LUKE 12 (PART 3): SLAVERY

​This message will be misunderstood
by those who don’t know
Jesus,
or those who do not have
an understanding
of God’s Word.
But, 
this message
must be told.

Slavery -
from the view of humans,
is not a pretty thing!
In fact, it is completely
an abomination!
Not only to humanity,
but more importantly,
to God!

It is evil, through and through!
There is nothing about it that is good.
It is the inverted,
twisted version
of dominion.

It’s a human
controlling
another human,
and exercising
an evil form of authority over him.

Slavery
is prolonged cruelty.
An oppressive state of persecution,
injustice, brutality, degradation
and exploitation.

It can be man on woman,
or woman on man;
it can be adults on children,
or children on them.
It can be white on black,
or black on white,
or any color in between;
in can be nation on nation,
or civil war
within a county;
it can be rich on poor,
or poor on the wealthy.

I could go on and on
about the wheel of oppression.
As long as man exists,
there are many spokes on it.

There is no stopping
the evil
that humans can do,
when it comes to the attribute
of dominion being totally abused.

Human exploitation
is just another way
that humans
have twisted God’s truth.

When humans live in sin,
as we do,
the flesh is the natural way 
that we choose.

"The sinful nature wants to do evil,
which is just the opposite
of what the Spirit wants to do.
And the Spirit gives us desires
that are the opposite
of what the sinful nature wants to choose.
These two forces
are constantly fighting each other,
so you are not free
to carry out your good intentions. 
But when you are directed by the Spirit,
you are not under obligation
to the law of Moses.
When you follow the desires
of your sinful nature,
the results are very clear:
sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 
idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy,
outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension,
division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties,
and other sins like these.
Let me tell you again,
as I have before,
that anyone living that sort of life
will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
But the Holy Spirit produces
this kind of fruit in our lives:
love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 
gentleness, and self-control.
There is no law against these things!
Those who belong to Christ Jesus
have nailed the passions and desires
of their sinful nature
to his cross and crucified them there.
Galatians 5:17-24

While God made
the master-servant relationship good;
Sin has tainted it.

Let’s take a step back,
and see how God actually meant it.

What is "dominion"
referred to in Genesis 1?
God is a Despot, is He not?
He have absolute power and ownership.
He formed us from dust, 
and placed us in His Garden,
then He brought us to life,
with His very own breath.
Male and female,
He made them
in His image,
and said they were good.
Genesis 1:26

He gave them dominion
to care for all that He made;
"then He blessed them,
and said unto them,
Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth,
and subdue it:
and have dominion
over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air,
and over every living thing
that moves upon the earth."
Genesis 1:28

He gave Adam
the main responsibility
and then created Eve
to be a helper to Him,
but at no point did He ever say,
“Adam you are to have dominion
to control your wife.”
At least not while they were blessed.

Here’s the thing,
We were never created
to have dominion over each other.

This characteristic of bondage
came after the fall of humanity 
described in Genesis 3.

This is when we disobeyed God,
and fell subject to His curse.
Adam and Eve
followed the the lust of their flesh;
they opposed God,
and received the consequence of
God's judgement.

Paradise Lost -
instead of living the blessing,
they lived according to the curse.
Romans 11 says,
“For God has imprisoned everyone
in disobedience so he could have
mercy on everyone”
and does so when we repent,
and return to Him.
‭‭Romans‬ ‭11:32‬ ‭NLT
‬‬
So when a man
is separated from God,
we can automatically assume
that his heart is not good.

Instead of serving God,
by being in fellowship with Him,
he focuses on his flesh
and becomes a slave to Sin.
Romans 6:15-23

So here we are today,
living with a death sentence
hanging over our heads.
Everyone will take
a mortal last breath.

My question to you is,
"Will you live again,
as an eternal being
in the Kingdom of Heaven?"

And if your answer is "yes,"
then you must know
you must patiently endure the curse
that has been placed upon the earth.

Suffering
is a Kingdom concept that means
patiently enduring the trials of this world,
while bearing His cross with confident hope.

John 16 says,
“The time is coming,
in fact a time has ALREADY come,
when you will be scattered,
each to his own home
and will leave me all alone.
Yet, I am not alone,
for my father is with me.
I have told you these things
that in me you may have peace,
in this world you will have many
trials and sorrows,
but take heart,
because I have overcome the world.
John 16:32-33
​
Jesus came as a lamb
to teach us how to live
a life of servant hood;
and to show us that we have
a loving Master who is truly good.

He teaches us about honor,
and He teaches about respect.
He teaches us about love,
how to endure correction,
and how to forgive.

Hebrews 12 says,
“God’s discipline
is always good for us,
so that we might share
in his holiness.
No discipline is enjoyable
while it is happening -
it’s painful!
But afterward
there will be a peaceful harvest
of right living
for those who are trained
in this way.
So take a new grip
with your tired hands
and strengthen your weak knees.
Mark out a straight path
for your feet
so that those who are weak
and lame
will not fall but become strong.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:10-13‬ ‭NLT
‬‬
Do you not see
how badly
humanity
has done evil things?

It does not surprise me,
that where Satan
has been given authority,
we are subject to demonic things -
like human exploitation,
and child trafficking.

But Jesus is Lord!
He has already defeated Death,
by overcoming the prince of THIS world.

And the way we grow in love,
is to spread His light into this dark world.

Since Satan is the prince of the air,
Jesus tells us that we must BEWARE.
Satan is the great deceiver,
he appears as light,
but on the inside 
he is nothing but dark.

Since God is good,
and loves us so much,
He made a way to resurrect us,
and deliver us
from the jaws of death.

With His body,
He framed
the Highway to Heaven;
and with His blood,
He washed away
the stains of our sin,
while simultaneously
paving the way to Him.

The suffering servant
leads the way.
He is the example
that we are called to portray.

The Lord says,
“A faithful, sensible servant is one
to whom the master can give
the responsibility of managing his
other household servants, and feeding them.
If the master returns and finds
the servant has done a good job
there will be a reward.
I tell you the truth
the master will put the servant
in charge of all he owns
but what if the servant thinks,
“my master won’t be back for a while"
and he begins beating
the other servants, partying
and getting drunk?
The master will return
unannounced and unexpected
and he will cut the servant
into pieces and banish him
with the unfaithful.
And the servant who knows
what the master wants,
but isn’t prepared
and doesn’t carry out
those instructions
will be severely punished.
But someone who does not know
and then does something wrong
will be punished only lightly.
When someone has been given much
much will be required in return
and when someone
has been entrusted with much
even more will be required.”
Luke 12:42-48

Jesus uses the adjectives,
“faithful” and “sensible”,
to describe the characteristics
of a good servant.
And their main task is to
take care of others,
and help manage them.
Jesus said, 
"and if the Master returns
unannounced and unexpected,
the servant will be cut into pieces
and banished!"
Just the thought of this
makes me sick!
Can you imagine being a Christian
and not having prophetic revelation,
nor a confident hope to expect him?

I do not have to time
to get into this,
but when you get a chance
read Chapter 53 from the prophet, Isaiah.
700 years before Jesus was born,
the suffering servant was
accurately described and foretold.

Luke 12 verse 35 says
“be dressed for service,
and keep our lamps burning
as though we are waiting
for our master to return
from the wedding feast.”
Then Jesus says,
"The servants who are ready
and waiting for His return
will be rewarded.”
I tell you the truth
the master himself will seat them,
put an apron on and serve them.”

Isn’t that crazy?
Isn’t that amazing?
When we honor God,
He honors us.

How is that even possible?
The Creator of Breath
wants to serve us.

So, let’s take a moment
to look intently at Jesus
who is the greatest example
of what a servant is.

Jesus committed no sin.
He was the only man
to ever live who had no sin!

There was no deceit found in his mouth.
He was always honest,
and he never went south.

He did not slander or condemn.
He did not bash, knock down
or slam his fellow man.

He uttered no threats,
even when
he was wrongly accused.
He didn’t fight back,
even when
He was physically abused.

He kept on trusting God,
no matter what the stronghold;
and He was fully committed
to His Father’s cause.

He did not rebel, retaliate or seek revenge.
He did not justify or try to use rationalism.

He left everything
totally in God’s hands.
He ran the race and endured to the end.

So, what does this mean for us?
What does this have to do
with the Master-Slave relationship?

Remember what Jesus said,
"For I have come down from heaven
to do the will of God who sent me,
not to do my own will.
And this is the will of God,
that I should not lose even one
of all those he has given me,
but that I should raise them up at the last day. 
For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son
and believe in him
should have eternal life.
I will raise them up at the last day.”
John 6:38-40

Jesus knew the will of God
meant He had to suffer and spill his blood; 
yet, He was was willing to give all that He had,
because He understood
His blood was the only way
humanity would be forgiven,
and resurrected from the dead.  

Jesus said,
“Father, if you are willing,
please take this cup of suffering away from me.
Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 
Then an angel from heaven
appeared and strengthened him. 
He prayed more fervently,
and he was in such agony of spirit
that his sweat fell to the ground
like great drops of blood.
At last he stood up again
and returned to the disciples,
only to find them asleep,
exhausted from grief. 
“Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. 
“Get up and pray,
so that you will not give in to temptation.”
Luke 22: 41-46

Jesus warned His students,
who were also his friends,
to stay awake,
and not give in to temptation.

He knows that in our flesh,
we are still subject to the curse,
and when we are complacent
we easily fall into sin.

We must be on guard, and stay alert.
Luke 12:40 says,
"You also must be ready,
because the Son of Man will come
at an hour you do not expect."
And if you are not paying attention, 
you will be fooled
by the Abomination of Desolation.
Mark 13:14

God loves us,
so He gives us the option
to be driven by the lust of the flesh,
or to chase after Him.

Without Holy Spirit,
we are nothing but
flesh-driven humans,
who constantly pursue
our evil intentions.

Following Holy Spirit
is a choice.
We get to choose
to embrace the blessing
or be entangled by the curse.

Deuteronomy 30:19 says,
“Today I have given you
the choice between life and death,
between blessings and curses.
Now I call on heaven and earth
to witness the choice you make.
Oh, that you would choose life,
so that you and your descendants
might live!”

As I originally said,
Slavery
is the upside down,
turned around,
twisted version
of dominion
found in God’s Word!

It’s humanity at its worst!
It's the flesh-driven form of cannibalism.

Just remember,
Jesus is our testimony
and our witness!
And as I’m writing this,
I know that I carry
great responsibility
to care for God’s children.
I know this
because I write what He says.
These words are not my own,
they come from
a Holy Spirit Heart,
a heart that's been transformed.

Anyway,
this is the final thing I want to say,
Human Exploitation and Oppression
is absolutely disgusting,
and can only be done
when one does NOT know God.

Remember,
our greatest version
of servant-hood
is when we become
a pure reflection
of God’s image.
And this can only be done,
through eyes wide open,
forgiveness and unfailing love.

We take on the enemy
by speaking God's truth in love,
and putting on the Lord's armor,
spoken by Paul
in Chapter 6 of Ephesians.

While this world may be cursed,
and Satan is the spirit of the air,
God is alpha and omega,
and He is still the one in charge!

Master means
Hallowed is His name,
and He has dominion
over every living thing!

Servant means
we are subject to Him,
and because He is Lord,
we can put our trust in Him.

Fellowship is a form of relationship
where there is joint participation,
unity and communication.
Jesus said,
“If anyone loves Me,
he will keep My word.
My Father will love him,
and We will come to him
and make Our home with him."
John 14:23

God‘s approval should be what drives us,
not us following our own thoughts,
feelings or fleshly desires of lust.
Help me put an end
to oppression and human exploitation
by reaching out to the lost,
and being a true reflection of Him.