Many Christians hold a very negative view of work and they trace the biblical view of work back to the Fall andend up with the conclusion that work is bad or evil. But others travel back further in Scripture and see that God gave humanity the gift of work in the Garden of Eden before sin entered the world. But even further back than that we see that God was working in the creation recorded in Gen 1.
God’s work is not cursed; it is not sinful or evil. God’s work is not laborious but rather like that of a great composer at work, it is a work filled with joy, displays God’s creative energy and power. God is not held up by obstacles or has to strain to give shape to the physical elements. He speaks the creation into being.
Yet this activity of God creating the world has to be seen as work
Gen 2:2
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
God creates three environments in days 1-3 and then in days 4-6 he fills those environments. In day 4 he fills the environment that he made in day one and in day 5 he fills the environment that he made in day 2 and in day 6 he fills the environment that he made in day 3.
God’s work did not stop with the creation of the world. His work continues throughout the whole of history.
For example, he continues to protect his people
Ps 121
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
The works of God can be listed under four headings:
•Creation
•Providence
•Judgment
•Redemption
In the life of Christ, we see that he was a worker. He served as a carpenter until the age of 30. During his public ministry he constantly referred to his work
John 9:4
4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
John 4:34
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
John 5:17
In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”
The God of the Bible is presented as a worker. The Bible wastes no time in conveying what it thinks about work, for it portrays the very act of creation as the work of God: "And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done" (Gen. 2:2, ESV). And lest we think God is only resting and not now working, Jesus tells us, "My Father is working until now, and I am working" (John 5:17). God is the ultimate workman, which loads the act of work itself with inherent meaning, significance, and dignity.
This gives a significance and a dignity to work. The work of God, even though it is unique, remains a model for human work. It affirms that work is good and godlike in principle. The work of God is creative, orderly, and constructive. God’s work is universal benefiting all people and creatures. It declares the very nature of God and bears his imprint or signature. Human work can do no better than emulate God’s work.
God’s work is good
There is an additional principle that emerges from God’s work of creation. When God
Gen 1:31
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
The creation that God made and declared good in principle is the God-given sphere in which people do their work
Ps 24:1
1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,the world, and all who live in it;
Therefore, we can draw the conclusion that work in the world can be thought of as God’s work. By removing any stigma from the material world itself, the Christian doctrine of creation also takes away the reproach that other traditions have placed upon earthly work. The Christian doctrine of creation at once renders impossible any dichotomy between the earthly and the sacred. The world has value to God and therefore to his creatures who live and work in it.
The Image of God in people
From the doctrine of creation also arises the fact that the God who is a worker makes people in his own image
Gen 1:26-27
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
We were created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26, 27), which means that we relate to him, resemble him, and rule under him. God commands that we "subdue" the earth and "have dominion over" it. It doesn't say "plunder and pillage," doing whatever we want with the earth. Rather, as God's image bearers we are to use our God-given creativity and responsibility to use the earth for godly purposes. For Adam and Eve, part of what this meant was that they were to "work" and "keep" the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:15).
Of course there are many aspects to what it means to be made in the image and the likeness of God. But one obvious similarity between God and people made in his image is that they are both workers. This link between God’s work and human work is made explicit in the fourth commandment
Ex 20:9-11
9 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
People work because God who created them in his image works. Human work has meaning partly because it expresses the divine image in people.
God worked not because he had to work but because he wanted to
Rev 4:11
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
Dorothy Sayers said
[Work] should … be thought of as a creative activity, undertaken for the love of the work itself; and … man, made in God’s image, should make things, as God makes them, for the sake of doing well a thing that is well worth doing … Work is the natural exercise and function of man – the creature who is made in the image of the Creator.
Work as a Creation ordinance
In creating man and woman in his image God commanded them
Gen 1:26
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
This is more than a mere command to engage in agriculture. It does embrace of course the idea of the control and stewardship of the physical environment. But it is also a cultural mandate – a command by God to work through culture and civilisation as well as to farm the ground.
The very fact that God commanded such work shows that human work is part of the divine plane for history. It is a human necessity in the eyes of God.
Ps 104 praises the provisions that God has made for the natural creation
Ps 104 :19-23
19 He made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.
23 Then people go out to their work,
to their labour until evening.
Work is as much of the natural order as is the rising of the sun. The failure to work, whether through a person’s choice or circumstances beyond one’s control, is abnormal and unnatural. To work is to carry on God’s delegated task for creation, making the fullness of creation fuller.
The Motivation to work
The reason that people should work today is not just to make a living, nor to gain luxuries, nor to succeed the eyes of the world, but because it is part of God’s plan for humanity to have dominion and rule the world. This approach to daily work enables us to realise that our contribution, however small it appears, fits into God’s pattern for developing the world.
Work in Eden
In the Greek Classical tradition their view was that work entered the world as a curse and punishment. Work did not exist in the Golden Age. The biblical tradition is sometimes misrepresented as having the same attitude, but this is not correct.
Work was part of God’s provision in the Garden of Eden before the Fall
Gen 2:15
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
The Reformers referred to this verse because it shows clearly that work is part of God’s original purpose for human life. Idleness is not the goal of human life, contrary to the Greek view of the state of innocence as endless leisure.
Milton in his portrayal of life in Eden I Paradise Lost repeatedly emphasise that work in Paradise was not only pleasant but also necessary.
Work and the Fall
When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, we did too. Their debt was transferred over to our spiritual account. The entire world was also subjected to futility (Rom. 8:20). That means that human work, which used to be enjoyable, was now filled with things like thorns, thistles and sweat (see Gen. 3:17–19). Post-fall work is hard and marked by difficulties. (Murphy's law — which I frequently experience! — says that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. But Murphy's law didn't exist in the Garden of Eden and, praise God, it won't exist in the new heavens and new earth.)
God is transforming us into the image of His Son.
If the story ended with the fall of man, the marring of his image and the frustration of work it would be a tragic tale. But thanks be to God, the story continues. Jesus Christ "is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of [that is, the ruler, the preeminent one over] all creation" (Col. 1:15). We are still in God's image, but the reflection is damaged by sin. Jesus Christ perfectly reflects and represents His Father.
And the great news is that because of the cross, those who trust in Him become transformed from those who "have born the image of the man of dust [that is, Adam]" into those who will "bear the image of the man of heaven [that is, Jesus]" (1 Cor. 15:49). We are being conformed into the image of the Son (Rom. 8:29), which means that the work we do should reflect that reality.
God calls us to our vocations.
Things in my life are not ultimately up to me: where I live, whom I marry, where I work, etc. Even though it's true that I make genuine choices and am truly responsible, it's also true that God planned each of my days before I was even born (Ps. 139:16).
Your "vocation" is more than just your job, and it's more than just your preference or choice. Rather, your vocation is what God has called you to do. Vocations change during seasons of your life. There may be a season where your primary vocation is "son" or "daughter." Then the Lord may add the vocation of being a "brother" or "sister." In another chapter of life you may take on the additional role of being "father" or "mother." Someday he may add "grandpa" or "grandma."
1 Cor. 7:17 is a profoundly important verse for understanding that God determines our various vocations: "Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches." Wherever we are called, we are to be faithful.
God commands that we work quietly and honestly in order to provide for ourselves and others.
When we think of Scriptural condemnations we tend to think about the big, red-letter sins:
ADULTERY.
MURDER.
BLASPHEMY.
But tucked into the Pastoral Epistles is a very sober and startling warning against laziness: "But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Tim. 5:8). It says that someone who doesn't work and provide has not only "denied the faith" but is "worse than an unbeliever." In fact, Paul says elsewhere that if someone is not willing to work, then he shouldn't be given something to eat (2 Thess. 3:10).
The Bible affirms the goodness and beauty of good, simple, quiet hard work. Paul commends working quietly and earning a living (2 Thess. 3:11). He says that believers should "aspire to live quietly, and to mind [their] own affairs, and to work with [their] hands." Why? Two reasons: (1) so that they "may walk properly before outsiders" and (2) "be dependent on no one" (1 Thess. 4:11-12; compare Eph. 4:28).
John 3:16 is a great verse — but if you rearrange the numbers in the reference just a bit, you come up with a much lesser known verse: 3 John 1:6. When talking about missionaries, it says, "You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God." The church needs people who will go out and preach the gospel so that every tribe and tongue and nation will heard the glorious good news. But the church also needs senders who stay behind and raise the money and send them out in a God-glorifying way. The kingdom of God has no second-class citizens. We are called to honour God, whether we go and spread, or stay and send.
God calls us to work unto His glory.
1 Corinthians 10:31 should fly like a banner over every term paper, over every e-mail, over every break, over every meeting, over every to-do list: "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
At our jobs we obviously want to respect our co-workers and honour and please our boss. But ultimately we are not to be looking over our shoulder but above our heads as we work: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ" (Col. 3:23-24).
As mentioned above, one of the purposes of work is to put food on the table — for us and for our family. But earning that bread should never be our ultimate goal, as Jesus said: "Do not labour for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you." How should we strive to live as godly, God-glorifying works? Few have summed it up better than John Piper: "the essence of our work as humans must be that it is done in conscious reliance on God's power, and in conscious quest of God's pattern of excellence, and in deliberate aim to reflect God's glory."
As we think about our tasks for the week ahead — or about the vocations God has called us to for this season of our lives — some will be great fun, and some will be difficult. But let us encourage each other that God has called us, God knows what He is doing, and we must see and honour God in everything that we do, big or small.