Children of Light

Ephesians 5:8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!

There are a number of beautiful metaphors used in the Bible describing those who have become true “children of God” (1 John 3:10) by the new birth.

1 John 3:10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers[a] does not belong to God.

As children tend to take on the characteristics of their parents as they grow, so God’s spiritual children should be growing in the grace of God and the knowledge of God

2 Peter 3:18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

Similarly, Christians are called “children of the light, and the children of the day”

Therefore, we should “walk as children of the light.”

1 Thessalonians 5:5For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don't belong to darkness and night.

The Lord Jesus spoke of us as “people of the kingdom” in.

Matthew 13:38The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one.

We should, therefore, live and speak as those born into the kingdom of God, and as faithful subjects of the King of kings.

Christ also called us “children of wisdom” Matthew11:19, and this surely implies that we should, in our understanding and in our decisions, have “the mind of Christ” who “God made to be wisdom”

1 Corinthians 2:16; 1:30For,"Who can know the Lord's thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?"But we understand these things, for we have the mind of ChristGod has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

In contrast, note the metaphors applied in the Bible to those who have not (at least not yet) become children of God by being “born again” through faith in the triune God. We ourselves once “were by nature the children of wrath, even as others”.

Ephesians 2:3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else.

We–and they–were also called “children of disobedience”

Ephesians 2:2You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil-the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.

also in

Ephesians 5:6 Don't be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.

and.

Colossians 3:6Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.

Unbelievers are also called “children of this world”

Luke 16:8"The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light., and even “children of the wicked one”

Matthew 13:38 The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. and “children of the devil”

1John 3:10So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers[a] does not belong to God.

Returning to the metaphor of our text, “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light”

1John 1:7But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin., then we can no longer “walk in darkness,” for we have “the light of life”.

John 8:12Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."