People of Light
Light Verses Darkness – Part I
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 5:1-9
Key Verse: Ephesians 5:8
For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So, live as people of live!
Light, in the Bible, usually refers to the clarity that a person has when they allow Jesus Christ to come into their life. When we confess our sins and believe in Jesus, He comes into our lives and brings a new perspective about the fullness of life.
The Apostle Paul put it this way:
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:16-17).
In other words, God knew we could never live right until we could see right, and that would take a Light that only comes from Him!
In today’s Scripture Reading, you read what spiritual darkness looks like in a person: sexual immorality, greed, obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes are the characteristics of darkness in a person if they do not have the Light of Jesus in them. According to Ephesians 5:5, we can be sure that no one who lives in darkness in this world has any part of God’s Kingdom of Light in the next world.
The Bible is about the battle between Light and Darkness. Jesus said that He is the light of the world:
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).
Ephesians 6:12 contrasts the Evil One to this picture:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
This battle is obvious throughout the scriptures, starting with the story of creation and the fall of mankind. When Adam and Eve decided to go against what God had told them to do, they brought the sinful nature into all future generations. Paul wrote:
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all people, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12).
Every person must choose whether they walk in darkness or become a person of Light.
When a person decides to accept Jesus and walk in His Light, they never again see the world as they once did. A born-again person can sin, but they never enjoy it as they once did, like a person of darkness. A person of Light sees the results of their sins and repents quickly, receiving God’s forgiveness.
(Continued)
Father, I choose to join the People of Light and live for You for the rest of my life. Grant me strength to fight any temptation to let darkness come back into my soul. In Jesus’s Name I pray, amen.