In those early days, in the beginning of my relationship with God, as I sat at the feet of the Master reading the Bible and being taught by the Holy Spirit as my teacher, I came upon an unusual situation in the Holy Scriptures. I knew that I had become a son of God but people who would have originally known Jesus intimately referred to themselves differently. These people were ones he had taught to say to God “Our Father in Heaven.” These were Apostles who he called “friends” “brother.” We have ones who like the Apostle Paul who gave us the revelation that “We are seated in heavenly places with Christ” (Ephesians 2: 5-6), these men all seemed to refer to themselves completely different in their relationship with God and Jesus – not as sons, not even as freedmen but as slaves. Can you imagine?
Paul the greatest apostle to the gentiles refers to himself, Philippians 1:1, as a servant of Christ. In the Greek, in which the New Testament was originally written, this word translated to “servant” is the word “duolos” and is actually closer translated as “a slave.” “attendant” or “one who gives up their will for another.” In Romans 1:1 again Paul refers to himself as a, “slave of Christ Jesus.” In Titus 1:1, he calls himself “A slave of God.”
Paul was not alone in using such references. James, the half-brother of our Lord; and the Head of the Church at Jerusalem does not say, “James, the brother of Jesus and Senior Bishop.” He says in James 1:1: “James a slave of God and the Lord Jesus.” Then Peter, to whom the Lord Jesus had said “upon this rock I will build my church,” this Peter in 2 Peter 1:1, refers to himself as “Simon Peter a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ.” Another brother of Jesus, Jude refers to himself in Jude 1 as “Jude a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.” and then as a final example, the disciple who said confidently he was “the one whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23), in Revelation 1:1, he refers to himself as “his slave John.”
Every one of them as you can see identifies himself as a slave of Christ - chosen, bought, owned, subjected, dependent, disciplined, rewarded, provided for, protected, and obedient. It was a very offensive message to the original hearers and even more so today, where some groups of people, like African Americans who were formerly enslaved. And yet this is the language chosen by the Holy Spirit.
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