Here is another question: Is The Lord Jesus Christ interested in man's 'achievements' i.e. all those things that man can do, and does do, under his own strength? Well yes, up to a point but then again no, because The Lord Jesus Christ created man in the first place. He was therefore, and is, perfectly well aware of what His creation is capable of 'achieving'; including the past, now and in the future.

When man fell in the Garden of Eden he acquired the knowledge of good and evil through eating the fruit of the tree he was commanded not to eat. Now because man has acquired the knowledge of good and evil he is, therefore, quite capable of doing both things. This in turn can depend very much upon outside influences, his mood swings, general disposition and/or his motives. His 'doing good' or what we call 'do-gooding' does not come from the Godhead; it comes from the man himself. Man therefore is very able at doing evil i.e. enslaving people and also very able at do-gooding i.e. abolishing slavery. All this 'slavery' and/or 'abolition of slavery' thing is, is an active demonstration of man's fallen condition, nothing else. I hope you can now see why The Lord Jesus C

Since reporting that event there has been considerable press coverage with images that I found to be the most wretched, phoney and pathetic I have ever witnessed. Young and not so young white men with fake chains and shackles around their legs and wrists wearing T Shirts with 'So Sorry' emblazoned across the front of them parading themselves for all to see. Some were even down on their knees grovelling on the ground. Now this may appear to some of you as OK, even all very fine, but in reality what does it say about them and what does it prove? Has their wretched grovelling proved anything and has it changed anything? No. Has their irresponsible, immature emotional behaviour changed history? No. Will their behaviour make them 'feel better'? Very unlikely as it's the permanent guilt that 'keeps them going', it makes them 'feel good' and feel 'righteous'. This is how wretched they are. Has this behaviour made a positive impression on the black people of South London? I very much doubt it and if I were a black person I would consider it a patronising insult and treat the whole phoney episode with contempt. So what's it all about and would Jesus Christ have joined them in their little parade of false remorse for the cameras. I don't think so, in fact I know so. The only anniversaries The Lord Jesus Christ will be interested in, if any, will be the future anniversaries of the commencement of His Kingdom here on this earth when He returns. None of man's activities in this age will be remembered nor commemorated by way of an anniversary in God's Kingdom, if anything The Lord will want them all forgotten!

The question now is this: how can I be so sure The Lord Jesus Christ would not join in this celebration? To answer that we need to understand the origins of slavery and ask ourselves why the Lord Jesus Christ allowed it to take place at all? The answer to that question can be found in Genesis 9 where we read of The Lord's curse on Canaan through Noah because of his father's sin - verses 25-27. Ham, Canaan's father, 'saw his father's nakedness' which in Biblical language can be interpreted that he had sexual intercourse with his father whilst his father was in a drunken sleep. Some commentators have interpreted these Scriptures to mean that Noah's nakedness was his wife's nakedness and Ham, therefore, had sexual relations with his mother. Either way Ham was in serious trouble and so were his descendants.

Am I saying that Canaan and his descendants were black? Yes. How do I know that? Easy, Cush, Canaan's brother was black; Cush literally means 'black'. All dark and brown skinned people are descended from Ham. OK, back to this curse by The Lord through Noah upon Canaan and here are the verses:

Genesis 9:24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

The word 'servant' here means a 'bondman' or a man in bondage - a slave. Canaan and his descendants were to be slaves and even worse than that, slaves of slaves. Notice too, that they were also to be slaves of the descendants of Shem (white people) and slaves of the descendants of Japheth (yellow people). They also became slaves of slaves. Many slave masters promoted certain numbers of their slaves to the positions of overseers and managers on their plantations and that meant they had authority over their fellow slaves - they became slaves of slaves.

Here is another truth; Africans were sold to white slave traders, but by whom? Other Africans, black people sold their own kind into slavery. Captains or commanders of slave ships didn't capture the Africans they took on board their ships; they had already been captured by other Africans. This was a lucrative business for all concerned, not just the ship's masters and owners. These facts are conveniently forgotten, deliberately played down or just ignored by those in the west who seem to want to continually beat themselves up about a time in our history that we can do nothing about nor change.

Here is another question; if these people had been celebrating the 200th anniversary of the British abolition of murder do you think The Lord Jesus Christ would have joined in? Do you think He would have joined in, when black youths, in drug gang wars, are being murdered on the very same streets of South London? We need to understand that slavery on this earth has never gone away - it still goes on - especially in the sex industry. The British abolishing it didn't bring it to an end.

Here is another question: Is The Lord Jesus Christ interested in man's 'achievements' i.e. all those things that man can do, and does do, under his own strength? Well yes, up to a point but then again no, because The Lord Jesus Christ created man in the first place. He was therefore, and is, perfectly well aware of what His creation is capable of 'achieving'; including the past, now and in the future.

When man fell in the Garden of Eden he acquired the knowledge of good and evil through eating the fruit of the tree he was commanded not to eat. Now because man has acquired the knowledge of good and evil he is, therefore, quite capable of doing both things. This in turn can depend very much upon outside influences, his mood swings, general disposition and/or his motives. His 'doing good' or what we call 'do-gooding' does not come from the Godhead; it comes from the man himself. Man therefore is very able at doing evil i.e. enslaving people and also very able at do-gooding i.e. abolishing slavery. All this 'slavery' and/or 'abolition of slavery' thing is, is an active demonstration of man's fallen condition, nothing else. I hope you can now see why The Lord Jesus Ch

The question now is this: how can I be so sure The Lord Jesus Christ would not join in this celebration? To answer that we need to understand the origins of slavery and ask ourselves why the Lord Jesus Christ allowed it to take place at all? The answer to that question can be found in Genesis 9 where we read of The Lord's curse on Canaan through Noah because of his father's sin - verses 25-27. Ham, Canaan's father, 'saw his father's nakedness' which in Biblical language can be interpreted that he had sexual intercourse with his father whilst his father was in a drunken sleep. Some commentators have interpreted these Scriptures to mean that Noah's nakedness was his wife's nakedness and Ham, therefore, had sexual relations with his mother. Either way Ham was in serious trouble and so were his descendants.

Am I saying that Canaan and his descendants were black? Yes. How do I know that? Easy, Cush, Canaan's brother was black; Cush literally means 'black'. All dark and brown skinned people are descended from Ham. OK, back to this curse by The Lord through Noah upon Canaan and here are the verses:

Genesis 9:24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

The word 'servant' here means a 'bondman' or a man in bondage - a slave. Canaan and his descendants were to be slaves and even worse than that, slaves of slaves. Notice too, that they were also to be slaves of the descendants of Shem (white people) and slaves of the descendants of Japheth (yellow people). They also became slaves of slaves. Many slave masters promoted certain numbers of their slaves to the positions of overseers and managers on their plantations and that meant they had authority over their fellow slaves - they became slaves of slaves.

Here is another truth; Africans were sold to white slave traders, but by whom? Other Africans, black people sold their own kind into slavery. Captains or commanders of slave ships didn't capture the Africans they took on board their ships; they had already been captured by other Africans. This was a lucrative business for all concerned, not just the ship's masters and owners. These facts are conveniently forgotten, deliberately played down or just ignored by those in the west who seem to want to continually beat themselves up about a time in our history that we can do nothing about nor change.

Here is another question; if these people had been celebrating the 200th anniversary of the British abolition of murder do you think The Lord Jesus Christ would have joined in? Do you think He would have joined in, when black youths, in drug gang wars, are being murdered on the very same streets of South London? We need to understand that slavery on this earth has never gone away - it still goes on - especially in the sex industry. The British abolishing it didn't bring it to an end.

Here is another question: Is The Lord Jesus Christ interested in man's 'achievements' i.e. all those things that man can do, and does do, under his own strength? Well yes, up to a point but then again no, because The Lord Jesus Christ created man in the first place. He was therefore, and is, perfectly well aware of what His creation is capable of 'achieving'; including the past, now and in the future.

When man fell in the Garden of Eden he acquired the knowledge of good and evil through eating the fruit of the tree he was commanded not to eat. Now because man has acquired the knowledge of good and evil he is, therefore, quite capable of doing both things. This in turn can depend very much upon outside influences, his mood swings, general disposition and/or his motives. His 'doing good' or what we call 'do-gooding' does not come from the Godhead; it comes from the man himself. Man therefore is very able at doing evil i.e. enslaving people and also very able at do-gooding i.e. abolishing slavery. All this 'slavery' and/or 'abolition of slavery' thing is, is an active demonstration of man's fallen condition, nothing else. I hope you can now see why The Lord Jesus C

Am I saying that Canaan and his descendants were black? Yes. How do I know that? Easy, Cush, Canaan's brother was black; Cush literally means 'black'. All dark and brown skinned people are descended from Ham. OK, back to this curse by The Lord through Noah upon Canaan and here are the verses:

Genesis 9:24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

The word 'servant' here means a 'bondman' or a man in bondage - a slave. Canaan and his descendants were to be slaves and even worse than that, slaves of slaves. Notice too, that they were also to be slaves of the descendants of Shem (white people) and slaves of the descendants of Japheth (yellow people). They also became slaves of slaves. Many slave masters promoted certain numbers of their slaves to the positions of overseers and managers on their plantations and that meant they had authority over their fellow slaves - they became slaves of slaves.

Here is another truth; Africans were sold to white slave traders, but by whom? Other Africans, black people sold their own kind into slavery. Captains or commanders of slave ships didn't capture the Africans they took on board their ships; they had already been captured by other Africans. This was a lucrative business for all concerned, not just the ship's masters and owners. These facts are conveniently forgotten, deliberately played down or just ignored by those in the west who seem to want to continually beat themselves up about a time in our history that we can do nothing about nor change.

Here is another question; if these people had been celebrating the 200th anniversary of the British abolition of murder do you think The Lord Jesus Christ would have joined in? Do you think He would have joined in, when black youths, in drug gang wars, are being murdered on the very same streets of South London? We need to understand that slavery on this earth has never gone away - it still goes on - especially in the sex industry. The British abolishing it didn't bring it to an end.

Here is another question: Is The Lord Jesus Christ interested in man's 'achievements' i.e. all those things that man can do, and does do, under his own strength? Well yes, up to a point but then again no, because The Lord Jesus Christ created man in the first place. He was therefore, and is, perfectly well aware of what His creation is capable of 'achieving'; including the past, now and in the future.

When man fell in the Garden of Eden he acquired the knowledge of good and evil through eating the fruit of the tree he was commanded not to eat. Now because man has acquired the knowledge of good and evil he is, therefore, quite capable of doing both things. This in turn can depend very much upon outside influences, his mood swings, general disposition and/or his motives. His 'doing good' or what we call 'do-gooding' does not come from the Godhead; it comes from the man himself. Man therefore is very able at doing evil i.e. enslaving people and also very able at do-gooding i.e. abolishing slavery. All this 'slavery' and/or 'abolition of slavery' thing is, is an active demonstration of man's fallen condition, nothing else. I hope you can now see why The Lord Jesus C

Here is another truth; Africans were sold to white slave traders, but by whom? Other Africans, black people sold their own kind into slavery. Captains or commanders of slave ships didn't capture the Africans they took on board their ships; they had already been captured by other Africans. This was a lucrative business for all concerned, not just the ship's masters and owners. These facts are conveniently forgotten, deliberately played down or just ignored by those in the west who seem to want to continually beat themselves up about a time in our history that we can do nothing about nor change.

Here is another question; if these people had been celebrating the 200th anniversary of the British abolition of murder do you think The Lord Jesus Christ would have joined in? Do you think He would have joined in, when black youths, in drug gang wars, are being murdered on the very same streets of South London? We need to understand that slavery on this earth has never gone away - it still goes on - especially in the sex industry. The British abolishing it didn't bring it to an end.

Here is another question: Is The Lord Jesus Christ interested in man's 'achievements' i.e. all those things that man can do, and does do, under his own strength? Well yes, up to a point but then again no, because The Lord Jesus Christ created man in the first place. He was therefore, and is, perfectly well aware of what His creation is capable of 'achieving'; including the past, now and in the future.

When man fell in the Garden of Eden he acquired the knowledge of good and evil through eating the fruit of the tree he was commanded not to eat. Now because man has acquired the knowledge of good and evil he is, therefore, quite capable of doing both things. This in turn can depend very much upon outside influences, his mood swings, general disposition and/or his motives. His 'doing good' or what we call 'do-gooding' does not come from the Godhead; it comes from the man himself. Man therefore is very able at doing evil i.e. enslaving people and also very able at do-gooding i.e. abolishing slavery. All this 'slavery' and/or 'abolition of slavery' thing is, is an active demonstration of man's fallen condition, nothing else. I hope you can now see why The Lord Jesus C

Here is another question: Is The Lord Jesus Christ interested in man's 'achievements' i.e. all those things that man can do, and does do, under his own strength? Well yes, up to a point but then again no, because The Lord Jesus Christ created man in the first place. He was therefore, and is, perfectly well aware of what His creation is capable of 'achieving'; including the past, now and in the future.

When man fell in the Garden of Eden he acquired the knowledge of good and evil through eating the fruit of the tree he was commanded not to eat. Now because man has acquired the knowledge of good and evil he is, therefore, quite capable of doing both things. This in turn can depend very much upon outside influences, his mood swings, general disposition and/or his motives. His 'doing good' or what we call 'do-gooding' does not come from the Godhead; it comes from the man himself. Man therefore is very able at doing evil i.e. enslaving people and also very able at do-gooding i.e. abolishing slavery. All this 'slavery' and/or 'abolition of slavery' thing is, is an active demonstration of man's fallen condition, nothing else. I hope you can now see why The Lord Jesus Christ would not be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the British abolition of slavery. Slavery and its abolition have got nothing to do with The Lord Jesus Christ, but everything to do with man and his 'achievements' within the bounds of his wretched fallen condition.

What does The Lord Jesus Christ say about slavery anyway? Let's go to Ephesians to find out: Ephesians 6:5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; In the above verse we can see another example of translators tinkering with the Word of God. In the Greek, the word for 'servants' is 'doulos' which means slaves. So here we have The Lord Jesus Christ through Paul saying to slaves "be good obedient slaves" not rebellious "I want my freedom" slaves. In verse 9, verse 5 is supported with: And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him. Here we have The Lord Jesus Christ through Paul telling slave masters to be kind and just toward their slaves. There is neither one jot nor an inkling of the suggestion that the status quo of the slave master and slave arrangement should be changed or rebelled against.

Here is concrete evidence that The Lord Jesus Christ did not come to change this world nor did He leave any instructions with His Apostles to do so either. There is, therefore, no way The Lord Jesus Christ would have celebrated the 200th anniversary of the British abolition of slavery.

Would Jesus Christ have 'made a stand' against apartheid? To answer this and affirm what I have said above, what we have to understand is that Jesus Christ did not come the first time i.e. in the first century to change this world (age) nor its systems of governance, nor in fact, people's sinful lifestyles. He came to take away all the sins of mankind and allow the Father time to draw those He had predestined, to His Son - the gift of Gracious Salvation to those being called and to no one else. Apartheid was just another of man's systems of governance (like the Roman Empire in Christ's time) and the impetus to change it or abolish it, was from man or from liberal 'do-gooding' men - self-righteous zealous men. The issue of 'human rights' is also tied up in this apartheid thing as well but I will not go into that here.

What many mainstream Christians forget is the Barabbas character in the account of The Lord Jesus Christ's trial. He is mentioned in God's Word for good reason, for Barabbas was big on regime change, he was a zealot and he wanted the Romans out of Judea!! He wanted freedom and independence for the Jews. Had he been alive during the apartheid era he would have been big on regime change in South Africa too. He would have fought tooth and nail to get the white man out of power in South Africa and he would definitely have been big on 'human rights'.

Back to the trial of the Lord Jesus Christ and we know the story don't we? The crowd (representing all of mankind) called out for Barabbas to be released, not The Lord Jesus Christ. Barabbas was a man after their own hearts, a man with whom they had much in common, a man they could relate too. Barabbas was their hero - a freedom fighter. The Lord Jesus Christ was a 'nobody' when compared with Barabbas. The Lord Jesus Christ might as well have been a foreign invader from outer space such was their hatred for Him.

OK so Barabbas was big on regime change, but was The Lord Jesus Christ big on regime change? No He wasn't, not then, but He will be in the future when He returns to shepherd the nations of this earth with a rod of iron - the biggest regime change you will ever see.

Finally, did Barabbas win in his zeal to remove the Romans from Judea? Not a chance, for in 70 AD, less than 40 years later, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem completely - they razed it to the ground. It will be very interesting to see what becomes of South Africa over the next thirty years or so. If Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) is anything to go by I don't hold out much hope for it. Keep your eyes on the news folks and witness all the end time results of man's self-righteous do-gooding!!

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Would The Lord Jesus Christ have 'made a stand' against apartheid, no way?

Will The Lord Jesus Christ bring an end to slavery (because it still goes on today, even in 2007)? Oh yes, but not until He returns to take His Throne as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Charles Crosby