We’ve been going through our series of Death, Resurrection, Heaven, and Hell, and this is the second episode of the resurrection. Coincidently, this Sunday is Easter 2024. I consider Easter the most significant celebration of Christ. The birth of Jesus is important, and his ascension to the throne of God is essential; without the resurrection, all this would be meaningless.
Since the resurrection is critical to our faith and hope in God, I wanted to look at what it means to Leave Death Behind Forever. Walking in the Resurrection Light. (Ephesians 5:1-14)
What was Paul telling the Ephesian believers? They lived in an idolatrous culture. In the first century, there were more gods than people. Christians were thought to be godless because they didn’t have statues of their gods, and they didn’t practice idolatry rituals. They were accused of causing disasters in the community because they didn’t honor the city or national gods. They lost jobs and families because they didn’t practice the city idol rituals. The sexual immorality, impurity, and greed that Paul speaks of here were the way people honored and requested a favor from their gods. Paul reminds them that, at one time, they were part of this darkness. But now they’re part of the light. They know the truth now. The darkness leads to judgment and death. But the light in Christ leads to righteousness and glory. Therefore, don’t return to the darkness. Stay in the light. The light of Christ’s resurrected life will shine a new path for you.
We face the same issues as them. Our gods today are like their gods then. They may look different, but they are the same: acceptance, normality, affluence, and authority. We want society to accept us. We don’t want to appear different. We want the same things regular people wish to. But now, as then, the things this world honors and reveres are darkness, which leads to judgment and death. But we have been resurrected with Christ, left the darkness, and been raised in and by the light.
Listen to what the prophet Isaiah says about the new life of light in Isaiah 26:19. He says to wake and sing. Imagine your feelings after experiencing death to awaken and realize you’re alive suddenly. You’d be singing, right? What a joy. But not only will you be alive, but you’ll also be sparkling, with light sunlight on the morning dew.
Isaiah 60:1-3 is precisely what Paul was speaking of to the Ephesians. He was quoting this passage from Isaiah. The light of Christ shines in the darkness that covers the world, and those who believe see the light, and then believers become the lights for others to see.
In Luke 1:78-79, 78, the evangelist said the light of Christ guides the feet of those who believe. What is that light?
Daniel 12:2-3 says those who are instructed will shine, and those who shine like the stars will guide others to the light of Christ. When we hear many will sleep in the dust, we think of death and burial. But people are sleeping in the dust, meaning the culture and darkness of this world, and they are walking dead. They’re following the world’s false promises and are living in darkness. But those who awake, who shine like the stars, will guide those sleeping in the dust and living in darkness to the light of Christ.
How? Paul tells us how back at the beginning of Ephesians 5 in verses 1 and 2. We’re to wake up, get up, and enjoy our life in Christ. Embrace the light for its vitality, transformative power, confidence, hope, and promise of a glorious eternity. Leave death and the darkness behind forever and walk in the resurrection light of Christ. What is the resurrection light of Christ? It’s love. His light is love. The love to sacrifice our needs for the needs of others. This Easter, remember, resurrection is standing up anew in the light of Christ and worshipping him by imitating him and showing others the light of his love for them.
