Daniel Whyte III
Our key Bible passage today is Romans 6:1-2: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
— PRAYER —
Our lesson today is titled “A New Kingdom, Part 1″
In our last lesson series we learned the wonderful truth that we are one with the Lord Jesus Christ. As the branch is joined to the vine, so we are joined to the Lord Jesus in a living union. We are in Him and His life is in us.
With all the wonderful blessings that we have in Christ, we might think that the Christian life is going to be easy, but this is not true. We have many powerful enemies—sin, self, the world, the flesh, and Satan himself. In this lesson series we are going to consider the problem of sin in the life of a Christian.
When we are first saved, we are filled with joy. Our sins are forgiven, and we have peace with God. We want to please God in all that we do. Perhaps we think that we will not be bothered by sin any more, but we discover that this is not true.
Sooner or later, we find ourselves thinking wrong thoughts and doing wrong things. We go to God, confess our sins, and receive His forgiveness, but then we go and do the same things again. The problem is that we are under the power of sin.
Some Christians do not take this matter as seriously as they should. As long as they can go to God and receive His forgiveness, they think that everything is all right. But this is not so. It is a terrible thing for a Christian to continue in sin. It grieves the Holy Spirit and it brings shame on the name of Jesus.
The Apostle Paul dealt with this matter of sin in the life of a Christian when he wrote in Romans 6:1-2, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” To the Apostle Paul it was unthinkable that we as Christians should keep on sinning. Why? Because we have “died to sin.” In this lesson we are going to find out what Paul meant when he said that we “died to sin.” We are going to see how the Lord Jesus delivered us from the kingdom of darkness where sin reigns. We are going to discover the secret of freedom from sin’s power.
First, let’s see how we got into the kingdom of darkness and under the power of sin. Then we will see how the Lord Jesus delivered us from it.
The first man, Adam, was created sinless, but he disobeyed God and brought sin into the world. Death came as a result of sin. The Bible says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
When Adam rebelled against God, he took sides with Satan, the first rebel. Thus, Adam came into the kingdom of darkness and under the power of sin. God created Adam to rule, but, instead, he became a slave of sin and Satan.
Since Adam was the head of the human family, he brought the whole human race into the kingdom of darkness and under the power of sin. All men became slaves of sin. As Romans 5:19 says, “By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners…”
Our condition seemed hopeless. But God loved us, and God did something about our terrible condition. He gave us a Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came to deliver us from the kingdom of darkness and to set us free from the power of sin. He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me… to preach deliverance to the captives, and… to set at liberty those that are bruised.”
We need to pause here to consider two very important questions:
1. How did we come into Adam’s sinful race? There is only one way to enter the human race and that is by birth.
2. How do we get out of Adam’s family? We get out by death. We come in by birth and go out by death. In order to deliver us, the Lord Jesus became a man. The Bible says in Hebrews 2:14-15, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that THROUGH DEATH He might… deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
The Lord Jesus lived in this world as a man, but He did not have a sinful nature like we have. He Himself was never under the power of sin; He came to deliver us from the kingdom of darkness and from the power of sin. On the cross, He took our place in the kingdom of darkness. On the cross, our sins were laid on Him. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He [God] has made Him [the Lord Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin…”
What happened when our sins were laid on the Lord Jesus? He died for them. What happened when Jesus died? When Jesus died, He passed out of the kingdom of darkness where sin reigns. The Bible says in Romans 6:10, “For in that he died, he died unto sin once…” Another version of the Bible puts it this way: “When Jesus died, he took sin down with him…”
Not only did Jesus die, but He was buried and He rose again on the third day. He rose in a new kingdom—the kingdom of light. He rose to become the Head of a new race—the children of God. By His death and resurrection He passed out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light. This kingdom is called “the kingdom of God’s dear Son” because the Lord Jesus reigns in this kingdom. We become a part of the kingdom of light only through the death of Christ.
Lord willing, we will continue this lesson in our next class.
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If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Saviour, John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The Bible also says in Romans 10:9 and 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved…. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and I want to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you just trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and you prayed that prayer and meant it from your heart, I declare to you that based upon the Word of God, you are now saved from Hell and you are on your way to Heaven. Welcome to the family of God! I want to congratulate you on doing the most important thing in life and that is receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
Until next time, May the Lord Bless You!
Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over forty books. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry which publishes a monthly magazine called The Torch Leader. He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts/podcasts, which include: The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report, the Second Coming Watch Update and the Soul-Winning Motivator, among others. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master’s degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Theology degree from Liberty University School of Divinity. He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica for over twenty-seven years. God has blessed their union with seven children. Find out more at www.danielwhyte3.com. Follow Daniel Whyte III on Twitter @prophetdaniel3 or on Facebook.
