Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
Ephesians 4:32-5:14
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Paul has already established that those given to immorality, impurity, and or covetousness are enslaved (Eph 2.1-10). So here he encourages the pursuit of a life of freedom that is consistent with the freedom God has granted us in Christ.
Like Solomon (Paul goes on to advocate wisdom in the very next paragraph following the quotation above) Paul knows that the only alternative to slavery is rule or authority. Our freedom is found in our exaltation and enthronement that occurred in the ascension and session of Christ.
So when Paul says that we are light, it is easy to see that this same theme is being reinforced. Lights rule:
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for appointed times, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
Genesis 1:14-19
Light means rule, dominion. From that point on, stars falling from the heavens, in the Bible, refers to “regime change” (which, by the way, God is in charge of, not man…).
Paul’s claim that we “expose” darkness refers simply to us being light, not to any special task of revealing the details of what goes on in the darkness–for he goes on to say it is shameful to speak of such things. We “expose” the darkness by simply giving off light.
But what is the reality behind that metaphor? We rule by service.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 4:32-5:2
Like Adam and Eve, if we grasp for power, for exaltation in the heavens as light, we will be darkened. But if we serve and give ourselves up we will be exalted. We are then reflecting the light of the true god revealed in Jesus Christ.
Thus Paul spells out the means of reigning that he boasts about in Romans 5:
For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ
Romans 5:17
It would have been natural to write that after “death reigned,,” now “life reigns.” But Paul breaks the symmetry to make sure tat we know that we reign. And Jesus shows us how.
Like Moses, Paul is putting life and death, rule and slavery, before us. We must either embrace the way of the cross and give up ourselves, or else we will abuse others and sacrifice them to our own needs. There is light and there is darkness; there is no third option.
[Note: I originally wrote this in October, 2011.]