Foundations of WorkGenesis 2:1-17

Grace Community Church2013

Priorities?In Our Minds

1. God2. Family3. Work

Reality1. Working

8.82. Sleeping

7.6 3. Leisure and sports

2.5 4. Other

1.7 5. Caring for others

1.2 6. Eating and drinking

1.1 7. Household activities

1.1

Total24.0

Work

1. Why does work matter?2. Why is work hard?3. How can work be redeemed?

Genesis 1:27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

What was God doing in Genesis 1?

Genesis 2:1-31 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.

Genesis 2:7-8 7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:15 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Gardening as a paradigm for work

“All work rearranges raw material of a particular domain to draw out its potential

for the flourishing of everyone.”-Tim Keller

But why is work so hard?

Genesis 2:15–1715 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Why is work hard?

1. We work for the wrong reasons.– I will be happy when I am doing _________.– I will work so that I can get ________, which will

make me happy.

2. Creation itself fights us as we work.

How can work be redeemed?

Matthew 11:28–3028 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

We start with REST.Genesis 2:2 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.

John 19:30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.