Is this what I think it means?

reply to post by Solo954

I believe were not created to become slaves or property to him. We were created to be creative on purpose.

That got you a star.

We are told in Genesis that we are created in the image of God. Yet, we are also told throughout the Bible that God is a spirit and not flesh. The only way I can reconcile this is that our spirit was created in the likeness of the spirit of God. Indeed, in Genesis are we not told that the exile from Eden was due to this very fact?
Source: www.apostolic-churches.net...

The one thing God does without a reason is to create. There was no man praying or asking God to create the world. No one is mentioned as having to convince God to create the angels. I had the honor of meeting a man one time on a bus ride who was Jewish. He told me, during our conversation, an interesting fact about the Jewish observance of the Sabbath: the restriction is not one of work, as we understand work today, but of creation. For instance, the lighting of the candles must be done before the Sabbath, because it is the creation of light. Even flipping a switch can be seen as an act of creation of light. Therefore, the candles are lit, and to darken the room, they are covered, so the light is still existent.

I create machines, and there is no greater joy in my life than watching something I have designed and built work. I swear, it's better than sex! There's a sense of accomplishment, of fulfillment, and it continues every time I see my 'creation'. It s a sad fact of life that we as a people have given up this creation instinct in favor of conformance to some established status-quo.

As to your original question, I see the reference to slavery as simply the way things were between men at the time. The message that should transcend time and tradition is that whatever one does, they should do as though they were doing it for God, not just as a way to get by until payday or be allowed food and not whipped that evening. In one sense of the word, we are all slaves to someone. Everyone today has a boss, or a greater authority above them. No man is king of the world, and even kings are slaves to things like old age and sickness and the laws of physics. No man on earth today is God; therefore we can all be seen as slaves to some extent.

Even society recognizes that the worker who will perform conscientiously without constant supervision is a prize worthy of promotion.

TheRedneck

In the days that THAT verse was written, and many many years before it was written, a person of God could give him or her self as a slave. They had a limited time that they had to remain a slave. Then they were free to go, unless after their time as a slave they wanted to be a slave for life.

God has ALLOWED slavery that is a mutual agreement between the "master" and the "slave". In actuality, it is the same thing when a person seeks employment. It is just that we no longer call it slavery. Many of us are still treated as slaves, especially in the workplace, because it is actually a form of slavery.

There are also other cultures that have a non-agreement type of slavery where slavery is forced on an individual. I do not think there is anywhere in the Bible where FORCED SLAVERY is the right thing to do.

God did prophecy that FORCED SLAVERY would come upon various cultures because they no longer retained God in their thoughts, and God warned that if they did not put Him in the foremost of their thoughts that an enemy would come along and force them either into slavery or death.

WILLING SLAVERY is not against God's principals, because it is usually a binding contract between two parties that is agreed upon. But, the "master" is supposed to be UNDERSTANDING about the fact that someone has given themselves into slavery. The "master" is supposed to treat the "slave" with respect, and treat the slaves with dignity, because slavery is not a nice status to be in! I mean, being a slave to someone other than God is a HUMBLING state of being to be in!

I, personally, have gotten free from the slave master attitude of the US workplace! God has blessed me to be able to be free from jerks that know you need the job, so they treat you as if you are a less than a dog. And, if you just simply ask them to stop belittling you, they fire you!

As Paul said, It is better to be free than to be a slave! If a person can find the way, or be blessed with a way, to escape being employed by someone, then they have become free indeed!

I know because Jesus has set me free!