Walking as Children of Light
Walking as Children of Light.
“Once your life was full of sin’s darkness, but now you have the very light of our Lord shining through you because of your union with Him. Your mission is to live as children of light. And the supernatural fruits of His light will be seen in you – goodness, righteousness and truth. Then you will learn to choose what is beautiful to our Lord. Reveal truth to the servants of darkness… for everything that reveals truth is light to the soul. This is why the Scriptures say, “Arise, O sleeper! Wake up! Rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine His light into you and upon you!” (Ephesians 5:8-14).
Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band – This Little Light of Mine (Live In Dublin)
Wake up and see the Light. Ephesians 5:14 is an excerpt from a baptismal hymn in the early church. This brief song is a wake-up call to walk in the light. The song implores some believers to wake up from their spiritual slumber. Wake up, sleepyheads! Rise and shine! Climb out of your coffins, as the Message puts it. Open your eyes in wakefulness and the Lord will shine on you, the Lord will give you light. If you are not baptized, then let’s get it done, and watch Jesus Christ shine his light into you and upon you. Watch your new day dawn on you. If you are baptized, then walk in the light. Bask in it. Live into it. Stay away from the darkness surrounding you.
Love at the Speed of Light. As light-bearers, we are called to walk as Jesus walked, to let our little light shine. But how does our light-walk begin? In some Christian churches, baptism is known as the sacrament of Illumination. It is the time we are brought into the light. Baptism is the time when the new day dawns, the darkness is over, and we start a new life. Baptism is when we put on the ‘armor of light’ (Romans 13:12). When we are baptized, Christ shines His light on us, and we are called to walk in the light. Beginning with our baptism into the Triune God, we are called to be children of the light. The love from God that has been ours since before we were conceived comes to us at the speed of light in baptism. Love at the speed of light. Light moves at 186,000 miles per second. Another way to put it, light travels at 670 million miles an hour, fast enough to go around the earth seven and a half times in one second. At baptism, love speeds towards us in this process of illumination, as fast and sure as God wills to make it. At the speed of light.
Uniting with the Light. We human beings, created in the image of God, have the responsibility to discover what will enable our light to shine in the world. What will turn on God’s light in us, despite the Fall? Simply put, in order to be a child of the light, we need to love the Father of lights (James 1:17). He is the ultimate light of the world, the personal uncreated light. We know from Scripture that God Himself is light (1 John 1:5), that He dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16), that He is the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2), and that He wraps Himself in light as with a robe. (Ps. 104:1). There is no question God is the source, the very presence of ultimate light, now and forever.
“God is pure light. You will never find even a trace of darkness in Him, because no darkness at all can find any place in Him. If we claim that we share life with Him, but keep walking in the realm of darkness, we are fooling ourselves and not living the truth. But if we keep living in the pure light that surrounds Him as Christ is in the light, we share unbroken fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, continually cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7).
What does light do? So how do we flip the switch, how do we become children of the light? Not so we can shine like a light bulb, but so we can do what light does… heal wounds, reveal truth, warm what is cold, sustain life, show the way, dispel darkness, clean out impurities, and clarify one’s vision. Light’s properties are needed in the world, and we need to let our little light shine.
“You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” (1 Thessalonians 5:5).
Walking into the Light. How can we live into the light that Jesus is shining on us, becoming healers, revealers, sustainers, purifiers and dispellers? How can we show the way, for ourselves and others? What do we need to do to show forth our imbedded light that has as its source God’s light, taking seriously Paul’s words in Eph. 5:8: “You are light in the Lord”? Here are three ways to walk as a child of the light:
- Follow Jesus. First and foremost, follow Him who is “light from light, true God from true God.” Unite with “the Son who is the radiance of God’s glory. ( 1:3). Accept Jesus Christ, who said “I am the light of the world. No follower of mine shall ever walk in darkness. No, he shall possess the light of life.” (John 8:12). The more like Jesus we become, transformed through His Spirit, the more like a window we become, transparent, revealing His light in us, uncovering His radiance, His truth, goodness and beauty. Shine the light of Jesus, and we will become the children of the light. “Look to the Lord, and be radiant.” (Ps. 34:5).
- Grow in Goodness. How can we show God’s light? By learning to be good, by reflecting God’s own goodness. “Listen, you lovers of God! Hate evil, for God can keep you from wrong and protect you from the power of wickedness. For he sows seeds of light within his lovers.” ( 97:10-11). Deeds of goodness brings the spotlight to the Giver of light. “So don’t hide your light! Let it shine brightly before others, so that the commendable things you do will shine as light upon them, and then they will give their praise to your Father in heaven.” (Matt.5:16). Let Jesus, your light within you, shine brighter and brighter as you grow in goodness, in purity, in righteousness. And love shines the brightest light. As has been said, Jesus is Love that comes at the speed of light. “The person who continues in the light is the one who loves his brother.” (1 John 2:10).
- Grow in Wisdom. Light and truth were seen as synonymous in the Hebrew mind. Wisdom is walking in the light of truth. Wisdom is living skillfully, with discernment and understanding. Wisdom is learning God’s mind and living in light of that, making decisions in concert with God’s will. The very nature of light is that it is active, it is doing something. Wisdom is essentially truth-in-action. “Wisdom brightens a person’s face, it makes his face shine.” (8:1). The wiser a person, the brighter the light, the more is revealed of God’s light within. In fact, “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” (Dan. 12:3). Walk in wisdom, and let your light shine.
Mavis Staples – This Little Light – YouTube
“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand – shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. In other words, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father and give glory to Him.” (Matthew 5:14-16).
Robert Louis Stevenson is a renowned author who wrote many classics, such as Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and A Child’s Garden of Verses. When he was a child, he loved watching a nightly event through his bedroom window: the neighborhood lamplighter would walk along the street, lighting all the corner street lamps with his pole-torch. One night his parents asked him what he was so interested in outside on the street. And young Stevenson said he was “watching a man make holes in the darkness.” When we shine God’s light, we make holes in the darkness of the world. The darkness can never overcome the light of Jesus, the light of goodness, and the light of wisdom.
John 12 – Children of the Light || Bible in Song || Project of Love
“Do everything readily and cheerfully – no grumbling, no bickering, no second-guessing. Go out into the world pure and innocent, uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society, like shining stars of light in the dark sky. Carry the light-giving Message into the night.” (Philippians 2:14-15).
The Destiny of Children of the Light. Becoming full of light, enlightening the world with God’s light, is a process, in which “the path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” (Prov. 4:18). Our ultimate, completed destiny is to be united with the glory of God’s light, in whom there is no darkness. As believers in the Light of the world, we will be filled with light as God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are filled with light. Our destiny is to be eternally living in the glory of God’s light. Our flame will be touched by the Holy Fire. We will wear light like a robe as we finally live in unapproachable light, no longer seeing through a glass darkly. No longer will we need to put on an armor of light (Ro. 13:12), but instead we will slip into our luxurious garment of divine light. No longer will we depend on the sun, moon and stars for our light, for “the Lord will be our everlasting light, and our God will be our glory.” (Isaiah 60:19). That’s what we can confidently look forward to, the time when we will be filled with light, when “the righteous will shine like the brightness of the sun in the kingdom of the Father.” (Matt. 13:43).
FINAL WORD. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has cascaded His light into us – the brilliant dawning light of the glorious knowledge of God as we gaze into the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6).