Slave to None - Servant to All
There are two very powerful and profound verses from 1 Corinthians that are telling us that we have now been bought back at a price as a result of Jesus dying on the cross for all of us. When you put these two verses together, one right next to the other as you would two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle - the revelation comes through loud and clear from God the Father on exactly how we should be looking at our relationships with Him and the other people in our life. These two verses will tell us:
Put all of this together, and you can bottom line this revelation in one simple statement. We are to be a: Slave to none and a Servant to allOnce you become saved and born again by accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior - God and Jesus will now become your true Lord and Master in this life and the life to come. You no longer even belong to yourself - much less belong to anyone else in this life. In the first two verses I will list below, Paul is telling us that we are not to become slaves to other men. He says that we have now been made free from all other men in this life. Yet at the same time, he tells us that we are to be a servant to them all so that we might win the more of them to God and Jesus. What this is telling us is that we really have to keep this piece of revelation in proper perspective. Though no man or no woman owns us in this life, God will still want us to work very closely with Him in serving others in this life. What this means is that we will all have to try and work together in some type of unity and harmony with one another so that we can all accomplish what God wants us to get done in this life. In some of the other verses I will list in this article, God is telling us that we are to be subject to rulers and governing authorities, that we are to obey those who rule over us, and that we are to submit ourselves to the ordinances of man for His sake. What this means is that we are to honor and work with our bosses in the work place, with our political leaders in public office, with the president of our country, and with your parents if you are still under-age and still living at home with your parents. The best way to look at this piece of revelation is like looking at a two sided coin. On the one side of the coin, you now belong to God and Jesus. You do not belong to any man, to any woman, to any country, to any political leader or to even yourself. God has bought you back at the price of His Son's death on the cross - and He, and He alone, is now your Lord and Master in this life and the new life to come. As a result, God the Father will now be the One leading your life in the direction that He will want it to go in. He will now be the One to lead you to the jobs that He will want you to have in this life, to the missions He will want you to accomplish, to the people He will want you to help, to the spouse He will want you to marry and to the friends that He will want you to have in this life. Through the Holy Spirit, God the Father will perfectly lead you every step of the way with the perfect life that He now has planned out for you.
However, there is now the flip side to this coin. Though God will be personally guiding you every step of the way with what He will be doing with your life - you are still going to have to work in unity and harmony with other people. If God leads you to a specific job that He will want you to take, but you can't respect and subject yourself to those who will be in charge over you, then you are not going to be able to survive in that job, and as a result, you will have just taken yourself right off of a major step that God had just planned out for you and your life. Some Christians have problems with taking orders from anyone, especially from those who are in some type of authority over them. They have very little respect for those in authority over them and they thus don't last very long in most of the jobs they take. As a result, God is constantly having to go to plans B and C for them in order to try and help keep them afloat. As a result, they end up walking in more of God's permissive will for their lives rather than in God's perfect will because they keep walking right off of the steps that He keeps leading them to climb. When it is all said and done, and their life is totally reviewed up in the Judgment Seat of Christ, they will be shown what more they could have accomplished in this life had they just learned to settle down and work in harmony and unity with some of the bosses and supervisors that God was initially leading them to work with in the first place. Each step that God will lead you to climb in this life is a vital and important step as you climb up your personal ladder of success in Him. And in some of these steps are specific jobs God will be wanting you to take. And in these jobs, God will be expecting you to work in harmony and unity with your bosses and the other employees. God will want you to become a team player, even if things are not being run smoothly and efficiently in the day-to-day operation of the job. Get yourself thrown off one or more of these particular steps because you could not work with those in authority over you - and you could get yourself thrown right out of God's call and God's best for your life. This is why it is so important that you get this particular piece of revelation firmly and solidly worked and planted into your mindset and way of thinking in this life. It could mean the difference as to whether or not you fully accomplish all of what God has in store for you in this life. However, the reverse is also true on all of this. As you will see in one of the verses I will list below - God will also be looking at those who are in authority over you. This verse says that masters are to give to their servants what is just and fair - knowing that they have a Master in heaven who will be watching over all that they do. This means that all bosses and all supervisors better be treating their fellow employees with respect, kindness and fairness in their dealings with them or they will have to answer to God Himself on their day of judgment with Him. However, as we already know, not everyone who is in authority over you will be treating you fairly and justly. If this should happen to any of you, then you will need to go to God the Father in prayer and ask Him how you should handle the problem you may be having. With many people operating out of their flesh in this life, many who are in positions of authority and power have let a lot of this power go to their heads. As a result, they have abused many of those who are working under them. This kind of scenario happens across the board in just about every situation you can imagine. It can happen in any type of work environment, in families where one or both of the parents can start to either abuse one another or some of their children. It can happen in boyfriend-girlfriend relationships or even in best friend relationships. Many of these relationships can deteriorate over time down to very dysfunctional levels. If or when this should ever happen to any of you - go to God the Father and ask Him how you are to handle this and whether or not it is time for you to cut the cords and break free from the relationship. Sometimes God will ask you to stay a little while longer. Other times He will either ask you to leave or He will move in and make some type of change Himself to get you out from under someone else's demeaning dictatorship. We have a perfect testimony of this in the Testimonies section of our website. The title of this testimony is " Battle Prayer Against an Adverse Situation at Work." In this testimony, a friend of mine's husband came under some severe abuse from a new boss that came to work for his company. He had been with the company for a long time and he was only 5 years away from being able to retire. He didn't want to quit, but he couldn't take for much longer the severe abuse his new boss was throwing at him. My friend then went into the gap with God the Father behind the scenes - and God literally moved within a space of 12 hours to set this man completely free from this abusive boss he was working under. When he went into work the next morning, one of the higher-ups called him in and told him that they were going to transfer him to another shift because they didn't want him leaving or getting fired from this new boss. Complete and total deliverance was given to this man within 12 hours after he had been under this man's abusive rule for about 6 months - all as a result of his wife going in the gap with God the Father behind the scenes for his deliverance! If any of you have fallen into any kind of dysfunctional and abusive relationships with any of your parents, any of your spouses, any of your bosses or any of your friends - go to God the Father and ask Him how you should handle the problem. Many women are being physically abused by their boyfriends or husbands. Many young girls are being sexually abused by their fathers or someone who is close to their family. Many bosses are sexually harassing some of their female co-workers. This kind of abnormal and abusive behavior is totally unacceptable in God's eyes and He will help you to properly deal with it if you approach Him in prayer. We have another testimony in the Testimonies section of our site of a married girl who was being severely physically abused by her husband. We showed her how to plead the Blood of Jesus against him and the physical abuse - and God moved in very quickly to completely stop all of the physical abuse she had been taking over the last year or two. The title of this testimony is " Pleading the Blood Against Physical Abuse." However, on much smaller matters, there will be times that you will just have to turn your cheek and let the matter go. You are going to have to know when to engage and when to just let certain matters go as best as you can. But realize that God does have limits with His own patience, and He will move in with a very strong hand to get you delivered out of something if someone you know has started to get out of control with how they are interacting with you. Now I will give you the specific verses from Scripture that deal with this very profound truth. 1. Slave to None - Servant to AllThese first three verses will really hit the nail right on the head. They will specifically tell us that we are "not to become slaves of men" and that we are "free from all men" - but at the same time we are to be a servant to all so that we might win the more of them to God and Jesus. These verses will also tell us that we are to remain with God and His calling on our lives. The last verse I will list makes an extremely profound statement when it says that we "are the Lord's" and as such, we are to "live to the Lord" and that we are to "die to the Lord." Bottom line - we belong to God and Jesus and we work and live for Them and Them alone in this life - and no one else! These first three verses are major power verses. Here they are:
In three very powerful verses, God the Father is giving us complete and full revelation on how we should be viewing this life in respect to our relationships with Him and with the other people in our life. 2. Be Subject to Rulers and AuthoritiesThese next four verses will help keep the above three verses in proper perspective. Though God is telling us that we belong to Him and no one else in this life - we still have to be able to work in unity and harmony with other people and the only way we can do this, especially in the workplace, is that we have to be willing to be subject ourselves to those who will rule over us in some way. These next set of verses will tell us that we have to be willing to be subject to rulers and authorities, to those who will rule over us in some way, and to every ordinance of man. These verses will tell us that this will be including Kings and Governors, which means the presidents and political leaders of our countries. When the Bible says that we are to obey those who will rule over us - I believe God is telling us to respect and obey those who are in positions of leadership and authority in our lives such as our bosses, the CEO's of the company you may work for, the direct foremen or supervisors you may be reporting to and to any other leader of any other group or organization you may be working for. Jesus did not try and overthrow the Roman government when He was walking down here on our earth - and unless God is leading you to dethrone a dictator who has got completely out of control with what is happening in your work place - God will expect you to do the best you can to get along with everyone else that you will work with and to obey all of the rules that your superiors would like you to abide by. Here are 4 very good verses on this issue.
The last verse gives us a very solemn warning when it says that we will have to answer to God on our day of judgment with Him if we have not sought to obey those in authority over us. It says that if we resist and disobey our leaders - then we are disobeying God Himself, since God is the One who will be deciding who gets these types of leadership positions in the first place. These verses are also stressing the importance that we all try and get along with one another when it says we are to honor the king, to love the brotherhood, to honor all other people, to speak evil of no one and to learn how to be peaceable, gentle and showing humility to all men. If more people could learn how to abide by some of these basic principles and truths - many of our workplaces could become much more fun and healthier to work in. 3. Masters - Treat Your Servants Just and FairJust as God the Father was targeting all of us who will be working under some type of rule from our bosses and supervisors in the above verses - these next two verses from the Lord will be targeting all of those who will be ruling over us. God says that those who are in any type of leadership position over us should be making sure that they treat all of us just and fair. The words "just and fair" are two very intense words when you really look at how they apply in our workplaces. Many bosses, CEO's, foremen and supervisors are not treating a lot of their workers just and fair. They are playing favorites with certain people and running roughshod over others. Many have let their positions of leadership and authority go to their heads. As a result, none of their fellow workers want anything more to do with them. From there, communication will start to shut down and productivity will eventually end up suffering as a result. To all of you who are in supervisory positions in your jobs - grab a hold of what these next two verses are trying to tell you.
Notice the last part of the first verse when it says that you have a Master in heaven who is watching how you handle your position of leadership. If you are not treating your employees fairly and justly - then you will have to answer to God Almighty Himself on your day of judgment with Him.
Any type of leadership position given to you by God is a big promotion and a nice blessing. The Bible says that to whom much is given - much more will be expected. Don't lose sight of this big picture and what really matters the most at the end of your day and eventually at the end of your life. You will eventually be judged by God Himself with how you have handled your job and with what kind of working relationship you had established with all of those who had worked under you. 4. Submission in Your MarriageFor those of you who are married, this next verse will tell you how God wants you to interact with one another. In this verse, it says that wives are to submit to their husbands. God says that the husband is the head of the wife. He then says that Jesus is the head of the church, and just as the church is supposed to be subject to Jesus, wives are to be subject to their husbands in the same way. God is thus giving us a chain of command that is operating in His kingdom. However, just because God has told us that wives are supposed to be subject to their husbands does not give the husbands the right to abuse their wives. This verse ends with a very strong warning in that husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. In other words, you should love your wife as you would love yourself - which is part of the second greatest commandment in that you are to love one another as you would love yourself.
I know there are some Christians and other false religions that think that this gives them some type of spiritual right to be able to abuse and totally control their wives. But this view is wrong - and nothing will trigger the release of God's wrath and anger on you and your life than forcing Him to watch you verbally and physically beat your wife into complete and total submission to your will and your warped desires.
When God says for husbands to love their wives - He means for you to love them in a godly way - not in an obsessive and compulsive way where your only desire is to seek to bend them to your will and way of thinking. Here is the verse from our Lord which really puts all of this in proper perspective.
For many Christians, this verse has been a rather controversial one. But if every Christian man and every Christian woman would learn how to love and treat others in the godly way that God would like us to - then there would be no one getting out of balance with the way the Lord has worded this verse. For those of you who would like a good article on learning how to love others in the way God would like you too, we have another article in our site titled "The Power of Love." In this article, I give you some of the key verses from the Bible on the kind of love that God would like to see all of us walk and live in. ConclusionIf you can learn to put all of the revelation in the above verses in proper perspective with how you look at things in this life - then you will be going a long way in being able to be set yourself free from other people, from the fear of other people, and from the corrupt ways and ideas of this world.
Though you will have to work for and with others in the jobs you will be taking in this life - remember that you are really working for God the Father. He is the One that will be leading you to the jobs that He will be wanting you to take in this life. As a result, God will be your true Boss and your true Employer - not the company you actually work for. If you can learn to look at things from this point of view, you will be less likely to body slam and throw fits and temper tantrums when things don't go the way you think they should.
This basic principle also will apply to your social and family life. Do the best you can to keep the peace and live in harmony and unity with all of those around you and with all of those who live with you. But remember the flip side to this coin. Though there are times that God will want you to let certain matters go and to turn the other cheek - watch out for those who will try to sink their claws into you to try to abnormally control you and your life. The Bible tells us that we have to be wise as serpents but harmless as doves. There are some people out there that are just bad apples. They are masters at manipulating and controlling others for their own gain and profit. Be led by the Holy Spirit as to who you should hook up with and who you should stay away from in this life. But if by chance you have fallen into the clutches of someone who is abnormally abusing or controlling you in any way - go to God the Father in prayer and really press into Him to get His advice and counsel on how you should handle this kind of predicament - especially if this person is a spouse, a close friend, another member of your family, or if it is someone that you actually work with. We have quite a few dramatic testimonies in the Stories and Testimonies section of our website - all showing you how God can go into battle for you if you are willing to go on the offensive against whatever enemy or bad situation that may have come your way. Per the article I did titled " Battle Verses of the Bible" - God the Father will go into battle for you if you have been caught in one of these more extreme, dysfunctional and unhealthy relationships with someone who you may know or work with.
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> Michael Bradley Scripture taken from New King James
Version. |
nce again, the apostle Paul comes in with
a very powerful revelation from God the Father on how we
should look at ourselves in respect to our relationship
with God and Jesus and in our relationships with other
people in our life.
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