As disciples of Jesus, we are called to rethink the totality of our lives in accordance to the Kingdom of God. A large portion of our life is our labor, our work. As the economy gets unlocked again, many have lost their jobs and will be looking for new jobs. Many businesses have either closed or are struggling to get back to full capacity. Government officials are debating what policies will be the best way to stimulate the economy. But how are we supposed to think about work in accordance to God’s Kingdom?
I want us to have a biblical vision of work, understanding it from God’s perspective and how he designed our lives with work having a significant role to play in our humanity. Work (our labor and vocation) is a critical part of what it means for humans to be made in the image of God.
Work is part of being made in the image of God.
Why do we work? Make money, pursue desire, find fulfillment? In today’s culture we lack a story that helps us understand how we fit and why our work matters in the larger scope of what God is doing in the world. In previous generations, work mattered in that you were just supposed to work hard and get paid to provide for your family. In more recent times, the story we found ourselves in is that we work in our to pursue desire and to buy things in order to consume them and try not to die. In today’s time, much of this generation is trying to make their work fulfill their own desires, we work in an industry or company because it makes me feel good. (This is assuming you don’t just work to pay the bills.)
But these frameworks lack a grand story that moves us toward a hope, a future that we want to move in the direction of, a grand story that we find our place in and contribute to something larger than ourselves. What are humans if we don’t have a story that organizes all the days of our lives and why we spend much of it working? Some thinkers call humans without this kind of a story “formless monsters,” creatures with no direction or aim or self-control, guided only by whims, distractions, emotions and feelings, or survival instincts.
A grand story of work is what the Bible is giving us. The Bible itself is a “big story,” one, unified story that leads to Jesus. If the Bible is God’s big story, what does it say the role work has in our lives?
In the Beginning…Work
Who is the first “worker” in the Bible?
Genesis 1:1-2 (ESV) In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The
earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. Without form and void — “Tovu vavohu” — “wild and waste” — desert wasteland
Genesis 1 is God transforming the “wild and waste” into a habitable place for humans to be present and flourish.
Genesis 1:3-4 (ESV) And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:11-12 (ESV) And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:31 (ESV) And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
He sees the order and beauty of His creation and calls it “good” (“tov”).
God’s work is turning the “wild and waste” into “order and beauty.”
Genesis 2:1-2 (ESV) Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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.
God is modeling the purpose of “work” in His creation. Work is taking the “tohu vavohu” (the “wild and waste”, “formless and void”) and bringing order and goodness and beauty out of it, bringing out the raw potential of it, for the benefit of someone else. Why did God create the world and order it the way He did? For the benefit of humans, not for His benefit.
Work is an “others-centered” activity. God works to share the fruits of His labor with others. He gives us a vision of work that is more than for mere survival, but for sharing. God wants to share this creation with particular creatures.
God’s ultimate vision of work is for sharing, not just survival.
Humans in the Image of God
On the 6th Day, God creates His first co-workers. They follow God’s pattern of Work in that they are called to go into the raw potential of the “tohu vavohu” (“wild wastelands”) and harness it into order for the benefit of others.
Genesis 1:26-28 (ESV) Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Humans are commissioned to intentionally reproduce themselves (compared to the animal kingdom, who do so instinctively). The way we are to relate to the “tofu vavohu” world is different than the other creatures; we do not just make more of ourselves, we make families, and neighborhoods, and communities, and cities, that make culture and society. Flowers make more flowers, humans make bouquets. Orange trees make more orange trees, humans make orchards.
To “subdue” the earth does not have any hint of negativity or exploitation with it here. It means to assert our will over something, harnessing its potential for a larger purpose. It literally is referring to agriculture here, to yield the earth’s potential. God has subdued the “tohu vavohu” and turned it into “tov” (“good”), and calls humans to imitate Him in that same work.
Conclusion
Genesis 1 gives us a beautiful vision of work; it is something God does and gives over to the image-bearing creatures. Work is a dignified and beautiful vocation of taking what is potential and bringing it to beauty and over so that it can be shared with others, it can benefit more to others than just surviving. Most human vocations are given this dignity of imaging God in our work.
Where is there “tohu vavohu” in your workplace? Your Life? Your Family? What can you put your hand to for the benefit of others?