For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. Eph. 5:5-13
One of the verses we have our grandchildren memorize is 1Cor.15:33 which tells them that bad company corrupts good character. In other words when you hang out with sinful people, they rub off on you more than you rub off on them. Does this have to always be the case? It wasn't for Jesus. His whole life on Earth he hung out with sinners, and it didn't contaminate Him but rather, He affected them as declared by this song Company You Keep by The Waiting
Another day to be dumb, confusion mingled with bliss
A bit of revelation that I don't want to miss
I heard bad company kills and absolutely it's true
But then that doesn't explain all that I know about You
That You call me Your own
Never leave me alone I think I should warn You
You're getting in deep
With the company You keep
So while my dinner gets done I'm reading Your history
You've got a reputation and all the people You see
Are a dangerous crowd they're an unsavory sort
Though I can't say it too loud I heard an evil report
The fool and the friendless
The liar and thief
The presence of greatness
In the company of the least
As I share the gospel, I emphasize that we are separated from a Holy God by sin - sinful man can't enter into the presence of a Holy God any more than germs can enter into a sterile operating room. In that illustration, one germ could kill the patient and that's where the symbolism falls apart because our sinfulness doesn't contaminate Heaven. No, Heaven and God's presence is so pure that it would consume us. We see illustrations of that where Moses asks to see God and God says that no one can see Him and live, so he hides Moses in a cleft of a rock and Moses glimpses His backside and glows for weeks afterward. Men touched or looked into the Ark of the Covenant and died ala Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Aaron's sons entered the tabernacle unworthily and were consumed by fire. Paul saw the glory of the Lord and suffered permanent eye damage. Isaiah saw the presence of God and pronounced judgement on himself and had his sinful tongue cauterized. Peter, when faced with the holiness of Christ cried out, "depart from me, I am a sinful man." When the Israelites saw the glory of the Lord on the mountain, they begged Moses to speak for God to them, not God speak directly to them or they would die.
It doesn't appear at all that bad company corrupted God, but God disintegrates sinfulness. Is it possible that we could become so much like God that we could exist in bad company without it rubbing off on us but rather we rub off on them? I think that is God's goal for us in sanctification that we could do this. This is our hope and also fear as we place our kids in public school. One of our granddaughters went to 2 or 3 Christian camps last summer and in one of them she was the only one that went to a public school, and the kids were all amazed if not appalled.
In this passage in Ephesians, Paul warns us not to partner or participate but rather expose. He also doesn't say we used to be in the darkness but rather we were darkness. He doesn't say now we are in the light but rather we are light. If you are walking in the "Sonshine" and head into a cellar, things become dark. However if you are the light, you can go anywhere and illuminate and expose all darkness. This is the goal of our sanctification, to be so full of the Holy Spirit that anywhere we go we transform our surroundings. Let's be Children of light!
No comments:
Post a Comment