Theology Tuesday: SLAVE
A few months back, I was working on sermons for Student Ministry at RCC, and as I was writing and studying, I had an epiphany. My Epiphany: We are slaves. While it was for freedom we were set free (Galatians), we were also given a new MASTER. We are slaves. Our mindset as humanity is that of a slave. I broke it down for myself…
I used to be a Slave to Sin:
Romans 5 teaches that because of Adam sin entered the world, and because we were born in the line of Adam, we are born sinners. And since we are born sinners, we sin…literally, we are Slaves to Sin. BTW - Sin entered the world through ADAM, and this is why, when Jesus came to be born, God took Joseph out of the equation. Check out Romans 5 for more on this thought.
As a Christian, I am a Slave to Righteousness:
Romans 6:18 calls believers, “Slaves to righteousness.” In other words, the blood of Jesus BOUGHT you, and he is now your master. We are made righteous through Him who IS RIGHTEOUS in the sight of God…Christ alone. So, since we are bought with the blood of the ONE who personifies righteousness, we are Slaves to Righteousness.
I want to be a Slave to Me:
My heart at its core is evil, sinful, and self-centered. As I wrote about here, my tendency is to make myself the “end all/be all.” In doing that, I make myself a worshipper of myself. I become my own idol. I like idolizing myself because I don’t see sacrifice as a necessary part of my idol-worship. That is ultimately a lie, because we will always sacrifice something…but the pain, at least at first, is masked by my “satisfaction.”
As a Christian, I am called to be a Slave to You:
This, in my opinion, is the clearest call in scripture. You are to LOVE GOD, and LOVE your NEIGHBOR…AS YOURSELF. In other words, that desire you have to be a Slave to Yourself, use it to serve your NEIGHBOR.
This is such a huge thought. You and I are going to be slaves to something. Let’s make sure we are being slaves to our real master (if you’re a Christian, it’s Jesus), and serving what we are being told to serve.
Thoughts????
