September 18, 2022

Genesis 2:1-3: God’s Work and Ours

Preacher: Josh Tancordo Series: Genesis: In the Beginning Topic: Default Scripture: Genesis 2:1–3

Genesis 2:1-3: God’s Work and Ours

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Genesis, and today the next passage we come to is Genesis 2:1-3. It says,

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 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. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we thank you for the gift of your Word. And we pray what Jesus prayed in John 17—sanctify us in the truth, your word is truth. We understand, from this, that your Word isn’t just true but the very standard of truth itself. So please use your Word by your Spirit to sanctify Your people. And we pray this in Jesus’ name, amen. 

Most of our lives is spent doing work. In all likelihood, most of us spend more time working than we do on anything else—especially if you take into account the work that’s done that doesn’t involve a paycheck. Yet, even if we’re just talking about the kind of work that we’d call our “jobs” and that we’re paid to do, we spend an incredible portion of our lives working—usually at least five out of every seven days. 

Yet, from what I’ve observed, most people—and even most Christians—are in sort of a fog about the meaning and significance of our work. So many of us spend so much time working and yet have almost no idea about how our work could possibly be a spiritually significant thing. Like, how could working at a car dealership or an insurance agency or a factory or a financial institution or a fast-food restaurant be spiritually significant? And so, for many, if not most, people, they go to work primarily so that they can earn a paycheck. Maybe you’ve seen the popular bumper sticker that says, “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.” That encapsulates the mentality that many people have toward their jobs. And, of course, paying our bills is no small matter, and I certainly don’t want to minimize that. But is receiving a paycheck really the foundational reason why we work? Many people seem to operate on that assumption. They put in their hours at work so that they can pay the bills, but what they’re really looking forward to is the weekend. They’ve gotta do what they’ve gotta do Monday through Friday, but the weekend…that’s where it’s at. 

Yet, when you think about it, that’s kind of a sad way to live. I mean, are five out of seven days in our lives really just these throwaway days that are only useful because they help us enjoy the other two days? That’s kind of depressing, isn’t it? Yet, that’s the way many Christians go through their lives—viewing work as, at best, a spiritually meaningless activity, and, at worst, a necessary evil. Either way, it’s something that we unfortunately have to do if we want to have the money to live an otherwise enjoyable life. Of course, according to this mindset, some people might be called to “spiritual” careers like being a pastor or a cross-cultural missionary, but for everyone else, they just kind of have to suck it up and get through the workweek. That’s the mentality it seems a lot of Christians have. 

But what if I told you that that’s not at all what the Bible teaches about work—that, according to Scripture, work is actually something that’s filled with spiritual significance? Well, I believe that’s the case and that the biblical view of work is indeed radically different than the way many Christians approach their work. And, like I said, this includes not only the kind of work we get paid for but also work that doesn’t involve financial compensation. So this applies to the stay-at-home mom just as much as it does to those who work outside the home. 

And the biblical view of work begins—as so many things do—in the first two chapters of Genesis and especially in our main passage of Genesis 2:1-3. These verses show us that God engages in work and calls us to engage in work as well. That’s the main idea we’ll be looking at from these verses. God engages in work and calls us to engage in work as well. Now, next time, we’ll look at the opposite side of the coin and consider what these verses have to say to us about rest. That’s also a very important concept. But before we talk about rest, there’s a whole lot for us to talk about this morning regarding work. And my hope is that, by the end of this message, you’ll be able to walk into work tomorrow morning—or start engaging in your work wherever you do it—with an entirely different mentality. I hope each one of us can engage in our work with a distinct sense of purpose and find wonderful fulfillment in our work as we grow in our appreciation of its spiritual significance. 

Genesis 2 records the immediate aftermath of the six days of creation recorded in Genesis 1. Genesis 1 was a description of how God created everything in this universe from the smallest particle to the largest galaxy. That was the first workweek. The first workweek in the history of the world was God’s workweek in Genesis 1. We then read in verses 1-2 of our main passage, 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 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. So, as you can see, the word “work” occurs two times here and emphasizes that God did indeed engage in work. He didn’t consider work to be somehow beneath him but engaged in it and even took delight in it. 

If you remember back to Genesis 1, we find it stated six times that God created such-and-such and “saw that it was good.” Then, after creating everything, Genesis 1:31 states that “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” So, God took a moment to survey the work he had done and thought to himself, “Man, that’s a good-lookin’ universe.” Perhaps you’ve done that sometimes with your work. Maybe you do some things to get your lawn into a better condition and see those interventions start to take effect and think to yourself, “Man, that’s a good-lookin’ lawn.” In fact, I’ll do that every now and then with the church sign that you see up there near the road. I had a big part in designing that sign, so sometimes, I’ll just kind of stop my car up at the entrance to the property and look at that sign and think to myself, “That is one good-lookin’ sign.” And that’s what God did as he looked over his creation. He took pleasure and delight in his work. 

And not only did God engage in work in order to create this universe, he’s actually been working ever since then to sustain and direct this universe as well. As Jesus says to the Pharisees in John 5:17, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” The NIV translates that, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” In addition, this verse also reminds us not only of the work of God the Father but of Jesus as well. Of course, the work he’s referring to in this verse is the miracle he had just performed of enabling a paralyzed man to walk. However, lest we think that’s the only kind of work Jesus did—work that was “spiritual” in nature—let’s not forget that Jesus lived most of his life as a carpenter. He labored as a carpenter for around 20 years before he began this 3-year stint in “full-time vocational ministry.” That means he spent over six times as many years working as a carpenter as he did engaging in public preaching and teaching. For the majority of his days on this earth, Jesus came home in the evening with sawdust on his clothes, mortar on his hands, and the lingering aroma of good old-fashioned sweat. What a great confirmation of the intrinsic dignity of work!

And here’s the thing: not only does God engage in work, he calls us to engage in work as well. Back in Genesis 2:15, we read that “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” That’s huge. Right after God engaged in his work of creating the world, he placed Adam in the Garden of Eden so that Adam also could work. And keep in mind that all of this is before the Fall recorded in Genesis 3—when humanity rebelled against God. Work wasn’t a result of the Fall but rather preceded the Fall. Right in the middle of the perfect paradise of the Garden of Eden when everything was the way God intended it to be, there was…work! Work is a good gift from our good Creator. 

In fact, not only was Adam given the responsibility of working the Garden of Eden, we also see back in the previous chapter that his sphere of responsibility actually encompassed the whole earth. We read in Genesis 1:28: And God blessed them [the first humans]. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” So God’s intention for Adam and Eve was to produce offspring and teach their offspring to work so that they could one day “subdue” the whole earth. That involves doing essentially what God did in creation—taking the chaos and turning it into order. And that includes every kind of advancement we could name—from advancements related to technology to advancements related to human civilization in general. And those advancements, of course, wouldn’t happen by magic but rather through very deliberate and focused work. So what you have here in Genesis 1 is God’s command for us to work toward what we might call “human flourishing.” 

And that directive is still in effect to this day—as we can see throughout the rest of the Bible. For example, even the fourth of the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses makes it very clear that God expected his people to work. Even though we typically think of the fourth commandment as a command to rest, even this command to rest actually includes a command to work. God states in Exodus 20:8-10: 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, 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… So, even as God commanded his people to rest on the seventh day, he also clearly commands them to work the other six days. “Six days you shall labor.” 

Now, one important thing we need to address before going any further is that, even though work itself is intrinsically good, it has indeed been corrupted to a certain degree by the Fall. Again, “the Fall” refers to humanity’s rebellion against God and had results that echoed throughout the entire created order. All of creation—including work—fell into a state of brokenness and dysfunction. In fact, work is specifically included in the curse God pronounced on humanity. As we read in Genesis 3:17-19: 17 And to Adam [God] said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 

So, because of the Fall, work became hard. It now involves “pain” and “sweat” and also contains “thorns and thistles.” Obviously, these are all references to agricultural labor, but it’s not that hard to make the connection to the types of jobs that are more common in our modern society. Work now involves stress and overtime and unreasonable bosses and dysfunctional peer relationships and pointless meetings and backstabbing and coworkers who lack integrity and just frustrating circumstances in general. These are all examples of “thorns and thistles.” 

So it’s important that we see work both as an intrinsically good part of God’s original creation as well as something that’s been cursed because of the Fall. We need to keep both of those realities in mind. Because, if we only see the original goodness of work, we might become frustrated or even disillusioned when we experience work as the difficult thing it often is. Yet if we only focus on the fact that work is now cursed, we might have a hard time engaging in our work to the glory of God. 

And, by the way, this should also lead us to be careful about allowing our minds to be filled with idealistic dreams of the perfect job. The perfect job doesn’t exist. So you may be very frustrated with your current job and have a growing lack of contentment there, but you might want to think twice about perpetually jumping from job to job simply because the grass seems to be greener on the other side of the fence. Any job you have is going to involve at least some difficulties and frustrations. It’ll never be all that you want it to be. 

Yet, I’d like to emphasize that, even after the curse of Genesis 3, work is still a good gift from our good Creator. Yes, it’s been cursed, but it’s still inherently good. So, in light of that and to develop that a bit, let me encourage you to start approaching your work in four specific ways. Consider this a four-pronged application. 

First, approach your work as worship to God. Approach your work as worship to God. If what we’ve said about work so far is true—that it’s a good gift from our good Creator and that our Creator expects us to be workers—then we should engage in the work he’s called us to as worship to him. Listen also to what the Apostle Paul writes to workers in Colossians 3:23-24: 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Think about that last sentence. “You are serving the Lord Christ.” Ultimately, when we work, we’re not just serving our boss but rather Jesus himself. Our work is worship to Jesus. 

Keep in mind that this mentality goes beyond simply engaging in work in a way that Jesus finds pleasing such as by maintaining high ethical standards and things like that. Rather, it also involves engaging in the work itself as worship to Jesus. As one pastor named Bob Thune writes, “It’s not enough that we try to honor God in how we do our work, or that we try to be Christlike to people at work, or that we support God’s kingdom with the money we make from work. The glory of God must inform and transform our view of work itself.” This is also confirmed in 1 Corinthians 10:31, where Paul writes, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” That includes, of course, our work. Another author, Tom Nelson, describes this mentality as viewing our work not only as something that has instrumental value but also as something that has intrinsic value. In other words, work is valuable not only because of its economic benefits or the various other things that result from our work. Rather, our work itself is valuable and significant and is a way for us to worship God. 

Also, number two, approach your work not only as worship to God but also as a way to image God. Approach your work as a way to image God. Thinking back to Genesis 1:28, notice that God’s instruction for us to fill the earth, subdue the earth, and have dominion over the earth comes right after two verses that emphasize that God created us in his image. That’s no accident. The implication is that work is a foundational way in which we image God. We’ve already seen how God’s a worker—both in creating and sustaining the world. So a key way in which we image him and reflect his glory is by also being workers ourselves. 

This means that, when you think about it, not working is actually dehumanizing. When we don’t work, that erodes our dignity as human beings. You know, every once in a while—like maybe once every year or two—I’ll find myself binge-watching something online. Like, there was this one day I remember from about a year ago when I think I spent around 7 hours watching some show. Of course, with four kids, it’s very rare for me to get an opportunity to do something like that, but sometimes I do. Yet, I remember how, after doing that, I just felt terrible afterwards. I felt empty and unfulfilled and just…blah. And that feeling, I believe, is because my human dignity that day had been partially eroded by my utter laziness. 

So a key part of what it means to be a human being created in the image of God is that we work. And, in fact, to get even more specific, there are some fascinating connections we can make between the various vocations to which God calls people and the work that God himself does. These connections are highlighted by an author named Robert Banks and represent specific ways in which we image God. 

  • For example, as we see in Genesis 1, God does creative work. And people also do creative work as we see with sculptors, actors, painters, musicians, poets, potters, novelists, fashion designers, interior designers, metalworkers, carpenters, builders, architects, and urban planners. 
  • In addition, God also does sustaining work in which he sustains the universe and makes sure things happen in an orderly manner. Likewise, people also do sustaining work as we see with public utility workers, repairmen, shipbuilders, farmers, transportation workers, IT specialists, bankers, mechanics, engineers, building inspectors, plumbers, welders, and custodians. 
  • Moreover, God also does justice work, maintaining justice in the universe. Likewise, people engage in work related to maintaining justice such as judges, lawyers, paralegals, public policymakers, prison wardens and guards, human resource personnel, and police officers. 
  • God also does work related to compassion as he comforts, heals, guides, and shepherds. Likewise, people also engage in compassion work as we see with doctors, nurses, paramedics, therapists, social workers, pharmacists, counselors, and nonprofit staff and volunteers. 
  • We also see God engaging in revelatory work as he enlightens people with truth. Likewise, we find this among preachers, scientists, educators, journalists (when they’re at their best), scholars, and writers. 

So, again, the point of all of these connections between the kinds of work God does and the kinds of work we do is that work is a key way in which we image God—even in these very specific ways. 

Then, a third way for us to approach our work is to approach it as a way of loving your neighbor. Approach your work as a way of loving your neighbor. Even though, in the way our modern society is structured, we might often be far removed from the people who benefit from our work, there’s still a very real way in which our work helps and serves other people. Through our work, we contribute to the common good and to human flourishing. A roofer serves people by keeping them from getting wet, a worker in an automobile factory serves people by giving them access to better transportation, a pharmacy tech serves people by helping them get the medications they need, a garbageman serves people by taking away their garbage. In fact, with the way our capitalistic society is structured, I think we have good reason to believe that the vast majority of legitimate jobs serve people in some way and contribute to the common good. I’d even say that if you determine, after serious consideration, that your job doesn’t serve other people and contribute in some way to human flourishing and the common good, you really might consider finding another job.

And, finally, a fourth way to approach our work is as a prelude to the new creation. Approach your work as a prelude to the new creation. Contrary to popular belief, the new creation—sometimes referred to as “heaven”—isn’t going to be a place of disembodied spirits sitting around in the clouds and playing harps all day. Instead, the biblical picture of the new creation is of a place that includes…you guessed it…work. Speaking of the inhabitants of this new creation, 

Isaiah 65:21-22 tells us, 21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. This means—listen closely now—that the work we do on this earth prior to the new creation actually has eternal value. 

Tom Nelson writes, “What you do here is not a waste. The skills and abilities you are developing now in your workplace will not be wasted; they will be utilized and further developed in the future work God has for you to do in the new heavens and new earth. Your time here in our Father’s fallen world is a preparation for an eternity of activity and creativity in the new heavens and new earth. Your work matters not only now but also for the future.” So, you might think of it as “rollover.” You remember how cell phones used to have rollover minutes? Like back in ancient times, before cell phone companies offered unlimited talking and texting as a standard feature of their phone plans, you’d have a certain number of minutes you were allowed each month. But, if you still had some minutes remaining on your plan when the month was over, those minutes would often roll over to the next month. Similarly, there’s rollover between the work we do here on earth and the way we experience the new creation. 

So, to summarize how we should approach our work, we should approach it as worship to God, as a way for us to image God, as a way of loving our neighbor, and as a prelude to the new creation. And, friends, this is how you can find fulfillment and happiness in your work. Monday through Friday don’t have to be throwaway days as you wait for the weekend. They can be incredibly meaningful days that are filled with spiritual significance. 

And, by the way, one very concrete way in which these mentality shifts should make a difference in our day-to-day lives is that they should motivate us to be hard workers. Just work hard. Go to work tomorrow and do your absolute best. Be the best employee, the best manager, the best contractor you can be. Make it your goal to be known as one of the most competent and reliable and productive and honest people in your field. And do this not merely to get a promotion or a raise but to glorify God. As Jerry Falwell once said, “If it’s Christian, it ought to be better.” So be a Christian worker. 

Yet, in order to truly glorify God in our work, there’s one final thing that we need to talk about—and this happens to be the most foundational. In order to work for God’s glory, we have to be changed from within. You see, humanity’s rebellion against God resulted not only in a curse on work but also in our own hearts being in a state of dysfunction. This dysfunction is called “sin.” Because of the Fall, we’re sinners by our very nature. This means that, in our natural condition, we don’t have the capacity to glorify God in our work. Instead, all of our work will ultimately revolve around human glory rather than God’s glory. That’s the only kind of work we’re capable of doing, in and of ourselves. So, asking someone to glorify God in their work apart from a supernatural change of heart is kind of like asking a driver to drive forward in a car that’s stuck in reverse. They can push the gas pedal, but that car is only going backward, not forward. That’s why we need to be changed from within. And we also need to be rescued from the consequence of our rebellion, which is the judgment of God poured out on us for all eternity. 

Yet, while we were in that condition, Jesus came to rescue us. That’s why he entered this world. He was on a rescue mission to redeem us from the results of the Fall and to save us from the judgment our sins deserve. Jesus did that by taking that judgment on himself. That’s what happened on the cross. By dying on the cross, Jesus suffered the punishment for our sins. He suffered God’s wrath so that we wouldn’t have to. Then, three days later, he resurrected from the dead in order to demonstrate that everything he taught was true and to impart to us that same resurrection life. However, in order to experience this rescue Jesus offers, the Bible says we have to turn away from our sins and put our trust in Jesus alone to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. 

And when we come to Jesus in that way, we experience the ultimate fulfillment of the purpose for which we were created, which is a relationship with our Creator. You see, before God calls us to a vocation, he calls us to himself. The vocational call is secondary, while the call to God himself is primary. You might say that, before we’re called to something, we’re first called to Someone

So, as we think about the concept we’ve been exploring this morning of work, it’s true that we’re called to be workers, but make sure you’re clear that all of the work we do isn’t done for God’s rescue in the sense of somehow earning it but rather from God’s rescue in the sense of exhibiting our gratitude for it. God rescues us not because of any merit of our own but rather solely through our faith in Jesus, and we then proceed to worship him—in part by being faithful in our vocations—as a way of exhibiting love and gratitude toward God. 

other sermons in this series

Oct 22

2023

Genesis 50:15-26: God Meant It for Good

Preacher: Josh Tancordo Scripture: Genesis 50:15–26 Series: Genesis: In the Beginning

Oct 15

2023

Genesis 48:1-50:14: Jacob’s Blessings

Preacher: Josh Tancordo Scripture: Genesis 48:1– 50:14 Series: Genesis: In the Beginning

Oct 8

2023

Genesis 47:1-31: Prosperity in Egypt

Preacher: Josh Tancordo Scripture: Genesis 47:1–31 Series: Genesis: In the Beginning