Becoming Easter People

Don’t stay in the hopeless dark shadows and death of your old life. Start fresh with the glorious hope of renewal and eternal life of your new life.

Ephesians 5:7-14 - 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Awake, O sleeper,

and arise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.”

Why do we celebrate Easter? For most of the world, Easter is no different from any other holiday, but for Easter people, it is the celebration of the resurrecting power of the triune God who raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 2:24). It is God’s declaration of the glorious hope of renewal, eternal life, and a fresh start. If you are looking for a fresh start and eternal life, then Jesus, who walked out of His tomb on Easter to declare victory over sin, death, and the devil, has the power to change everything in your life, including the trials and challenges you are facing.

The problem is that many of us believe in the resurrection of Jesus, yet we do not let the resurrected Christ resurrect us spiritually; consequently, our lives are shackled by pain, suffering, and the darkness of this world. We need to understand that the resurrection is not just a past event, but it is the present reality that offers unshakable hope to live a different life fit for Easter people.

Ephesians 5:7-14 was written to Christians who were trapped in the darkness, despair, and depravity of the old life without Christ. They believed in the resurrection of Christ, but they didn’t let the resurrected Christ change them. It was a call to let the resurrected Jesus resurrect them from the darkness to live a different life fit for Easter people.

The big idea is, don’t stand in the gloomy, sad, and hopeless dark shadows of your old life; let the resurrected Jesus break off its chilling grip on you so that you may experience renewal, eternal life, and a fresh start fit for Easter people by rising from the dead – spiritually and metaphorically – and embracing the light of Christ crucified, risen, and coming again. Only then do we break the shackles of our old life to claim triumph over darkness, despair, and depravity.

Triumph Over Darkness (Ephesians 7-8a)

Ephesians 5:7 starts with “Therefore.” This “therefore” reminds us again of the context that we have been studying verse by verse for eight months now. The context is that ever since the fall of man, everyone is born spiritually dead in the darkness of sin, but God, in His love, transfers those whom He chose before the foundation of the world to be His adopted children from darkness into light through the redeeming sacrifice of His Son on the cross. Therefore, the ultimate goal is to be transformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).

In this context, verse 7 says, “Therefore do not become partners with them.” The word, “become,” in Greek, ginomai is the idea of becoming or transforming. “Them,” here, is not the world, rather it is people who say they are Christians, but still live in sin and darkness. If you say you are a Christian and rather than becoming more like Christ, if you are becoming more like the world, then your confession of faith means nothing— you are still lost.

The historical context of this text is a theological doctrine called antinomianism. In Greek, “anti” means against, and “nomas” is the law. It was an effort to combat legalism in the church that ended in an unbiblical conclusion.

The early church was made up of Jews and Gentiles. The default position of Jewish Christians was legalism, which is, obeying the law to please God to be Christians.

Antinomians argued against that. They said that because of grace, Christians are not expected to obey the moral law and are free to live the way they want. This led to the abuse of grace and a lack of desire to pursue holiness.

So, people would take Jesus and continue to live in sin and darkness. This is something we see even today. Paul, in Romans 6:1-2, addressed this abuse in these words, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”

Yes, grace means God’s unmerited favor that we cannot earn. Yes, it is true that we are saved by grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, and not by obeying the law or doing good works. However, when we get saved by grace alone, faith alone, and Christ alone, we are expected to obey and do good works by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The gospel, the good news that Jesus died for, is: believe, be saved, and obey, as opposed to believe, obey, and then you are saved (which is what every religion believes). In other words, our works, good or bad, have zero impact on God’s decision to elect us to be saved from death and hell because as in Ephesians 1 that teaches before we were born (before we did any good or bad works), God chose us to be saved through His Son, Jesus.

The darkness that most Christians continue to wrestle with even today is the legalism vs antinomianism. That means, on the one hand, we struggle with sin, legalism, and judgmental attitudes, and on the other hand, we abuse grace to continue to sin. Therefore, Ephesians 5:8 reminds us that Christ brought us from darkness into light, the light of the gospel to transform us into light itself, “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”

That means when we are saved, we become the light itself in the Lord. The gospel changes our disposition, state of being, and composition by giving us a new identity and personhood that has no part in darkness. So we are not to partner (associate ourselves) with darkness in any manner, whether physical, spiritual, or moral. That is a much bigger responsibility than simply following the dos and don’ts of moral law.

Let me illustrate this with marriage vows. When a man says yes to a woman or a woman says yes to a man, they commit to belonging to each other exclusively. If they don’t, that would be cheating, unfaithfulness, and adultery. Similarly, when we say yes to Jesus, we say no to everything He disapproves of. We say yes to being the light in the Lord, being the living gospel. Is there anything in your life that Jesus disapproves of?

Application

To triumph over darkness, you must put an end to any association that pulls you away from light into darkness. That does not mean you need to cut yourself off from the world. No, the Bible does not call for the life of a hermit or monk; rather, we are called to live in this world as a light and beacon of hope for renewal, eternal life, and a fresh start. So, being Easter people means claiming triumph over darkness but also triumph over despair.

Triumph Over Despair (Ephesians 5:8b-9)

The synonyms for despair are anguish and hopelessness. A study, in 2021, said that 51% of young Americans say they feel hopeless. In the last four years, it has not gotten any better. However, to Easter people, Christ’s resurrection is not just a belief, but a living force within, offering unshakeable hope even in the midst of life’s trials.

So, the end of Ephesians 5:8 says, “Walk as children of light” and verse 9 describes what that would look like: “(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true).” The fruit of the light is connected to three divine attributes that man simply cannot bear without being spiritually resurrected. The Greek word for “good” in verse 9, agathos, is an intrinsic good that comes from God. Only God is good, He is the agathos. Man’s good without God is no good.

The Greek word for “right” is dikaiosune, which means righteousness or justice, of which God is the source and author. The Greek word for “truth” is aletheia, the divine truth revealed to man through His Word. It refers to the truth of the Gospel that saves people irrespective of their works and empowers them to bear fruit of light to do good, be righteousness, and stand for truth and justice. When we do that, we become the agents of hope. Our triumph over despair leads others out of hopelessness.

One day, an Afghan Muslim family showed up at the church seeking help. I asked if he had gone to the local mosque for help. The man said only churches are helping. The church is known to bring hope to the hopeless. The resurrected Jesus is the hope for the hopeless.

Application

When we walk in light, the “fruit of light” in verse 9 becomes the tangible expressions of the renewal, eternal life, and a fresh start to defeat despair, that is, anguish and hopelessness in and around us. This takes me to triumph over depravity.

Triumph Over Depravity (Ephesians 5:10-14)

The Bible teaches that ever since the fall of man in Genesis 3:6, our mind, will, emotion, and flesh have been corrupted by sin. This is called total depravity. Through the gospel light in us, Christ is restoring what was broken by original sin. The problem is that even after experiencing salvation, the residuals of the old nature remain in us. So, Ephesians 5:10-14 offer three practical steps that we must take as Easter people to claim triumph over depravity.

First, verse 10 says, “and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.” This discernment comes with experience as we walk in light as light, by studying the Word, and when we let the Holy Spirit take the driver’s seat. Who guides your decision-making?

Second, verses 11-13 says, “11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible.” Even after the dawn of Easter, darkness still exists in the world. As children of light, we are called to expose the “unfruitful works of darkness” – injustice, oppression, and sin – with the light of truth and love. Pay very close attention to the first part of verse 14, which says, “for anything that becomes visible is light.” Empowered by the resurrected hope, we are the agents of change, bringing the light of Christ into the dark corners of our world so that they may know Christ and become the light themselves in the Lord.

Third, verse 14 says, “Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”” While we sleep at the lure of Satan, the world is dying around us without Christ. The command is, just as Christ rose and His light shone, we who are followers of Christ who have been brought from spiritual darkness into the light of Christ through the power of the gospel, we should be the light of Christ.

Recently, I watched a video clip of an evangelist who was confronting people about their sin in the streets. If God has given him the burden to do so who am I to challenge him? But in light of what we just studied, I would say this: Easter people don’t need to confront or judge others, especially those who are not Christians, but reprove sinful actions through living as children of light.

Our practice of faith should provoke jealousy in others so they may want to live for Jesus. Our pursuit of holiness should attract sinners to Christ. Our confidence and joy in the midst of trials should be infectious to others. That is the different life we ought to live as Easter people.

People are not interested in Christianity, not because of Christ, but because of a lack of witnesses of Christ crucified, risen, and coming again.

Application

Easter is the ultimate triumph of light over darkness, despair, and depravity. People don’t just need to hear about it; they need to witness it in our lives. Easter is a call to wake up from spiritual slumber to embrace the new life in Christ, to be the light that does not condemn people living in darkness but guides them to Christ to experience the light.

Imagine that you walked into a dark room full of people who were born and raised in darkness and you have a flashlight. Would you condemn them and do nothing or would you turn the light on?

The message of Easter for Easter people is not to curse the darkness; simply turn the light of Christ on in you. When Jesus walked out of that tomb, He proved what He said to Martha in John 11:25-26, “25 I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” And then He asked her, “Do you believe this?” He is asking the same question to you today, “Do you believe this?” If you do, then walk like the children of light.

Appeal

Don’t stand in the gloomy, sad, and hopeless dark shadows of your old life; break off its chilling grip on you to experience the glorious hope of renewal, eternal life, and a fresh start to claim triumph over darkness, despair, and depravity.

Action Step

Start fresh this Easter. I want to extend to you the invitation to take Jesus’ offer to start fresh, to live a different life fit for Easter people. Jesus, in Revelation1:17b-18, said “17 Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”

Study Questions

In Ephesians 5:7, what is the meaning of: “become,” “partners,” and “them?” What is the meaning of Ephesians 5:7 in context of the daily deliberate design to imitate God in Ephesians 5:1-6?
In Ephesians 5:8, how does the contrast between Christians once being darkness and now being light relate to the command, “walk as children of light?” How is this related to the command in Ephesians 5:1 regarding imitating God?
What do we learn about the “fruit of light” in Ephesians 5:9?
How do we expose the “work of darkness” (Ephesians 5:11)?

Deeper Study Questions

What can you practically do to ensure that you are living as a child of light?
How do you discern what is pleasing to the Lord (Ephesians 5:10)?
What sort of darkness are you struggling with? In what way do you need to wake up from your slumber so that Christ will shine on you?