Last week we ran a seminar on work for our fourth year students. As there was too much to cover in the time we had, and as the content might be useful for others, I hope to post a series of entries on the topic over the coming weeks. We thought about what the doctrines of Creation, Fall and Redemption have to say about work, so we’ll begin with Creation.

God worked to create a good, physical world

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. (Genesis 1:31-2:2)

Work is something that God does. The Bible describes his creating the universe as “work”. And he doesn’t just set the world spinning, then sit back and relax. He continually upholds everything. Colossians 1:17 tells us that “all things hold together” in Jesus. Jesus says in John 5:17, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too am working.”

God is a worker. And he works to create a world that is both physical and good. Too often Christians forget the innate goodness of the physicality of this world. We can start to think that it’s only the spiritual that matters. But the Bible reminds us that when God made this world, he said it was good. Life isn’t meant to be like one long prayer meeting; God made a good, physical world for us to enjoy and live in.

Continued on Wednesday…