- Lesson 10 in the Connect360 unit “The Immeasurable Love of Christ” focuses on Ephesians 5:8-14.
Paul contrasted the lives of these Ephesians before they knew Christ with their current lives as people of faith. He wrote, “You were once darkness … you are now light in the Lord.”
Note that he didn’t say they once lived in darkness. He said they “were once darkness.” That’s pretty serious. Darkness wasn’t external but internal. It penetrated their whole lives. But once they found Christ, they became light, and that light began to illuminate their lives all the way to the center.
How does that work? God is light, and as we embrace his dramatic transformation, we will find ourselves shining as lights in a world that loves darkness.
God’s grace ensures you will grow more like Christ over time. If we desire to speak, act and think in such ways that are consistent with our Christian identity, we must talk, behave and think in almost the exact opposite ways of current culture. We are not to participate with those who don’t imitate God. We are children of light, not darkness.
Christians who walk in the light don’t waste time pursuing fruitless darkness. They don’t expend energy doing the kinds of things that displease God and harm their neighbors. Christians don’t do or say the kinds of empty things that cause divisions among people. Verse 13 says the light of their lives should expose sin rather than join sin.
Curiously, if there were no Christians in the world, there would be no need for excuses. Who would notice or care how anyone lived? Who would decide right from wrong? But Christians call attention to sin by the way they live.
Paul commanded believers to walk or live “as children of light.” Just as Jesus is the light of the world, so Christians are to walk as He walked—as lights of the world. In fact, Jesus himself said to His followers, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).
As believers, let us commit to living every day reflecting the light of God that is in us. We walk in light by exhibiting light, exposing darkness, and exhorting unbelievers.
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