Children of Light

Have you ever been inside a deep cave? Some of these caves are so secluded from any light source that if they were to lose electricity you would be in absolute darkness. You wouldn’t even be able to see you hand if it was directly in front of your face. Darkness seems to be extremely powerful, however, it only takes one small candle to extinguish the dark.

As we continue our series from Ephesians, we learn that we are to be children of the light.

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light— ⁹ for the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth— ¹⁰ discerning what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8-10)

Once Upon a Time

This passage reads almost like a classic story. Once upon a time you were part of the darkness. You were floundering around through life blind and lost. Everything around you was filled with darkness, deceit, desire, disruption, despair. You could see no hope, no light, no way out.

Then one day, you looked up and saw a small light way off in the distance. It seemed to be beckoning you toward the light. Drawing you away from the dark toward its warmth and safety. Cautioning you and protecting you from the many dangers that surrounded you in the dark, like the sight of a lighthouse that you finally glimpse from the middle of a horrendous stormy sea.

You made a choice to leave the darkness, the only thing you had ever known in life. You chose to walk toward the light. As you got closer and closer you noticed that the darkness was shrinking away from the light. You realized that in order to approach the light, you would have to leave the darkness.

The light continued to glow bright and eventually you made the decision to trust the light and leave the darkness. Now you are no longer part of the darkness, for darkness cannot exist in the light. You have become part of the light and are called to walk as a child of the light rather than the child of the dark that you once were.

Happily Ever After

Most stories that we read as children ended with something along the lines of, “and they lived happily ever after until the ends of their days.” God, the Light of the world, has promised that those who leave the darkness and come into His light will all have a happy ending. Yet the journey to get to our happy ending may be filled with many struggles and difficulties.

Romans 7 talks about a great war that is waged every day. A war between good and evil. A war between Heaven and hell. A war between light and dark. A war that is fought within our very selves as we struggle to live our lives as children of the light rather than reverting to our old nature as children of the dark. The war is one that requires our full attention. A sailor knows that he must keep his eyes focused on the light from the lighthouse in order to find safe passage through the dark waters. Otherwise he may inadvertently wander off course and run into trouble from many unseen things surrounding him and suddenly be dragged down to the depths of the sea. In the same way, we must keep our eyes focused on the Light of Jesus Christ so that we do not stumble, fall, and be dragged down by the dark things of this world.

We are encouraged to continue to stay connected to the Light, because He is our salvation and our hope for an eternity with God. Yes, we will have our happy ending. One day we will all be caught up to heaven to live in mansions that God has prepared for those who have accepted His call to become His adopted sons and daughters. We will live happily ever after.

Fruitful and Multiply

For most of us that will not happen anytime soon. For that reason, we have been called to remain in the Light and become children of the light. That way we can grow as children of the light. No plant can grow without sunlight. God knows that for us to grow, we must be near the Light.

Plants automatically reach upward toward the light because it is the source of their lifeforce. We must learn to do the same with God. Keep our eyes focused on Him and reach toward Him daily. Learning to become more and more like Him.

The closer we become like God, the more we are able to direct others toward Him. Then they too can leave the darkness and enter into the light. We direct others to God by being a reflection of His light and by bearing fruits of the spirit. These fruits are spelled out in more detail in other passages, but here Paul mentions these actions: goodness, righteousness, and truth, so that we can discern what is pleasing to God.

When we become fruitful, we will multiply. What does that mean? It means that we will share Jesus with others and more people will come to know about God’s love. More people will leave the darkness and enter the Light. More people will learn how to grow stronger in the God’s Light. Then they will also bear fruit and draw others to God.

I want to end with this parable, or story about Darkness and Light.

Darkness caressed the world with gentle reassurances. "We are all the same in here," it said. "No one need feel guilt or shame here for we have all done bad things, but the Darkness covers all of that. Come and join us and live as you desire." When Light appeared in the midst of Darkness, those living in the Dark cringed and shied away. The Dark dwellers did not like the light. The Light was seen as an angry blaze that burned past their eyes and into their souls. It was repulsive to them, so they recoiled back into the comfort of the Darkness.

Darkness could not overcome the Light, but Darkness found a way to dim the effects of the Light. Darkness whispered to the Light, "We choose to live in the Darkness and you have no right to cast your Light of righteousness and judgment on us." Those living in the Dark attacked the Light, casting sticks and stones toward the Lights attempting to put them out. At the same time Darkness began to sway some of the Lights. Darkness said, “The world was meant to be Dark and the Light is unnatural and problematic.”

Under the strain of these attacks and the caressing lies of the Darkness, some Lights started to diffuse their Light so that it appeared dim among the Darkness. The more the Light dimmed, the more accepting the Darkness was of them. The dim Lights found ways to live among the Darkness. Rather than shining their Lights upwards or outwards, they discovered that they could shield the Light by hiding it or directing it downwards, and the Darkness grew and swallowed them up.

Darkness enveloped all of the earth except for those few bright spots that Darkness could not put out. There the Lights continued to shine bright, but the vast majority of the world saw them as repugnant. The remaining Lights felt constricted and lonely, yet they continued to serve as a beacon for any who desired to come into the Light. As the years went by, the remaining Lights endured many attacks from the Darkness until one day every Light went out.

Darkness celebrated their victory over the Light. For seven years Darkness reigned. Then one day, everything changed. A LIGHT unlike any the Darkness had ever seen before burst into brilliance before them. The blaze from this LIGHT seared through the Darkness leaving no place to hide. Every nook and every cranny was filled with this dazzling LIGHT and Darkness was cast out of the world.

The Darkness did not end there. All those who had been living in the Darkness suddenly found themselves in another Dark location, but their new dwelling did not have the same comfortable feel as when they walked among the Darkness. Living among this Dark was something that seemed to be beyond Dark. The greater Darkness could only be described as a soul sucking DARKNESS. This new DARKNESS tormented them day and night for all of eternity.

When the LIGHT first appeared, the dimmed Lights that had remained felt shame before the power of the new LIGHT. Their shame fell away as they were absorbed into the brilliance of the LIGHT where they were once again reunited with the Lights that had never faded or been persuaded by the Darkness. These unwavering Lights were decorated with crowns and jewels and surrounded the blazing glory of the LIGHT. In that place the LIGHT never dimmed, and the Darkness never entered in.