness itself is falsehood and a counterfeit truth. Truth is found in Christ alone (Eph. 4:20). Two, light is characterized by the transformation of our morals. As we have stated already, our belonging determines and directs our behavior. When I belonged to darkness then my behavior was dark by virtue of my past position. Now that I belong to light then my behavior must match my position of being and walking in the light of Christ. All morality begins in the mind. We’ve been made a new man that we must choose to live in by putting off the old moment-by-moment. We’ve been given a new mind, new morals, new motivation, new mission, and new ministry. All of these things are found in Christ and experienced in the Church. Notice the following passages that show the contrast of our morals. Read Eph. 2:8-10; 4:1-3, 22-32; 5:1-7. We have been saved sealed, sanctified, and set apart for the truth of the light of Christ to transform us entirely from the inside out so that others would come to the light of Christ. This is God’s plan, purpose, and power in the Church and each individual believer. Rom. 12:1-2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” To put the contrast of our walk simply, you are light in Christ so live as children of the light. Become who you became. Walk in your wealth. Don’t go back and walk in the darkness that you’ve been delivered from. You have experienced the light of Christ to enjoy and express the light of Christ in your daily walk. Just as we are to be “followers of God as dear children; and walk in love”, we too are to “walk as children of light” because this is who we are.
Grow with me as we study the believer’s wealth and walk in Christ.
Grow deeper.
Grow higher.
Grow wider.
Grow With Pastor Joe 
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