Last week, I published the blog titled Justice and Peace. We discussed the moment sin entered the Earth. You know the story! Satan tricked Eve into eating from the tree of knowledge, and Adam followed suit. For years, I’ve focused on the sin and the punishment; however, the good news is that God had a plan to defeat Satan from the very beginning. His plan was Jesus. Jesus would be born of a virgin and he would die for our sins, so we would never have to experience death again. In other words, justice was served on the cross and we have peace because he lives on the inside of us. Of course, that doesn’t stop Satan from “trying” to keep us in bondage. I use the word “try,” because Jesus paid the price for our freedom before the “land of the free” was ever discovered.
Yet, 400 years ago, the enemy attempted to rewrite history. Like Eve in the garden, he tricked merchants into believing that Africans were property; property that could be sold, stolen, or traded for goods such as guns, alcohol, and cloth to people from the “New World.” (History tells us that the “New World” is another name for the Americas.) I find it predictable that Satan is there once again to disrupt someone’s beginning. He made Eve believe God was not being straight with her at the beginning of creation. According to Satan, God -the creator, by the way- was concerned about her becoming equal to him. That was a lie!
Now, the same people who came to the “New World” for religious freedom were tricked into believing that the only way they could succeed in the agricultural industry was to enslave their brothers and sisters in Christ, and deny them access to Christ. This is clear because slave owners would use scriptures in the bible to justify slavery. According to research, approximately 90% of the Old Testament was removed. For example, no one taught them anything about Moses and his plea to Pharaoh to let his people go in the book of Exodus. 50% of the New Testament was removed from the slave bible. Galatians 3:28 NIV was conveniently left out the book. It reads, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” However, Ephesians 6: 5-8 NIV was ingrained in their mind. It states, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.”
You see, many people feel that slavery was about agricultural needs; however, I am led to believe that it was Satan’s trick to separate us from the love of God. He knows “the word” from beginning to end. He knew which parts to delete and he knew which parts to keep. However, I have news for the enemy. It didn’t work! We were bought with a price. We- which includes the slave merchant, slave owner, slaves, and the descendants of all- are loved by the Father and we are all forgiven. We are not defined by your trickery. We are defined by his love for us!
#Just think about it#
#Then, go to the Father and pray about it#
#Soul Searching with our Father#
