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• In the beginning of Ephesians 5 Paul is giving the sort of straight-up ethical counsel we are familiar with: “ sexual immorality must not even be named among you” and “ let there be no… foolish talk or crude joking.” He outlines parallel but opposing characters, distinguishing between those who have an inheritance in Christ and “the sons of disobedience.”
• And then in verse 8 he shifts and begins to speak in emblems — pictures that represent what he means. Like John, he uses darkness and light. But instead of saying we were once IN the darkness, he says we once WERE darkness, but we ARE light: “ now light in the Lord” (v.8). And he goes on, describing the secrecy of sin and darkness, a realm of sleep and death, as opposed to a world of fruitfulness, life and light, where we are “ filled with the Spirit” and “ give thanks always and for everything.”
• It seems to me many Christians imagine a third category that is neither dark nor light, a grey twilight, the shadowlands. They see themselves in a kind of netherworld between the sons of God and the sons of disobedience. For whatever reason, they do not fully embrace that they are light, “ the light of the world” as Jesus says. So rather than knowing themselves to be ministers of the Gospel and emissaries of the kingdom of God, they are more like refugees in a conflict, drifting down desolate roads, poor and homeless with an uncertain future, spiritually idle, hoping nothing worse will happen.
• You must be what you are. If you are in Christ, then you are a new creation in Christ, sons and daughters of the one eternal God, living in anticipation of full inheritance. As Pascal said, God has granted you the “ dignity of causality.” You are a genuine ambassador, an authorized representative of the kingdom and Lord that you serve. Your fate is now tied to His — a truth for which we are endlessly grateful. It is time to “ lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees.” You are not a victim; you are light, the light of the world. By virtue of His indwelling Spirit, you are the one who banishes darkness. Go. We must do the work of the One who sent us while it is day.