Ephesians 5:1-17 From Darkness to Light

Ephesians 5:1-17     From Darkness to Light

• Main Theme.
• Walking in Love.
• According to a survey done by Josh McDowell, the 2 greatest fears people have are not feeling unconditional (Agape) love and not getting unconditional love.
• The first Bishop of Ephesus was Timothy and the second was John the Apostle.   John was the Bishop in his older years and his message to the Ephesian church was repeatedly ‘Little Children, love one another”.  The Elders of the church questioned John on why he kept repeating this.   John’s reply was “It is the LORD’s command, if you do this, this is enough”.
• There are 3 different ways to walk in love.

• Imitating our Father God.

• Love is the very nature and essence of our God.
• The Greek word used by Paul is “Mimetes” which means to mimic.
• Imitation can be the greatest form of flattery.
• God gave his chosen people in the Old Testament the command to “Be Holy because I am Holy”.   God was asking the Israelites to imitate him.
• Emulating our Savior Jesus.
• Jesus is the example of God’s love (the nature of God).
• By looking at the cross we should see that God’s love is unconditional, forgiving, and sacrificial.   (Romans 8:32)
• The world has a view on love, I love you because you are loveable.  This is a conditional love because it is based upon a relationship.
• There is a difference between like and love.  You may not like someone but you can still show love towards them.
• The greatest example of love is forgiveness.   (John 3:16)
• Influencing our brothers and sisters.
• Selfishness will bottleneck love.
• The list given by Paul is a list of a selfish living, which are common of the way we can live because of the desires of the flesh.
• What you say and do reveals who you are.
• Overview.
• As Christians we are role models to the world as we represent the very nature of Christ.   We are to set an example for the world as there are those who become Christian by seeing rather than words.   People can see the life of Christ being lived out through others.
• Christ like examples.
• Parents, Leaders, Role models for our youth.
• Jesus not only sends us out to preach the Gospel message but to follow him as well.   (Matthew 16:24, John 8:12)
• Verse 5:1-2   (Imitators of God).
• We all learn from role models.
• The Artist Vincent van Gough.
• Bellini strongly influenced his pupil Titian, who in turn influenced Peter Paul Rubins, who in turn influenced Delacroix, who later influenced van Gough.
• They each developed a unique and individual approach to art but they also were all influenced by the same model.
• Paul could be a perfect role model for us, with the ultimate role model being Jesus Christ.   Paul asks that we imitate our heavenly Father as a child imitates his parents.  We should likewise pattern our lives after God.
• God is a loving father, not a task master, slave driver, a tyrant, or an unknown in the heavenlies.
• If God shows love, mercy, and grace to sinners, then we should also do the same to others.
• Verse 5:3-7   (A Life of Love).
• The theme of the letter to the Ephesians it that Christ’s death and resurrection enable us to have access to the many riches of the Holy Spirit.   God allows us to enter his treasure house and all the riches we see are ours through Christ.
• The foundation of that treasure is Jesus Christ.   We have become heirs of everything that belongs to Jesus, his grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness.   We are to walk like Jesus Christ and imitate his life.
• Paul is asking for us to display unconditional love.
• Conditional love is based upon a relationship which includes a reciprocating love.
• Unconditional love is placing others before yourself (Agape Love).  It is not a feeling but a choice and a willful decision.  It is focused on giving and not receiving.   It is also self-sacrificing.
• Paul cautions about Satan appearing wherever real love can be found.   Satan only offers a counterfeit love.
• Selfish instead of Selfless, indulgent instead of self-giving, and self-serving instead of self-sanctifying.
• Paul also warns about false teachers entering the scene to deceive the people.   Their message will be full of deception and immorality.  They can come as pastors, religious leaders, authors, and seminar leaders.   
• The reality is God’s wrath is coming against the world and the “Sons of Disobedience”.
• For now God’s grace and forgiveness are extended to everyone to freely accept by repenting and turning to the LORD.  We need to be reminded that God’s justice will be revealed at the end of times.
• Grace is a gift.   Grace is also a responsibility and a privilege.  It is also an obligation.   It is not a license to cover sinning intentionally knowing that your sin will be forgiven.   (Romans 6:1-4)
• To be an imitator of God means we should hate sin as God hates sin,   we need to live and walk in the light of God.  Sinning is an offense to the Holy God.
• Verse 5:8-17   (Darkness or Light).
• Before we accepted Christ we were living in the darkness.  With Christ we are now living in the light.
• Notice how Paul writes “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are the light of the LORD” instead of saying “We are living in the darkness and now we are living in the light”.
• Jesus was the light of the world.  The apostles would be the light of the world after Jesus returned to the Father (Matthew 5:14).
• We do not reflect the light of Jesus but we are the light of Jesus instead.   Darkness hides things while light exposes it.   Light is transparent and authentic where darkness is concealment.
• If you go into a closet and shut the door, the darkness overcomes the light and the light now becomes hidden..  When you open the door the darkness disappears and is overcome by the light.   The light still exists whether the door is closed or open.   The darkness does not overtake the light when the closet door is open.
• Paul mentions that a Christian who is walking as in a “deep sleep” is living his life in the shadows.   He is hiding his actions and true nature of life.   (Psalm 14:1, Proverbs 9:10).
• Wisdom is the application of God’s word to everyday situations.  It is not to be confused with knowledge.
• The amount of knowledge accumulated by mankind from Creation to today.
• Creation to 1845 - about 1” on the scale.
• 1845 to 1945 - about 3” on the scale.
• 1945 to 1975 - about the height of the Washington Monument.
• 1975 to 1995 - about the height of the Empire State Building.
• 1995 to Present - beyond our imagination.
• The growth of wisdom through time has not increased at the same pace as the growth of knowledge.   The question can be asked where knowledge increases wisdom tends to decrease.
• Conclusion.
• We need to read God’s word daily.   We need to be walking in wisdom and seeking the wisdom of our creator.
• As we look at our culture today, we can see that we live in evil days.   Life is uncertain, the economy is unpredictable.   Any unforeseen event could impact our life at any moment.   We need to make the best of our day.
• Start by serving God and others.
• Stop focusing on money and possessions.
• Turn off the television, turn off our computers, and silence our cell phones.
• True joy is found in serving others.   True joy can also be found by telling others of Jesus.