For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Ephesians 5:14

In a world that claims to be awake while, at the same time, promoting every type of ungodly behavior imaginable, the Bible has an actual, consistent, godly message about an awakening, “Awake, sleeper, and arise for the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” The real solution to our cultural and social problems today isn’t a wider and more extensive decent into degradation and decadence rather spiritual awakening will occur, lives will be changed, and we will be moving in the direction of redemption when people humble themselves, pray, seek the Lord, and turn from their wicked ways (2 Chronicles 7:14). And that’s what this amazing verse is all about.

To be spiritually awake, we have to have surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ. Consider the words of Jesus telling us about the day of His return:

“Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

    Luke 21:34-36

What does Jesus say that we should be avoiding? Pretty much what we see most of the world running after…dissipation (excessiveness), drunkenness, and a general worry over life. For Christians, the day in which Christ is referring will not surprise us or come upon us “like a trap.” Not so for the unbelieving world. While going about their ordinary, everyday business, the day will come and catch them off guard. But we, as born again believers in Jesus, having been saved and redeemed, and having received the Spirit of God, can approach life and the future with confidence, just as we approach the throne of God with confidence every day (Hebrews 4:14-16). And how do we do that? By being “alert at all times”…praying that we may have the strength to escape all of the things that will take place (Ephesians 3:16). We are ready to stand before the Lord because our faith is not in ourselves, in our money or possessions, in our positions of power, or even in other people rather our confidence is in Jesus Himself (2 Corinthians 3:4), who promises to welcome all who place their faith in Him (John 3:18). But notice, whether it is the words of Paul in Ephesians or the words of Christ Himself, we, as born again believers in Jesus, are to remain vigilant, spiritually awake, and alert (1 Peter 5:8). 

But, along with being spiritually awake, we are told to, “arise from the dead.” Consider the following:

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 

  Romans 8:9-10

Notice the criteria for being spiritually “alive.” If you have been saved, the Holy Spirit of God lives within you (Acts 2:38). We receive the Spirit at conversion. We are truly alive, spiritually, abundantly, and eternally if the Spirit of God resides in us however, “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” Notice that the Spirit of God is also the Spirit of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:17). So, to be able to say that we are truly alive, the Spirit of the Lord must live within us. Secondly, if Christ is in us, we are truly alive. These two are not mutually exclusive rather they are the same. To have the Spirit living within is to have Christ living within. This is why it is so important to make sure that you are not just religious rather that you have actually been saved, redeemed, and transformed by the power of God’s Spirit. Only authentic, born again believers in Jesus Christ have eternal life and consequently can face life with an eternal confidence not found in religious motion and activity. 

So we are told to be “awake” and “alive.” And if we are, there is a promise…”Christ will shine on you.” Consider the following:

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

  2 Corinthians 4:6

When we see Jesus, we see God. That’s why Christians are being stubborn or close-minded when proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only way in which anyone will ever be saved (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). We want people to be saved, redeemed, forgiven, and restored but that only happens when we humble ourselves and surrender our lives to Jesus (Luke 9:23). And why isn’t everyone coming to this saving faith in Christ? Consider just a few verses prior:

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 

        2 Corinthians 4:3-4

We have a spiritual enemy and he wants nothing more than to see people deceived, blinded, and lost without hope. Apart from Christ, people are not awake or alive rather they are spiritually dead, void of the Spirit of God, and facing an eternity without hope. Notice the motivation by the enemy as described by Paul, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” “So that they might not see” is the enemy’s ultimate goal. Jesus spoke of this reality, as well, in the parable of the sower:

Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

        Luke 8:11-12

Again, this is the enemy’y goal…unbelief and ultimate spiritual destruction of as many people as he can deceive. “Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.” Again we see his motivation, “so that they will not believe and be saved.” So that people will not see, so that people will not believe, so that people will not be saved, and so people will pass through this life and never be “awake” or “alive.” It doesn’t really matter how he accomplishes this, just that it gets accomplished. For some people it’s false religion. For others it’s empty, religious motion that doesn’t save. For some, it’s a constant state of numbness caused by the consumption of drugs or alcohol. Some people just simply refuse to believe the gospel. But one thing is for sure, without a saving, relationship with Jesus Christ, in which we now have the Spirit of God living within our hearts, we are not heading for an eternity with God and Christ. Only when we surrender our lives to Him are we transformed and brought into actual life…awakened, alive, and enjoying the reality that Christ is shining on us! 

Why not give your life to Christ today!

He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

  John 3:18