We’ve done quite a few topical
mini-series over the years: The nature and work of Christ, the nature and work
of the Spirit, studying Scripture, the disciplines of the Christian life, the
nature of the Church, angels and demons, and a few more. Now we’re coming to
what I believe will be our last topical study: Work. I’ve wanted to do a series
on this for some time, and yesterday’s passage was a great springboard for it,
since modern Christians apply it to the employer/employee relationship.
When did work start? Well, if you
just went off today’s passage and answered “Adam and Eve,” you’d be wrong. The
first worker was God. He created everything in chapter one of Genesis, then
stepped back and assessed it as “very good.” When he was done, he rested, which
is why he instituted the Sabbath.
But work started for the human race
in today’s passage. This is really really important for us to understand: Work
did not start with the Fall. Our first parents were put into a perfect
garden and were told to “work it and take care of it,” or as the NET Bible
translates it “to care for it and maintain it.” What exactly did this entail? What
did they need to do in a perfect environment? We’re not sure. But keep in mind
that this was a sin-free environment. No desire on the part of Adam and Eve was
left unfulfilled (with one lonely exception, which ended up being their
downfall). Before the Fall, our first parents were in complete submission to the Father’s
will, so creation was in complete submission to them. Before the Fall, I’d surmise
that mosquitos wouldn’t dare bite an image-bearer of the
Creator. Death only entered
the human experience once Adam (the head of our race) sinned and rebelled against
his Creator. We were designed to live forever, and creation was designed to
submit to us. Once we rebelled upward,
creation below us rebelled against us
as well.
The point I want to make is that the
reason we tend to dislike work so much (there’s a reason why someone has to pay
you to do the things you do) is because on this side of the Fall, we only know
the sin-wrecked version. Work didn't start with the Fall, but frustrating and useless work did. Now we have to earn our bread “by the sweat of our [brows],”
which means we have to put a lot of effort into our work. Where once the earth
freely supplied all we needed at a moment’s notice, now we basically have to “force”
it to give up what we need just to survive, much less thrive. And some more
additives to our modern work experience are the “thorns and thistles.” We plant
seed (either literally or figuratively), we put in a certain amount of back-breaking
labor, and we might get an 80% return on our investment. Or maybe 60%. Or—as any
farmer could testify—a storm or a drought might come by and you get 0%
return on your labor. That’s especially heartbreaking.
But it doesn’t have to be that way,
at least not all the time. If we’re laboring for the Lord, then
it’s not
meaningless. If we’re serving him in the way we work, then even if in the world’s
eyes it’s a waste of time, nothing but “thorns and thistles,” it’s not. The
issue is that we need to rethink our definition or metric of success. Success
in the world’s eyes is usually pretty simple: money. But for the believer, our definition of success is obedience. Please note that I’m not
saying that obedience leads to
success. No, obedience is success. The moment that I’ve chosen to do things
God’s way instead of my own, I’ve succeeded in the only way that counts.
And work doesn’t have to be as
frustrating as it’s usually thought to be. Yes, a certain amount of frustration
is unavoidable in a fallen world. but . . . if we’re serving him, then we can
get our satisfaction from him, and the common frustrations in life—including in
our work—can roll off our backs like water off a duck’s.
Over the next couple of days, we’re going
to see what God’s word has to say about this. Join me, will you?
Lord Jesus, we lost so much when our first parents made a bad choice. By your grace, I want to make better choices. And you’ve started the project of reclaiming that loss, both in the world and in my life. Thank you.
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