Tuesday: “Awake, O Sleeper!”
Read Ephesians 5:11-14. What powerful warning is Paul giving here, and how does this apply to our present situation?
To understand Ephesians 5:11-14, it is helpful to observe that Paul repeatedly offers two exhortations, alternating between them: (1) live a God-honoring lifestyle as “children of light” (Ephesians 5:8; see also Ephesians 5:1-2, Ephesians 5:4, Ephesians 5:9-10, Ephesians 5:11, Ephesians 5:13-14); (2) don’t live a sexually immoral, God-opposing lifestyle, exhibiting the “unfruitful works of darkness” (Ephesians 5:11; see also Ephesians 5:3-8, Ephesians 5:12).
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
We may mine the parallel exhortations in Ephesians 5:8-10 in order to understand Ephesians 5:11. Believers are to live before unbelievers as “light in the Lord” and “children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). The whole point of doing so is to be seen, to make clear that “the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true” (Ephesians 5:9, ESV). Paul, then, is advocating a strategy of showing forth God’s goodness. Believers are to expose the unfruitful works of darkness by exhibiting the righteous alternative for all to see.
Meanwhile, we may take the challenging, poetic language of verses 13-14 as Paul’s daring assertion that believers, by exhibiting “the fruit of the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:9), may win worldlings to faith in Christ. The Spirit is like light and reveals hidden things: “But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light” (Ephesians 5:13-14, ESV). When decadent living is exposed by the light, worldlings may see their behavior for what it is (“it becomes visible”), futureless and wrath-bound (Ephesians 5:5-6), and experience a darkness-to-light transformation (“for anything that becomes visible is light,” ESV), the very transformation that Paul’s Ephesian readers have experienced as believers themselves (Ephesians 5:8).
What are we to make of the poem or hymn in Ephesians 5:14, which uses language associated with the resurrection of the dead at the end of time (compare Ephesians 2:1, Ephesians 2:5) to issue a clarion call to awaken from spiritual slumber and experience the transforming presence of Christ? Since Isaiah 60:1-3, which Paul seems to reflect, is directed to God’s people Israel, we may view the hymn/poem of Ephesians 5:14 as a powerful appeal to Christian believers to awaken to their role as missionaries, refractors of the light of Christ in a darkened world (compare Philippians 2:14-16, Matthew 5:16).
| How do you live the kind of lifestyle that can expose works of darkness for what they are? |
(15)
A LIFESTYLE THAT CAN EXPOSE WORKS OF DARKNESS FOR WHAT THEY ARE
We must remember that our nature is light and not darkness.We must live according to the Scripture as the Word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths.Those who are in darkness are ignorant of God.We are to reach out to them.We are not to conform to the pattern of the world.We are to be in the world but not of the world.By living holy lives,which are rare and strange,we expose darkness.We are to correct those who are doing wrong.We are called as belivers to be witnesses as we live amongst the unbelievers.
The idea that Jesus rose from the dead is sheer nonsense to the secular mind in the twenty-first century. Typically they cite the research of Baigent, Lee, and Lincoln, or more probably the fictionalised "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown to give traction to the idea that Jesus did not really die on the cross, nor was he resurrected. The problem is that we Christians cannot really prove that he did rise to the extent that we can convince others. We put a lot of effort into trying to prove it but proving any resurrection without experimental evidence is an uphill battle.
The way to prove that Christ is risen is to show that he is alive and well in our lives. Don't get me wrong; I believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus, but sometimes in our effort to prove it we ignore the spiritual application. If Jesus is risen in our lives then it will show.
Eph 5:1-20 is essentially a user manual for living "The Risen Saviour". It is about the effect of having Jesus living in us. Shun evil, walk in the light, so that others will be drawn to Jesus.
The Spirit is like a tree that produces fruit such as goodness, righteousness, and truth. Don’t have anything to do with the other kind of fruit associated with darkness. Keep away from those things that are done in darkness but rather show what is right by walking in the light. If you do those you will have something of interest to those who are asleep and will be able to reflect light into dark places.
This is preaching the Gospel.
Light fades darkness away
Can darkness persist when light shows up?
Is it possible
to hide from God's Love?
This Love exchanges
rotten body, mind, and heart
for beauty in character!
What powerful warning is Paul giving in Ephesians 5:11-14, and how does this apply to our present situation ?
Don't live a life in opposition to God, but rather live a life that gives glory to God (Matthew 5:16).
How do you live the kind of lifestyle that can expose works of darkness for what they are ?
Just be loving in all that we do (Matthew 5:44).
“Awake, you who sleep!” – “Arise from the dead”! and Christ will give you Light”! My observation has been that people who still have sincere questions about life, who still try to understand why the world and its inhabitants are in such a terrible state, wondering why bad things happen to ‘good’ people, give evidence that they are in the process of waking up from their spiritual sleep.
When the works of darkness can be seen/acknowledged as unacceptable by those who seek after Truth, as Paul says that: 'that which has become ‘visible’ is light', I hold that this could be considered as the evidence of the Holy Spirit shining its Light into the darkness of their hearts and minds. I believe ‘to awake and arise from the dead’ to take place at that time – Eph.2:1-3.
As matters begin to be 'experienced' as ‘wrong’ by the heart and mind of those yet to come to the full understanding of the Truth, I see this as the working of the Holy Spirit in this person’s life.
We, having already accepted His Word as Truth, are called to minister to them with all carefulness and consideration of their current state as we attempt to help them understand that Jesus Christ provides all answers - He embodies that God’s Truth is contained in His Love for mankind.
Reading today's lesson emphasized to me that it we expose evil by our lives in the light. There are a lot of bad things in the world, but I think as Christians we tend to go after them and show how bad they are. Often this invites criticism or ridicule. However, it seems the better approach is to show we have something better. That starts with living a life of joy in the Lord, which will draw people to what we have.