God made us to work too
There are two main verses where God gives people his instructions for what to do in the world he has made:
“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28)
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15)
I’ve taken four phrases from these verses that give an overview of what humanity are called to do. All of these overlap to some extent, and they share the same theme: as those made in God’s image, we are called to work too.
Work
The Hebrew word used here is used later on in the Bible to describe what the priests did in the tabernacle, and later the temple (e.g. Numbers 3:7-8). The priests worked on behalf of the people of God – and in a similar way, humanity is to work on behalf of God. We are his stewards; or to put it another way, we “mediate” his rule to creation. God created the world, and we are to continue to work at it, develop it, find its full potential. We are to be creative, just as he is. This means everything from agriculture to architecture, from manufacturing to music. (Conveniently alliterative, but also all found in Genesis 4!)
Take care
We’re to preserve and protect creation – not destroying what is good, but making something better. We’re to pass things on to the next generation. Here we get hints of teaching, history, parenting. All good forms of work for God’s people to be involved with.
Fill the earth
The Garden of Eden was only the start. Genesis tells us that four rivers flowed out of Eden, watering the earth (Genesis 2:10-14), and God’s people are to do the same – spreading out from the garden to bless the rest of creation. This means having children (“Be fruitful and increase in number”), building cities, developing communities. It means exploration and discovery. It involves geographers, and sociologists, and people to build boats and bridges.
Subdue
The last word sounds more negative than it should, like its neighbour “rule over”. The original word seems to have the idea of ruling over and taming the earth so that it benefits people. It started out with farming, but more generally it’s seen in bringing order out of chaos – taking the world and transforming it into Eden.
So if work is God’s good gift to us, why is it so frustrating? Next time we’ll look at the effects of the Fall on God’s call for us to work, and our experience of it.
(For further reading, try Maximum Life by Julian Hardyman, whose book contains a far more in depth look at this very topic.)
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…
I wrote this for the 2010 general election. Given the elections in the US at the moment, I thought it worth revising and reposting.
Christians, listen. The one who currently reigns over the nations of men is the one who died a sinner’s death to bring you to the Father. Jesus is sovereign; Jesus is Lord. Whichever president is elected tonight, this will not change. You don’t need to worry! You can be disappointed, that’s allowed. But Jesus is still Lord.
It’s very tempting for Christians to forget that the ultimate political authority in the world belongs to the one who makes and removes governments according to his sovereign will. In the whirlwind of an election campaign, we can become so impassioned about our party or our candidate that this drops off the radar. We turn on our brothers and sisters from the other parties without realising it by issuing blanket criticisms. If we remember the true King, how can we do this? Politics is vitally important, but not of ultimate importance. We can argue our cases, and seek the common good for this world, always letting the Bible show us what our priorities should be in this. We can throw ourselves into the world of politics, campaigning, running, lobbying and voting. But when Paul writes “there is no Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, man nor woman, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28), he could well have added “no blue or red”. We cannot be too aggressively critical of our political opponents. We may disagree utterly, but we would be no better were it not for God’s grace at work in our lives. We have no right to feel self-righteous. Far be it from us to boast “except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to [us], and [we] to the world” (Galatians 6:14). As we seek to be salt and light in our society, we should be distinctive in this way without exception, whatever our political views.
The president of the US is not the most powerful man in the world. His name is Jesus, and in him we see what a perfect ruler looks like. Let’s pray that our leaders would seek to imitate him – in humility, gentleness and sacrificial love – as we seek to do the same.
Christian students today face increasing hostility, the more so as they cling to the ever-offensive gospel. Luther faced the wrath of the Emperor, the Pope, burning at the stake and the prospect of hell ever after if he was wrong. To all this he managed to reply: ‘I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me, Amen.’
It was no mere bluster or passing bravado. Luther saw that it is precisely when the gospel is most under attack that God’s people must do theology – and thus bind themselves to the Scriptures – with all the more urgency.
Happy Reformation Day.
Who can comprehend the riches of the glory of this grace? Christ, that rich and pious Husband, takes as a wife a needy and impious harlot, redeeming her from all her evils and supplying her with all His good things. It is impossible now that her sins should destroy her, since they have been laid upon Christ and swallowed up in Him, and since she has in her Husband Christ a righteousness which she may claim as her own, and which she can set up with confidence against all her sins, against death and hell, saying, “If I have sinned, my Christ, in whom I believe, has not sinned; all mine is His, and all His is mine,” as it is written, “My beloved is mine, and I am His”.
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I am a child of God. God is my Father; heaven is my home; every day is one day nearer. My Saviour is my brother; every Christian is my brother too. Say it over and over to yourself first thing in the morning, last thing at night, as you wait for the bus, any time your mind is free, and ask that you may be enabled to live as one who knows it is all utterly and completely true.
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See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1a)
By nature, we are his enemies: souls turned inwards, away from his light. Our hearts are hard; our minds are closed; our wills are bound. Lost, in darkest night, thinking we know the way home. Slaves to sin, and slaves to our own efforts. Captured.
In Christ, we are his children: souls looking outwards, reflecting his glory. We have new hearts; we have renewed minds; our joy is to do his will. Rescued by one who descended into the valley of death to bring us home to our Father. Sons of righteousness, our love a response to his love poured into our hearts. Captivated.
We are sons. Not because God is sexist (after all, men are also called the “bride of Christ”) but because we share the very sonship of the Son himself. Jesus shares with us what is his: not just a right standing before God, but his own perfect relationship with his Father. “You have loved them, Father, even as you have loved me.” No room for boasting: men, women, rich, poor, public sinners and hidden Pharisees, we are all utterly depraved yet amazingly loved.
Worried? Take heart: it is your Father’s delight to give you the kingdom. Despairing? Your Father has given you new birth into a living hope. Lonely? Know that you’re part of a Royal Family of eternal fellowship. Guilty? Your Father sets his love on the unlovely, and sent Jesus to take your sin away.
Adopted. Brought near. Carried into the Father’s presence. Dearly loved children of Almighty God. That is what we are!
(Reflections from Transformission 2012; download the talks for more.)
On this day in 1555, two men were executed in the centre of Oxford. Their crime: believing that our salvation rests on the finished work of Christ, not on anything we do ourselves. Their punishment: to be burnt at the stake.
Amongst their dying words, these ones of Latimer’s are the most famous:
Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England as (I trust) shall never be put out.
Latimer was vindicated: to this day, their Protestant faith has survived in the UK, lasting through persecution, civil war, opposition from outside, and false teaching from within. The faith that gave them courage to face an excruciating death is still alive today.
And yet…
How often do we fall into believing those old, old lies: that our good works are what save us, not Christ?
When we sin, do we run to Jesus for forgiveness, or do we feel the need to earn it first? It’s so easy to think that we need to do something good to outweigh the bad before he’ll listen to us again. Easy, but deadly.
When we see someone else mess up, do we respond with grace, or do we feel good about ourselves because we didn’t fail? You know the kind of thoughts: “God must be more pleased with me; after all, I’m not as bad as that.”
No! The Protestant martyrs died defending the truth that nothing we do can make us acceptable to God. Whether we’ve had a fantastic day of walking in Christian freedom, or a shocking day feeling enslaved to sin, we would still be as far away from God as ever, if he had not come close to us. Jesus, King of the universe, stepped down, down even to death, in order to bring us up with him to his Father. He takes our sin, and gives us his perfect obedience. In him, we are as loved by the Father as he has been since eternity past.
How can we still think a quiet time is going to earn us extra credit? That it’ll make up for our daily rejection of Jesus? That we can somehow add to the perfect obedience of Christ?
The old, old lies are still around, too. But be of good comfort; God’s grace is the same as it ever was. Are you burdened with guilt? Run to Jesus, and he will forgive you. Are you proud of your holiness? Look to Jesus, and let him humble you. Do you feel distant from God? Come to Jesus, and let him bring you near.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Keep the candle burning.
Have you realised that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you….
You must say to your soul: ‘Why are you cast down?’ – what business have you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Put your hope in God’ – instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged himself to do. Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: ‘I shall yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.’
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Every morning, I face a spiritual battle. Who am I going to believe today?
- Jesus promises that his word brings life; my flesh tells me that it’s boring and irrelevant.
- The Spirit assures me that I am an adopted child of God; my flesh says “Really? After the day you had yesterday?”
- Jesus promises to take my prayers before his Father, who loves to listen; my flesh tells me that God is aloof and distant.
- The Spirit reminds me of all the spiritual blessings I have in Christ, freely given; my flesh tells me that I’m owed an easy life and shows me all the ways my life is a disappointment.
- Jesus tells me that he is the bread of life; my flesh says “but what you really need is a girlfriend”.
- Jesus says to work as if I were working for him; my flesh tells me that my job is pointless, and I should do as little as possible.
As I emerge from sleep, it’s so easy to listen to the devil’s lies. Lying there in bed, my flesh can be very persuasive. I might succeed in dragging myself downstairs and opening the Bible, but even then these thoughts can crowd in: “You don’t really believe this, do you? It makes no sense. Wouldn’t you rather watch TV?” “Why pray for her? It’s not going to change anything.”
So many of my problems come from listening to myself. Instead, I need to talk to myself. In Psalm 103, David does just that:
Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits –
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
David talks to himself, telling his soul not to forget all the Lord has done for him. When my flesh is telling me to doubt God’s promises, I can talk back. “Self: you say that God is uninterested and far away; but I tell you, he is my Father, and loves to listen. You say I’ll never get recognition at work and should give up; but I tell you that my Father sees what is done in secret and will reward me. You say that I’ll never fit in, that I’ll always be lonely; but I tell you that I am adopted into the family of God. You say that God wants to spoil our fun; but I tell you, in his words are life to the full.”
Each morning, rather than dwelling on all the mess inside my head, I can tell myself of the one who has blessed me immeasurably. The more I do it, the less persuasive the voices sound.
As a wise man once said, “Talking to yourself isn’t the first sign of madness – it’s the first sign of wisdom.”