A Radical Transformation
The city of Detroit has undergone a major transformation that some have called “the big comeback” or a “rebirth”. Just a few years ago, the Motor City filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, saddled with more than $18 billion in debt. Buildings like the once-grand neoclassical Michigan Central Station—a building that symbolized Detroit’s significance—had been abandoned and littered with graffiti, symbolizing the decline of the city. But recently, Ford Motor Company purchased the building and announced plans to restore it to its former beauty and make it the centre of a new high tech hub. Suddenly, this symbol of despair and decay will soon become a symbol of renewal and hope. It will become a beacon of light.
In Ephesians 5, Paul describes the most dramatic transformation that can ever occur – the transformation that Jesus Christ brings to the life of the believer. Verse 8 states: “…at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” It’s easy to misread this statement and so to diminish what it affirms. Some might read it as meaning that we once lived in darkness, but now live in the light. Others might read it as implying that we were once filled with darkness and are now filled with light. But the text actually says that we were once darkness, but now we are light. Apart from Jesus, we were not simply a people affected by the darkness of the world, but a people consisting of darkness. That is Paul’s sobering assessment of the life that is cut off from God.
But, for the Christian, things have radically changed. Those who were once darkness have now become light – and have become so, “in the Lord” (v. 8). The epitome of darkness has now become the essence of light, in and through the work of Christ. Jesus took on Himself our darkness (our rebellion and the evil things we had said and done) and He became sin for us, dying in our place to pay the price of our darkness. And as Jesus took on our darkness at the cross, He gave us His light – namely, His record of moral purity, His sinlessness, and His righteousness. And having now sent His Spirit to live within us, we have the pure life of God renewing us from the inside so that we may bear the “the fruit of light [which] is found in all that is good and right and true” (v. 9).
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Paul exhorts us to “walk as children of light” (v. 8) How are we to do so? Paul begins with the following broad principle: “try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord” (v. 10) The term “discern” means to test and prove (and even to approve) what is good. As we seek to make decisions shaped by a biblical mind, we will develop godly instincts for complex decisions. We will test and prove what pleases God, and ultimately we will come to share His judgments – approving of that which He approves. In marriage, a loving spouse strives to find out what pleases their partner. Spouses may occasionally purchase the wrong gift at Christmas (e.g. the new frying pan doesn’t send the heart a-flutter). But, over time, spouses will fine-tune their shopping instincts. Similarly, children of light who love the Father strive to learn what pleases Him. Sin may occasionally get in the way, but over time—with careful study of God’s Word and heeding the promptings of the Spirit—the child of Light will fine-tune his instincts and live a life pleasing to the Father.