Christ Will Shine on You

“But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“’Awake, O sleeper,

    and arise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.’

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:13-21 ESV)

Many professers of faith in Jesus Christ today are spiritually asleep. They made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ at one time in their lives, but they didn’t follow through with denying self, dying daily to sin, and walks of obedience to the Lord and to his commandments under the New Covenant. They thought that because they made that profession of faith in Jesus that it now secured them forgiveness of all sins and heaven as their eternal destiny. But they did not regard how they lived in the overall picture.

But when Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross, it was to put our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we will now die with him to sin and now walk with him in walks of obedience to his commands and in surrender of our lives to do his will. That is the essence of the gospel message that we now die with him to sin and now live for him and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands. It is not so we can go on living for self while claiming heaven as our eternal home.

So, as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we are to be those who are paying close attention to how we walk (in conduct, in practice) to see whether or not how we are living is pleasing to God or to self and self-pleasure. And we are to be those who are exercising godly wisdom in how we live and in the things that we put into practice on a daily basis. We are also to be those who are making the best use of the time that we have been given on this earth so that we are serving the Lord, and not living for self.

We live in very evil times on this earth. And the gospel message has been so diluted and altered in order to appease human flesh and to allow for ungodly desires and practices in the lives of those professing faith in the Lord Jesus. More and more I am seeing how so many who proclaim Christianity are getting further and further away from the truth of God’s word and are following after what feels good to human flesh, instead. And they have so many influences which are just feeding their fleshly appetites, too.

So, the encouragement here is that if this is where we are, still living for the flesh, still doing whatever makes us feel good, regardless of whether or not God approves, then we need to wake up from our spiritual slumber and have our eyes and minds opened to the truth of God’s word and of his gospel message. And we need to pay close attention to how we are living to make certain that how we are living meets with God’s divine approval. And we should be making the best use of the time we have been given by God.

Therefore, we are not to be people who are engaged in drunkenness and sexual immorality, and moral filth, and all that is of the devil and that is evil in the sight of the Lord. We are not to be flittering away our days on what has no eternal value and on what is contrary to God’s will and purpose for our lives, which is born out of the flesh and not out of the Spirit. And this is not to say that we have to be serious all the time or that we cannot enjoy life, but that what we do and how we live should match with God’s will.

So, instead of filling our lives, our time, and our minds and hearts with the junk of this world, as a matter of practice, we should be filled with the Holy Spirit doing the will and purpose God has for us to do as his followers. And instead of just talking about what is worldly and is of the flesh, which is what the world does, we should be those who are addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and who are encouraging one another in our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord and to his will and purpose.

For God put us on this earth, not to please ourselves, and not to please other humans, but to please God in all that we are and do and say. And this is not to say that we cannot enjoy life and that we have to be serious all the time, but that God should be our focus, and pleasing him should be our goal, and following him in obedience should be our purpose and direction for our lives. He should have first place in our lives and everything else should fall underneath that. And we should give him thanks in all situations.

And when this teaches us that we must submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, it is speaking, I believe, of the family of God and of how we are to treat one another. But this never suggests that we are to submit to sin nor to anything that is evil or of the devil or that is contrary to God’s will and purpose for our lives. All this must come under God’s expressed will and purpose for our lives in all that we are and do and say, that it may bring glory to God and not to the flesh of humans.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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