Our Heavenly Father is light (1 Jn. 1:5); the Father of lights (James 1:17). As Christians, we are His children, children of light (Lk. 16:8; 1 Thess. 5:5). Paul encouraged Christians to behave as children of light (Eph. 5:8), living in such a way that we recognize our deeds are manifest before an all-knowing God, instead of trying to hide our sins under the cover of darkness (Jn. 3:19-21). We are surrounded by people of the world who love darkness (Eph. 6:12; 1 Jn. 5:19). They do not see the light of the glorious gospel, because they have allowed the devil, the father of lies, to blind them (Jn. 8:44; 2 Cor. 4:4). We, however, know better, and ought to behave accordingly. When light enters a room, darkness flees. The two are incompatible. Christians are to behave as light, being separate from the world (Eph. 5:11; 2 Cor. 6:14-17; 1 Jn. 2:7-11). How you behave ought to make you stand out from the world (Phil. 2:14-15).
Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:5-8, “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.” Some people live their lives seemingly in a dream, not awake to the spiritual dangers that are around them, but mindlessly floating down the river of life going wherever outside influences take them. Christians are not to live in such spiritual stupor, but should be awake and alert to the spiritual realities that are around them, proactively following Christ.
The normal time to sleep is at night, and being drunk during the day has often been considered scandalous by the public (Isa. 5:11; Ecc. 10:16-17; Acts 2:15; 2 Pet. 2:13). As Christians, children of the light and of the day, we are to be the opposite: awake and sober. Night is sometimes used in scripture to underscore moral darkness rather than prosaically marking the time (Mt. 26:34; Jn. 13:30). Nighttime is when evil people do their deeds. We are surprised today when people commit crimes in broad daylight. These evil deeds of the darkness are on their way out, because an eternal day is coming (Rom. 13:12; cf. Rev. 21:23; 22:5). The gospel age has let some of this light in, but the final coming of Christ is when it will fully break forth (1 Jn. 2:8).
Paul’s description of light and darkness in 1 Thessalonians 5 is really part of a larger context concerning the unexpectedness of Lord’s final coming and need to be prepared for it (1 Thess. 5:1-11). God has chosen to not disclose when the return of His Son will be, and Jesus warned His disciples to watch so they are ready for His coming at any time (Mk. 13:32-37). Jesus told His disciples that such vigilance is necessary to resist temptation of the flesh (Mt. 26:40-41; Mk. 14:37-38; Lk. 22:45-46). God knows that if He did reveal when the final day would be that people would be tempted to live evil lives, indulging the flesh, and try to repent near the end before that day comes. This would run contrary to His purposes; our Heavenly Father wants to foster in us a love for Him and patient desire for heaven. No man will see the light of heaven who has not already had it in his heart while he is living in this world of darkness.
-Mark Day
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