He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.
Colossians 1:13
Sin is a power. When it gains a grip in your life, it will not let go. Paul says, “Sin reigned” (Rom. 5:21). It is like a tyrant. It bossed you around. The impulses of sin were in the driver’s seat of your life. Sin was your master.
But now, in Christ, Paul says we have “died to sin” (6:2). He does not say we must die to sin. He is saying that we have died to sin. We have been united with Christ in His death, and that is why we will be united with Him in His resurrection (6:5). We know that “our old self was crucified with him” (6:6). Sin will no longer be our master (6:14).
Imagine you are traveling down a road, and on one side is a high chain-link fence. On the other side is an open field. There are people behind the fence and people in the field. You discover that the fence is part of a huge cage, and the people inside cannot get out. A man in the cage is shouting orders. Sometimes the people protest, but eventually they do what he tells them.
That’s a picture of what Paul is saying. “Sin reigned.” Sin told you what to do. The Bible speaks about this in many ways. You belonged to the “domain of darkness” (Col. 1:13). The whole world is “imprisoned… under sin” (Gal. 3:22).
When you came to faith in Jesus Christ, you “died to sin.” You popped up on the other side of the road. You were translated from one realm to another: out of the cage and into the field.
How does the image of the cage and the field help you understand the reign of sin in your life?
