Alive in the Light of Christ

December 23, 2012 Background Scripture: John 1:1 – 14; Ephesians 4:17 – 5:14 Lesson Passage: John 1:1 – 5, 14; Ephesians 5:1, 2, 6 – 14 The Apostle John, whose gospel account is sometimes referred to as the Gospel of Light, presents Jesus as God and creator of everything. The opening chapter sets the stage for a very different exhortation than the synoptic gospel accounts. The presentation begins before the creation of time when there was only God in His triune nature. All things were made by Christ whether in heaven or on earth. All life begins in Him and is sustained by Him. The life that existed within the essence of God is the illumination or light that all who are born into the world receive. The Christ is the source of all life. Man was created in God’s image and after God’s likeness. God blew the breath of life into man and man became a living soul. The spiritual life of man was tarnished by man’s sin and man died to God spiritually although God allowed him to continue to live physically for a limited time. God’s plan of salvation for man included the incarnation of the Christ. The mystery of the incarnation is that Christ, who is spirit and the sustainer of life, became flesh and was born into the world he created. His birth as a human did not diminish his nature of being God. Neither did he allow his nature as God to diminish his humanity. He was fully God and fully man. This he did so that he could save man from his sins. As sin had caused man to die to God spiritually, the light of Christ would allow man to die to sin and again be alive to God. This recreated man is a result of the new birth in Christ. It is to this point that the Apostle Paul urges the Christians at Ephesus to live according to their new reality in Christ. The new birth makes the light of Christ to shine in the heart of man. No longer are understandings darkened to the truth by sin but the light has made all things known. Knowing this, Christians are admonished to renew their minds based on this new reality. A renewed mind should be confirmed through righteous living according to the holy standards of God. The old way of life prior to the new birth was dictated by the presence and control of sin over the lives of the unbelievers or lost. Sinful actions and communications were evidence of sin’s rule over the unbeliever. Saved individuals have the option of doing right with the help of Christ. Lack of understanding and hence lack of conformity to God’s standards is indicative of a person walking in darkness. The lost have no choice because there is no light in them. The saved have been given the light as a guide so that they need not walk in darkness. The saved are children of light; and when we walk in the light, we demonstrate what is acceptable and pleasing to God. Walking in darkness was the only way of life we knew prior to the new birth. The light came with the new birth and it illuminates the truth. There is nothing we have done or could ever do to deserve the light that has brought us understanding of holy things. We accepted Jesus’ sacrificial death as the payment for our sins and we were born of God because of our faith. All who do this, although they were once dead in sins and walking in darkness, will be made alive and are encouraged to walk in the light of Christ. Robert C. Hudson December 17, 2012