TITLE: Created to Work

TEXT: Genesis 2:15-17THEME: God created man to work and be productive.

How should the believer understand the role of work in his/her life?

I. God created man for work. (Gen. 2:15-17)

Gen. 2:15-17

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

I. God created man for work. (Gen. 2:15-17)

A. In work he fulfills his God given role.

I. God created man for work. (Gen. 2:15-17)

A. In work he fulfills his God given role.B. In work he brings glory to God.

I. God created man for work. (Gen. 2:15-17)

A. In work he fulfills his God given role.B. In work he brings glory to God.C. Work gives dignity to man.

Tim Keller

Creation is "God with dirt under his fingernails

Udo Middlemann “Pro-existence”

Work has intrinsic value and dignity it is more than simply about making money- or how much once can make. Its value is not measured by dollar signs.

1 Corinthians 9:9

For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned?

I Timothy 5:18

“For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”

Thessalonians 3:10

“For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

Thessalonians 3:10

“For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” • Just as there is dignity in work there is

shame in laziness and an unwillingness to work.

II. God is created man to be productive. (Gen. 1:27-28)

Gen. 1:27-28

• 27 So God created mankind in his own image,• in the image of God he created them;• male and female he created them.• 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be

fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

II. God is created man to be productive. (Gen. 1:27-28)

A. Be fruitful: biologically and developmentally. Rule/subdue the earth

II. God is created man to be productive. (Gen. 1:27-28)

A. Be fruitful: biologically and developmentally. B. Rule/subdue the earth

Two extremes.

1. Those who worship the earth and the environment. Animism and pantheism sees God and nature as one.

Two extremes.

1. Those who worship the earth and the environment. Animism and pantheism sees God and nature as one.2. Those is to exploit God’s creation with no regard to its impact.

Francis Schaffer “Pollution and the Death of Man”.

He speaks primarily to evangelicals and argues that we are assigned by God to care for and administer God’s creation as its stewards. We should be leaders in assuring it is manage well.

III. God introduced frustration in work as a curse for disobedience.

(Gen. 3:17-19)

Gen. 3:17-19

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

Gen. 3:17-19

19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your fooduntil you return to the ground, since from it you were taken;for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

III. God introduced frustration in work as a curse for disobedience.

(Gen. 3:17-19)A. He introduces weeds

III. God introduced frustration in work as a curse for disobedience.

(Gen. 3:17-19)A. He introduces weedsB. Work becomes difficult. By the sweat of his brow.

God introduced frustration in work

Work was infected with sin, and now it can be not only deadly dull, but just plain deadly. Work became "painful toil." “The ‘thorns and thistles’ God promised Adam now grow in sales meetings, around copy machines and computer servers, and in the Dilbert world of corporate politics.” (PT article)

Studs Terkel, “Working”

This book, being about work, is, by its very nature, about violence—to the spirit as well as to the body. It is about ulcers as well as accidents, about shouting matches as well as fistfights, about nervous breakdowns as well as kicking the dog around. It is, above all (or beneath all), about daily humiliations. To survive the day is triumph enough for the walking wounded among the great many of us

Studs Terkel, “Working”

It is about a search, too, for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.:

IV. God restores our fulfillment in work when we do it for Him.

(Eph. 6:5-8)

Eph. 6:5-8

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.

Eph. 6:5-8

7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

IV. God restores our fulfillment in work when we do it for Him. (Eph.

6:5-8)A. Accept frustration as a part of work.

Frustration

The level of a man’s success is often determined by how well he copes with frustration as part of life.

Frustration

• The level of a man’s success is often determined by how well he copes with frustration as part of life.

• People who give up easily because of frustration and toil seldom achieve the goals they desire

Frustration

• An Olympic ice skater only succeeds after years of falling, sore muscles, sacrificing other pleasures, etc

Frustration

• An Olympic ice skater only succeeds after years of falling, sore muscles, sacrificing other pleasures, etc.

• Musicians master an instrument only after long hours alone, thousands of missed note, missed parties, and rejection

Frustration

• An Olympic ice skater only succeeds after years of falling, sore muscles, sacrificing other pleasures, etc.

• Musicians master an instrument only after long hours alone, thousands of missed note, missed parties, and rejection.

• Successful sales only succeed as they learn to accept rejection- accepting a dozen “no’s” to get the one “yes.”

IV. God restores our fulfillment in work when we do it for Him. (Eph.

6:5-8)

A. Accept frustration as a part of work.B. Focus on God’s approval- not mans.

Focus on God’s Approval

• When find our approval in Jesus we find our true worth.

Focus on God’s Approval

• When find our approval in Jesus we find our true worth.

• When we find our approval in Jesus we find our worth in work.

Focus on God’s Approval

• When find our approval in Jesus we find our true worth.

• When we find our approval in Jesus we find our worth in work.

• When we find our approval in Jesus we find the rest we need to endure the toil and frustration of work.

Hebrews 4:9

"And therefore, we who have believed enter that Sabbath rest now, and there remains a rest, then, for the people of God. Anyone who enters God's rest through faith in Christ rests from his own work just as God did from his."

Kevin Kim

“If you believe the gospel, if you believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for you, and in him you are loved, you are accepted, and you are holy, you will be free. You will be free from the work that's underneath your work, the work that's pulling you down, the work that's drudgery

Kevin Kim

You will be free from the burden of needing to prove yourself in your work, from the burden of creating meaning for yourself through the work, from the burden of using your work as a basis for your identity.”

APPLICATION

• Realize you were created for work- don’t see it as the curse.

APPLICATION

• Realize you were created for work- don’t see it as the curse.

• God wants you to be productive in life- work for his glory.

APPLICATION

• Realize you were created for work- don’t see it as the curse.

• God wants you to be productive in life- work for his glory.

• Learn to accept frustration as part of life and persist in spite of it.

APPLICATION

• Realize you were created for work- don’t see it as the curse.

• God wants you to be productive in life- work for his glory.

• Learn to accept frustration as part of life and persist in spite of it.

• Work for the approval of Jesus who loves you and accepts you.

Kevin Kim

From that point on, I looked for ways to help out at the motel. I’d ask my mom what I could do for her, because it wasn’t just a job anymore. The work wasn't just a job; it was a way for me to express my love and gratitude in response to my mom's sacrifice for me.