Rise and Shine

Introduction

There are many different animals that use imitation to their benefit, protection, or even to fool their prey. What are some of those animals that you could think of? The one that I find fascinating is the Owl Butterfly. This butterfly actually imitates the look of a large predatory animals eyes when its wings are spread open, which fools it’s predators into thinking they are dealing with a much bigger predator than just a small little butterfly. Imitation is a great tool when imitating the right thing. You could imitate something really strong and powerful or you could be imitating something that’s not intimidating or that could get you killed. We have that challenge right here in Ephesians 5:1-17. Paul lays out for us what we should imitate and what we shouldn’t. He calls us to imitate God and not the world. One brings fruitulness and light and the other brings death. Believers are called to imitate God by walking in love, light, and wisdom.

Walk In Love (v. 1-2)

Love like the Father (v.1)

The Father loves us as beloved children. God adopted us and made us His sons and daughters. God has given us a family called the church. He has given us tasks, talents and purposes as part of this family. That is a huge blessing and a great responsibility as the family of God.

God’s people should be known for acts of mercy, like caring for orphans and widows James 1:27), practicing hospitality towards all (Romans 12:13) , and caring for the poor (Eph. 4:28). We should meet the needs of those within our own churches as well as showing kindness and forgiveness to one another (Eph. 4:32).

Love like the Son (v.2)

The power of love

We see the power of love through the example of Christ in verse 2 and His sacrifice on the cross. The power of love comes through the sacrifice we give in order to show love to others. Christ gave up His life for those who did not love Him first. He initiated the extension of love to us, not the other way around. Christ didn’t call us to love Him before he extended His love for us. IN SPITE OF US He loved us. He extended it to us when we did nothing to deserve it. That’s powerful. Christ’ love is so powerful because it was sacrificial.

Even though we strive to “love like Jesus” we still come up short. We still fail at that every day. So we not only need Jesus’ example to follow but we need His redeeming grace in order to start or continue this example. BE ENCOURAGED BY THE CROSS. You may feel guilty, discouraged, beaten down, self loathing, etc. because you consistently see your short comings when trying to love like Jesus or show compassion like Jesus. And if you do not understand grace you will always feel that guilt and shame when you mess up. BUT when you look to the cross of Christ you see and experience grace, forgiveness, and the refreshing reminder that you are not perfect but you follow the One who is. What a Savior we have in Jesus that He would forgive us in our mess and our mess ups. That’s powerful.

The pattern of love.

How did Jesus love? He didn’t just love with sentimentalism. It wasn’t just feeling sorry for someone. It was sacrifice and action. 1 John 3:18 says “Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action.” Jesus showed his love through legitimate action. Some of the actions would be loving one another, forgiving others, giving financially, spreading the gospel, being patient with others, loving those who might annoy you, repenting of wrongdoings, and aiding those in need. In order to love others better we have to follow the example that Christ laid for us! We love better by loving like Jesus. Paul saw Christ’ example and His sacrificial love for himself and others and it compelled Paul to live a life that glorified God by telling others about Christ’ love and being a blessing to others in doing good to them.

The perfume of love.

Christ’s death was a “sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.” A fragrant offering was the Old Testament description of God’s acceptance of a sacrifice given from a sincere and wholehearted worshiper (Gen 8:21). Here in Ephesians, Christ’s offering of Himself was the ultimate acceptable sacrifice. And it was a great perfume of grace and glory, the most pleasing aroma of sacrifice ever. It covers us and wipes away all impurity when we ask for forgiveness and repent. Our sins may be great but His grace is greater!! You may feel like the most filthy person in the world as Paul felt as he named himself the chief of sinners, but that is no match for Christ’s sacrifice. Regardless of what you have done, today you can repent and be saved. You can repent and be cleaned from those sins. Christ’s sacrifice is bigger than your sin!

Walk in Light (v. 3-14)

Paul states that before Christ “we were darkness” but through the power of the gospel you can be saved and “are light in the Lord.” When you are in Christ your identity has changed. Because you are light, Paul says to “walk as children of light”. So how do we walk in the light? How do we imitate God? Well Paul gives us three things: exalt God and not idols, exhibit the fruit of light, and expose the darkness.

Exalt God, not Idols

Paul mentions a few different sins that describe a dark life: sexual immorality, impurity, greed, and filthy speech. These sins can grow when we replace God with functional saviors. Functional saviors are what we would call idols. They are things that we replace God with. Paul says that these things should not be heard of among you and they are not suitable for a believer. Can a Christian fall into these sins? Absolutely you can, but a true Christian will not persist in them. The Holy Spirit convicts them and brings them to a brokenness that brings about repentance. Paul talks about this with the Corinthian church who struggled with all of these things saying “And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor 6:11) Paul is showing the hope of grace and forgiveness! He says in the beginning of Romans 6 that we should not allow the grace that Christ gave to us to be abused with more sinning but as Christians we know that we are able to repent, turn away from our sin, and be forgiven and healed from those sins that may entangle us.

Do not exalt these things instead of God. Do not replace God with these functional saviors that lead us nowhere good. We are called to imitate God, not the world. And if you are struggling with sin today is the day to repent and turn away from it and ask for forgiveness from the Father who is faithful and Just!

Exhibit the Fruit of Light (v.7-10)

Display light by not joining those in darkness. The light repels darkness it doesn’t become darkness. Paul is warning us not to become partners with those that are in the darkness. But how does that allow us to still be salt in our society? Well Paul encourages and urges us to be light and salt in society and to love and befriend those outside of the faith; however, our mission doesn’t involve participating in sin in order to win someone to Christ.

Display light by living out your identity. In verse 8 Paul says “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” Paul makes it clear that we are not light in and of ourselves but we are light IN THE LORD. He is the light and since we are in Him and He is in us we are light! He then commands us to “walk as children of light.”

Display light by doing all that is good, right, and true. Paul says “For the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.” The fruit of the light is a result of dwelling in God’s light and imitating Him.

Display light by pleasing the Lord. Paul then says “Discerning what is pleasing to the Lord.” As believers we will not please everyone. You may be mocked, made fun of, etc. for following Jesus. Some may think you are old school for believing the Bible. But we must ask ourselves before we do something “What will please the Lord?” and answering that will many times keep us away from falling into sin or partaking in darkness.

Expose the Darkness (5:11-14)

Light exposes the sin of unbelievers. The word expose carries the idea of correcting or convincing. Walking in the light does not mean you avoid contact with people. It means that living a holy life will confront darkness (even in your own life). This passage doesn’t exactly tell us how to do this, but we know that it takes wisdom from God, discernment, gentleness, and courage to know how to confront these things. Light illuminates the darkness, and the life and actions of the believer exposes the works of darkness in the world.

Light transforms unbelievers into the realm of light. Light makes everything clear. Even in our own lives Christ will make clear to us the things that need to be removed that is sinful and a stumbling block in our lives. And our response to those things needs to be humility, repentance, and then walking in love, light, and wisdom. Just like the light changes us and our own sins the light makes clear to unbelievers their own darkness and confronts it through our words, deeds, compassion, gentleness, empathy, and unconditional love, prayers, and care. I love the quote from J.B. Philips that says “It is even possible (after all, it happened to you) for the light to turn the thing it shines upon into light also.” We must bring the light of the gospel that is transformative to everyone!

Walk in Wisdom (v. 15-17)

Paul tells us to walk carefully, to make the most of our time, and to understand the Lord’s will.

Fools live recklessly. They flaunt stupidity and despises wisdom. The wise man though values wisdom and pursues it diligently (Proverbs 2:1-5). How do we become wise? The writer of proverbs tells us to walk with the wise in order to become wise (Prov. 13:20). James says God gives wisdom if you ask for it. And Paul says that in Jesus all the treasures of wisdom are found (Col. 2:3).

Paul reminds the Ephesians that they, as we are now, are living in the last days. So how we live our lives matters. This passage calls us to identify things that waste our time away and to prioritize everything relentlessly. People matter as God seeks to save them through us being ambassadors of light. So, use your time wisely as a young man or woman. Do not waste what God has gifted to you in time, talent, resources that could impact the lives of those around you for the glory of Christ and the salvation of those that are living in the darkness as unbelievers. APPLICATION: Assess what wastes your time and what is a good use of your time in relation to what I just said and focus on those things and cut out those things that are a waste.

Most of the time when people talk about God’s will, we are talking about the major decisions in our lives like career choices, college choices, sport decisions, etc. But I don’t think that is what Paul is talking about here. He is referring to God’s already revealed will, which means understanding the Bible. Sometimes we focus so much on these large specific decisions in our lives and we forget about the basics. We need to understand what God has called every believer to pursue and what He called every believer to avoid.

Conclusion

Are you actively seeking ways to live your life in a way that is pleasing to God?

Are there sins in your life that you need to confess to God and repent of tonight that is preventing you from living as light to others?

Are you seeking wisdom from those you know are wise or are you spoiling wisdom with trivial and foolish things?