INITIATION:
When Paul was in prison in Rome, he wrote some letters. One of them was the letter to Christians in Ephesus. Like the letter to the Galatians. It was shared by several Churches. They all benefitted from it. But unlike the letters to the Corinthians and Galatians, this letter did not deal with many problems in the Church. Rather, Paul wrote it to encourage the believers to continue doing the things he had taught them earlier.
In this letter, Paul reminded the Ephesians that all believers were one in Jesus Christ. No group whether Jews or Greeks, or whether black or white is more superior or more inferior. Also in this letter, Paul discussed how people come out of the darkness of sin into the light of God when they receive Jesus into their lives. Paul is telling them that since this is the case, the believer should show this light in his or her life from day to day.
SUBJECT:
CHILDREN OF LIGHT
BIBLE VERSE:
Ephesians 4:17-32; 5:1-21
KEY VERSE:
But now you are light in the Lord: live as children of light. (Ephesians 5:8, NIV).
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
In cause of this lesson, each child will show that he or she understands the lesson by:
- Explaining how God expects us as children of light to live.
- Saying what Paul in this lesson is telling us to “put off” and “put on”.
- Mentioning one thing he or she needs to “put off” in his or her own life, and what he or she will “put on” to replace it.
MAIN LESSON:
1. Put Off and Put On - Ephesians 4:17-32
When a person comes to Jesus, he leaves the life of darkness, that is, the life of sin. He comes into light or righteousness and so becomes a child of light. God expects us as children of light to live pure and holy lives. Our lives must be different from that of the people of the world who live sinful lives because they are spiritually blind. But the children of light know Jesus Christ because they have been taught by Him.
Paul tells us to put away our old way of life just like a man puts off dirty clothes to wear clean ones. We must not think like people in darkness but like children of God. Some of the things we need to put off from our jives are lying, anger, stealing, and bad or dirty speech (foolish talking). We should also put away deceit, meanness, bad temper, greed, quarreling, harsh words and dislike of people. Let us not make the Holy Spirit sad by the way we live.
Our minds have to be made new by God, and we are to put on the new man or the new way of life. We should show righteousness, holiness, hard work, kindness, forgiveness, love, goodness, truth. These are the characteristics of children of light.
2. Walk in Love and Purity - Ephesians 5:1-7
Here, Paul tells us to follow the example of God in everything we do just as a child does what his father does. And like Jesus who loved us and gave himself for our sins, we should be full of love for one another. That is what walking in love means.
As people of God, we should also walk in purity. This means that we should live pure and holy lives. And to live pure and holy lives, there should not be the sins of the body among us. There should not be the desire to get our hands on what belongs to others. This is called greed. Paul says that these things should not even be mentioned among us. Also, there should be no dirty stories, fool talks and bad jokes. Rather, we should always remind one another of God’s goodness and love. All who live unholy lives will not have a place in the kingdom of God. We should have nothing to do with such people.
3. Walk in Light and Be Filled With The Holy Spirit - Ephesians 5:8-2
When we were not yet saved, our hearts were full of darkness. But now we are full of light from the Lord. We should now live and walk as children of light. Our behaviour should show this. Let us do only what is good, right and true, we should also learn to do only what will make the Lord happy.
As children of light, we will not have fellowship with sinners. Their works are works of darkness, We ought to preach to them to stop living in sin. And those among us who still live in sin must repent today. The Lord Jesus will raise them from spiritual death and give them light. We, also as children of God have to walk wisely in this sinful world. We should not waste our time on idle jokes. Every time must be used in preaching the gospel of Jesus to those who have not known Him.
We do not need to drink wine to be happy. But our hearts will be full of joy as we do the will of God. The Holy Spirit will fill our hearts with songs of praise and we will always talk of each other joyfully about the Lord.
APPLICATION:
One night in Enugu, there was a sudden power outage, the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) had done it again. This time, there was total darkness everywhere. Everything became dull and everybody was gloomy. All television sets went dead, not much music could be heard.
As soon as the light went off, IK’s mother called out a warning that everybody should remain where he or she was until she got the lamp. But IK as usual did not heed the warning. He headed straight toward the kitchen through the dining room. Because of the darkness, he didn’t know that a chair was on his way. He hit his foot on it with such a force that the chair fell back IK stumbled on it and fell down spraining his toe badly.
When the light was restored after many hours, everybody – young and old – shouted with joy. Even IK’s father said out loudly, “Ah! Light is sweet!” And everything came alive again.
Light is a representative of righteousness. That is why believers are known as light. We should let our lights shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify God in heaven.
DAILY BIBLE DOSE:
Monday: The Lord Is my Light - Psalm 27:1
Tuesday: God Preserves His Children - Psalm 97:10
Wednesday: Shine for Your Light Has Come - Isaiah 60:1
Thursday: We Are Heirs of God - Romans 8:16, 17
Friday: You Are Light in the Lord - Ephesians 5:8
Saturday: Obey Your Parents - Colossians 3:20
DISCLAIMER:
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The original production and publication of this extract belong to Sunday School Department of Assemblies of God Nigeria, as shown on the front page. We teach in the church and social media platforms available.
