WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.680 Amen. We'll leave our reading there. 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:21.080 Now I want to begin with the essayist and novelist Dorothy Sayers who shortly after World War II wrote a really influential article or extended essay I suppose called Why Work. 00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:21.080 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:45.799 It recognising here after war is a chance for Britain as a state and society to rethink our whole approach to economics, to the economic system but also how we think about work and its value. 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:51.140 It's a really helpful essay. You can find it freely available online. 00:00:51.140 --> 00:00:58.379 Just to highlight this extended quote which I think picks up so much that's helpful. 00:00:58.380 --> 00:01:20.060 Work should be looked upon, wrote Sayers, not as a necessary drudgery undergone for the purpose of making money but as a way of life in which the nature of man finds its proper exercise and delight and so fulfil itself to the glory of God. 00:01:20.060 --> 00:01:29.960 That it should in fact be thought of as a creative activity undertaken for the love of work itself. 00:01:30.960 --> 00:01:44.040 And that man made in God's image should make things as God makes them for the sake of doing well a thing that is well worth doing. 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:51.140 Now I don't know about you but I think that's a brilliant summary in part of some of our struggles with work. 00:01:51.640 --> 00:01:54.880 That sense of drudgery, I'm doing this because there's bills to pay. 00:01:55.600 --> 00:02:02.420 But also I think it captures some of the best joys and longings that we have as we approach our work. 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:07.000 So I would commend the essay in its entirety to you. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:11.639 And I think we're going to pick up some of those principles as we go along. 00:02:11.699 --> 00:02:15.139 Because here we are still in the beginning, early chapters of Genesis. 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:22.900 And we've got these early principles about why we work and how we are to work. 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:29.099 Now you maybe noticed Genesis 2 verse 4, we're getting a shift. 00:02:29.219 --> 00:02:33.900 We're getting a different take on God's creative work. 00:02:33.900 --> 00:02:37.680 In chapter 1 we had the wide angle view. 00:02:38.680 --> 00:02:42.580 Here is God the almighty maker of heaven and earth and here is how he made the universe. 00:02:42.700 --> 00:02:48.960 But now we're going to see how the Lord God, notice that the name of God changes throughout chapter 2. 00:02:49.040 --> 00:02:51.360 It's the Lord God, the personal covenant name of God. 00:02:51.860 --> 00:02:59.759 How the Lord God works to make people in his image covenant partners. 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:04.659 But also even the focus on what is it that God is creating. 00:03:05.259 --> 00:03:10.039 He's creating a perfect environment for these first people. 00:03:10.979 --> 00:03:16.819 The perfect conditions for where work and life and worship will happen. 00:03:17.479 --> 00:03:21.439 So in these verses we can detect something of God's design for work. 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:29.419 And as we're using the language of work, just recognize, we'll recognize together that work is, you know, whatever we do, it doesn't have to be our paid work. 00:03:29.500 --> 00:03:33.819 Any vacation, any calling that we have, that might be as a craftsman. 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:36.180 It might be caring for a family. 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:40.879 It might be as someone who goes to school or to university. 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:43.000 It might be that we work in a call center. 00:03:43.139 --> 00:03:47.139 Whatever it is, there are principles that we can apply. 00:03:47.139 --> 00:03:58.259 And it's good news to know that as we listen to Genesis 2, you and I, we can go to work tomorrow knowing God's smile in our lives through Jesus. 00:03:59.019 --> 00:04:01.599 Because we can know ourselves to be working with God. 00:04:02.839 --> 00:04:07.319 That's the most important thing I think that we can take away today and we see it here in Genesis 2. 00:04:07.399 --> 00:04:10.139 But we've got four principles that we're going to work through. 00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:12.379 They're all kind of basic and they're all here. 00:04:12.500 --> 00:04:15.479 First principle, we were made to work by God. 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:24.699 So in our whole section, Genesis 2, 4 to 17, you probably noticed that the only actor, the only worker in this section is God himself. 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:27.120 The first man is there. 00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:29.879 He is present, but he is passive. 00:04:31.060 --> 00:04:34.439 And so this is another way of reminding us that God is ultimate king. 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:35.920 He is the authority. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:43.300 He is going to set the bounds and the order for life and work for the first man and for everyone who follows. 00:04:43.300 --> 00:04:48.180 Verse 7 is a hugely significant verse. 00:04:48.280 --> 00:04:49.660 Let's hear it again together. 00:04:50.520 --> 00:04:58.639 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being. 00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:02.620 So it's very descriptive imagery. 00:05:03.019 --> 00:05:08.240 The Lord God works to create an image bearer. 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:17.280 God is being pictured as if he were a potter, fashioning and shaping with skill and with care. 00:05:18.620 --> 00:05:23.199 It's significant that the first man, we're told, is formed from the dust. 00:05:23.460 --> 00:05:25.439 It becomes a significant phrase in the Bible. 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:33.060 It's often used of someone being raised from the dust and then given a place of honor. 00:05:33.060 --> 00:05:37.899 In modern English, we have that phrase from rags to riches. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:41.480 There's something similar from dust to honor. 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:43.780 Psalm 113 verses 7 and 8. 00:05:44.579 --> 00:05:48.379 God raises the poor from the dust and seats them with princes. 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:53.620 Or in 1 Kings 16, God speaks to Jehu, a king, and he says, 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:58.000 I lifted you up from the dust and I appointed you as ruler. 00:05:58.100 --> 00:06:01.740 What are we being told about mankind, about us? 00:06:01.740 --> 00:06:08.500 We have been created again to have royal dignity and honor. 00:06:09.579 --> 00:06:13.540 I think that's part of the significance of being formed from the dust. 00:06:14.100 --> 00:06:17.699 And then we're told that God breathes into his nostrils the breath of life. 00:06:17.780 --> 00:06:23.340 And this again is saying to us, there is something unique when God creates man. 00:06:23.980 --> 00:06:31.180 Mankind alone is given the divine breath for life in these pictures of creation. 00:06:31.180 --> 00:06:35.100 And so chapter 2 is doing for us in a different way what chapter 1 did, 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:41.959 which is to underline the dignity that we have as people who are made in God's image. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:45.840 All of us have worth and value as image bearers. 00:06:46.460 --> 00:06:48.819 And there's another aspect to this dignity. 00:06:50.019 --> 00:06:55.180 We are created to work by the God who works. 00:06:55.180 --> 00:06:59.120 We find notes of it throughout our text. 00:06:59.220 --> 00:07:01.019 Verse 5 is a good place to turn. 00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:04.660 No shrub had yet appeared and no plant had yet sprung up, 00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:07.340 for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth. 00:07:07.980 --> 00:07:10.740 There's one cause why it's not cultivated yet. 00:07:10.980 --> 00:07:12.340 But here's the second cause. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:15.139 There was no one to work the ground. 00:07:15.139 --> 00:07:22.699 So in other words, God creates for the purpose of working in his creation. 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:27.680 We need to remind ourselves sometimes that before there was sin, 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:30.539 before there was a fall, before everything started to go wrong, 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:34.379 by God's good design, there was work. 00:07:34.379 --> 00:07:43.399 So from the beginning, our capacity to work is one that gives us great dignity. 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:48.319 All work, whether that's work that we're paid for or not. 00:07:49.159 --> 00:07:53.060 That work is a natural exercise that we undertake 00:07:53.060 --> 00:07:58.259 because we are people made in the image of God, the creator who works. 00:07:58.259 --> 00:08:04.259 By God's design, we steward the earth and its resources. 00:08:04.860 --> 00:08:09.000 We serve and benefit others in any and all forms of our work 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:13.000 because we are made to work by God. 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:17.800 That's fundamental to understanding our attitude to work. 00:08:17.899 --> 00:08:19.219 Here's a second principle. 00:08:20.500 --> 00:08:23.500 We were made to work like God. 00:08:25.019 --> 00:08:28.039 And this is where I think the Dorothy Sayers essay was helpful 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:32.620 because it exposed different attitudes that we have as people to work. 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:38.159 There are imbalances in our thinking at different times. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:43.980 So for some people, the tendency might be to make work almost like a God. 00:08:45.399 --> 00:08:47.879 And Genesis 2 makes clear work is not God. 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:49.639 No, work is made by God. 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:55.399 But for some, the temptation is to build our identity around work, 00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:59.079 to overwork, to be a workaholic, 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:04.199 to let work set the agenda, the values, the rhythm of our lives. 00:09:04.980 --> 00:09:07.759 And so the Bible will say to us, and it will say to us here in Genesis 2, 00:09:07.899 --> 00:09:08.959 work is not God. 00:09:10.899 --> 00:09:14.319 But work is also not gross. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:17.639 I didn't have a better G, so we're sticking with it. 00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:19.319 Work is not a bad thing. 00:09:19.320 --> 00:09:21.260 We know that idea. 00:09:21.379 --> 00:09:23.840 Sometimes we'll talk about work as a necessary evil. 00:09:25.160 --> 00:09:28.180 Work is what I do for money to pay the bills. 00:09:30.300 --> 00:09:35.940 Sometimes work can be that thing that we feel stops us from enjoying our leisure and our pleasure. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:39.660 That's not God's design for work. 00:09:40.140 --> 00:09:42.580 That's not God's design for our attitude to work. 00:09:43.540 --> 00:09:44.920 Rather, work is a gift. 00:09:46.220 --> 00:09:46.920 Always a gift. 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:48.199 Yes, there are frustrations. 00:09:49.219 --> 00:09:54.199 By the time we get to Genesis 3, we discover, yes, there are thorns and thistles. 00:09:55.179 --> 00:09:59.139 But there is also a goodness in work for us to enjoy. 00:09:59.620 --> 00:10:04.500 And sometimes we have to work to find the enjoyment. 00:10:05.639 --> 00:10:10.079 To think about where is it that I can exercise any form of creativity. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:15.179 Where is it that my work serves to love and serve and bless others. 00:10:15.179 --> 00:10:20.059 Where does my work bring benefit to the people around me? 00:10:20.139 --> 00:10:22.559 Where can I find joy and satisfaction? 00:10:22.899 --> 00:10:26.379 Because I get to use different of my skills. 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:29.859 Because we're made to work like God. 00:10:30.479 --> 00:10:32.319 And God's work was very good. 00:10:32.679 --> 00:10:33.599 And he had joy in it. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:40.920 So again, in chapter 2, verses 4 to 17, we get a further window into how God works. 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:47.620 And that teaches us as image bearers principles and practices of how we are to work. 00:10:47.620 --> 00:10:49.620 So back to verse 5. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:56.940 And we get that picture of the world as being like a wilderness of not yet being cultivated. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:01.480 That fruitfulness and flourishing is going to take work. 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:03.360 That God is going to need to send rain. 00:11:03.620 --> 00:11:06.659 But the man is going to have to be involved in work. 00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:09.659 We saw it in a different way in chapter 1. 00:11:09.659 --> 00:11:13.879 The earth was in the beginning formless and empty. 00:11:14.339 --> 00:11:19.459 And then God works with skill to provide form and filling and life. 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:29.899 And as those who are made in his image, as people, we are to practice what the pastor T.J. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:33.459 Timms calls creative cultivation. 00:11:33.839 --> 00:11:36.980 We don't create like God creates because God creates out of nothing. 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:40.300 But we are to be creative and we are to cultivate. 00:11:40.500 --> 00:11:43.500 We are to bring out resources and fruitfulness. 00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:50.039 By God's design, people are bringing out productivity. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:56.379 Whether that's in a workplace, in a community, in the world in general. 00:11:56.920 --> 00:12:04.440 Our innovation, our working and cultivating helps to develop and produce resources. 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:11.820 Sometimes the extremes of environmentalism will say, the world would be such a better place if only we could get rid of the pesky people. 00:12:13.020 --> 00:12:20.240 And we have to say, well, biblically, God says, no, people are planted in this earth to help to bring out some of the productivity. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:27.680 In verses 9 to 14, we're told about the garden that God planted in the east. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:29.639 Listen to verse 9. 00:12:29.719 --> 00:12:32.620 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground. 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:35.500 Trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:36.819 This is the way God creates. 00:12:37.299 --> 00:12:38.319 This is how God works. 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:40.719 He works to create a world that's full of beauty. 00:12:41.459 --> 00:12:42.819 That's full of diversity. 00:12:43.439 --> 00:12:45.139 It's multi-layered. 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:51.339 It's really interesting, isn't it, that we're already being told about the gold and the onyx that lives below the surface. 00:12:51.340 --> 00:12:57.680 And we're told that when God works to create, there is a generous superabundance. 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:11.560 And it's lovely to think of Adam, the first man, working and living, surrounded by God's generosity, God's glory everywhere. 00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:21.779 The craftsmanship of God on full display, the commitment to God's very good work is abundantly clear as he lives and works the Garden of Eden. 00:13:24.079 --> 00:13:28.119 And we are in different ways to image the way that God works. 00:13:28.239 --> 00:13:31.739 So what can this teach us about thinking of our work? 00:13:31.740 --> 00:13:40.480 Well, I think it says to us that we are to aim for excellence in whatever it is that we are doing. 00:13:41.379 --> 00:13:43.480 We may find ourselves producing a spreadsheet. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:46.840 We may find ourselves developing a piece of technology. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:55.360 We may be bringing order from chaos as we sort out our cupboards or as we sort out company finances. 00:13:55.580 --> 00:14:00.940 We may be aiming for flourishing through the work output that we produce. 00:14:00.940 --> 00:14:03.880 Or through investing in our children. 00:14:04.020 --> 00:14:11.260 But in all of those and in so many more, we are to aim for excellence in the task that is before us. 00:14:13.100 --> 00:14:15.980 Now we maybe kind of get that instinctively. 00:14:17.060 --> 00:14:20.760 I also think as those made in the image of God, we are called to aim for enjoyment. 00:14:21.880 --> 00:14:23.200 And I think that's harder. 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:31.660 But we are to pursue the satisfaction of being able to recognize a job well done. 00:14:32.860 --> 00:14:35.100 That is good for us to reflect on. 00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:43.640 How is my task, perhaps as small and menial and mundane, how is that serving to benefit and bless others? 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:58.720 How can I regard my task, my vocation, my calling as a gift from God to receive well and to enjoy, even when sometimes it's really hard? 00:15:00.460 --> 00:15:03.299 And thirdly, we aim to exercise care. 00:15:03.299 --> 00:15:07.379 Now that's partly in the sense that we give attention to detail. 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:08.919 We don't want to do shoddy work. 00:15:09.859 --> 00:15:17.439 But also we exercise care in terms of working and caring for our souls are not disconnected. 00:15:19.359 --> 00:15:26.079 And so we need to be thinking, how can I connect my working with my service of God? 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:39.940 So as image bearers, last week we want to be those who learn to rest well in the completed work of salvation, knowing Jesus has accomplished our salvation and we rest by faith in him. 00:15:40.400 --> 00:15:42.379 But we also want to work hard. 00:15:43.500 --> 00:15:47.960 And we want to take delight and care over the work that we do. 00:15:49.800 --> 00:15:51.280 Now here's a third principle. 00:15:51.480 --> 00:15:54.879 We were made to work for God. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:58.860 And this takes us back to the idea of connecting work with worship. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:01.179 There was an interesting feature, perhaps you noticed it. 00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:03.779 It's throughout the Dorothy Sayers essay. 00:16:04.659 --> 00:16:14.039 The significance that she placed on working and finding fulfillment, not as an end in itself, but to the glory of God. 00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:19.179 We work and enjoy work to the glory of God. 00:16:19.980 --> 00:16:23.879 Later on in her article essay, she expressed frustration. 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:32.679 When the church focuses attention on here is what the Christian should do on a Sunday. 00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:41.399 And spends little attention on what the Christian should do Monday to Saturday in the workplace. 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:48.899 She asked the question, what should the church tell the intelligent carpenter? 00:16:50.699 --> 00:16:57.220 And the summary of the answer, the church should tell the intelligent carpenter, make good tables. 00:16:57.220 --> 00:17:09.079 What use is it if in the very center of his life and occupation, he is insulting God with bad carpentry? 00:17:10.779 --> 00:17:17.660 Sayers understood that our work is and ought to be an expression of worship. 00:17:17.660 --> 00:17:29.880 And in Genesis 2, there are several clues that help us to see that we need to get to grasp this connection between our work and our worship. 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:36.820 So that we understand that a key part of glorifying God is doing good work. 00:17:38.520 --> 00:17:39.580 Verse 8. 00:17:39.579 --> 00:17:53.159 So God plants the garden, puts man in the garden to work it. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:55.439 How is he to work in the garden? 00:17:56.299 --> 00:17:57.539 This is where things get interesting. 00:17:57.539 --> 00:17:58.859 Chapter 2, verse 15. 00:17:58.859 --> 00:18:06.599 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to work it and take care of it. 00:18:06.679 --> 00:18:08.719 To work it and to keep it. 00:18:09.259 --> 00:18:15.740 So chapter 1, people made in the image of God are appointed to rule for God in this world. 00:18:16.759 --> 00:18:18.059 How are we to do that? 00:18:19.339 --> 00:18:21.579 We work it and we care for it. 00:18:21.779 --> 00:18:23.299 We protect, we guard. 00:18:23.399 --> 00:18:25.039 In Adam's case, guarding the garden. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:28.720 Fast forward to chapter 3, we see Adam's failure. 00:18:28.899 --> 00:18:29.960 He didn't guard the garden. 00:18:30.500 --> 00:18:33.039 Evil came in and everything fell apart. 00:18:34.599 --> 00:18:37.700 But Adam was made in the beginning to guard and to keep. 00:18:38.659 --> 00:18:40.200 The beautiful place. 00:18:40.639 --> 00:18:41.899 The delightful place. 00:18:42.139 --> 00:18:42.639 The garden. 00:18:42.779 --> 00:18:45.220 The place where God was pleased to meet with his people. 00:18:45.700 --> 00:18:50.279 The place where God would come and walk and talk with his people. 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:53.379 Now here's the significant thing. 00:18:53.380 --> 00:19:04.480 As the Bible progresses, these same ideas are used of the priests serving God in the temple. 00:19:05.720 --> 00:19:07.080 So you get to Numbers chapter 3. 00:19:07.180 --> 00:19:08.020 It's there on the screen. 00:19:08.120 --> 00:19:11.620 The priests, the Levites, they were to take care of the furnishings. 00:19:11.800 --> 00:19:14.120 And to do the work of the tabernacle. 00:19:14.500 --> 00:19:16.920 Priests, Levites were to guard and keep. 00:19:17.900 --> 00:19:20.240 Their work was service. 00:19:20.660 --> 00:19:23.120 Adam's work was service, was worship. 00:19:23.380 --> 00:19:26.400 And then you think about what the temple was like. 00:19:27.020 --> 00:19:28.040 Think about the fabric. 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:29.840 Think about the furnishings. 00:19:29.980 --> 00:19:31.620 The embroidery, the woodwork. 00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:35.900 You find trees and plants being represented there. 00:19:36.280 --> 00:19:43.160 God deliberately says that the tabernacle and temple is a picture of the Garden of Eden. 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:50.580 The original meeting place between God and man was in a garden. 00:19:51.740 --> 00:19:57.040 And so as Adam was working, he was also to be worshiping. 00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:59.220 Just like the Old Testament priest. 00:19:59.220 --> 00:20:09.779 As he worked, he was bringing glory to God by working for God, by representing God, by spreading the glory of God through the earth. 00:20:09.779 --> 00:20:22.180 Just as every temple needs a priest, Adam was placed in that original garden temple to enjoy the presence of God. 00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:30.860 And that by his work, the glory of God would spread from that garden to fill the earth. 00:20:30.860 --> 00:20:39.640 And that's why we can say that our work is connected with our worship. 00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:50.280 So wherever we work, in our homes or outside of them, we are called to do so for God. 00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:59.580 We are called, as people made in his image, to represent God, to apply his values to our work. 00:20:59.579 --> 00:21:09.579 Whatever we are called to do, we seek to spread something of the glory and the goodness of God in this world. 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:20.599 As we heard in Colossians 3, whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men. 00:21:21.339 --> 00:21:23.859 It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 00:21:23.859 --> 00:21:30.000 So all your work can be God's work. 00:21:30.779 --> 00:21:34.939 We are called to serve God within our work. 00:21:35.659 --> 00:21:40.899 And our work is a vital part of our worship. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:49.740 And that takes us towards this fourth principle that we are made to work with God. 00:21:49.740 --> 00:21:54.380 Now, we recently moved home, as many of you know. 00:21:54.599 --> 00:21:59.539 And I guess for many of us, when we move to a new house, it involves getting some new furniture. 00:21:59.740 --> 00:22:02.019 And often that furniture comes flat packed. 00:22:02.299 --> 00:22:04.000 And it needs to be constructed. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:10.620 And maybe for the first time, I think, our boys were included in that task. 00:22:10.819 --> 00:22:16.180 It's like a coming of age ceremony when you get out the IKEA instruction book and you begin to pass that on. 00:22:16.180 --> 00:22:19.660 Now, it wasn't something, I guess I probably could have done it by myself. 00:22:20.060 --> 00:22:26.039 But it was a lot of fun to be able to work together in that way. 00:22:27.400 --> 00:22:37.200 And in a really significant thing for our dignity and joy in work, there is a pattern established in Genesis 2. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:44.000 That God works to create a co-worker. 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:49.440 The God of the universe, he didn't need someone else to help him to work. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:55.759 But he chose to invite Adam and then all of us into work. 00:22:56.019 --> 00:23:00.460 And the joy of working in communion and fellowship with him. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:03.799 So we saw it, we heard it in verse 5. 00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:08.480 You know, God provides the seed of life. 00:23:09.159 --> 00:23:11.059 And God will provide the rains. 00:23:11.899 --> 00:23:17.319 But God wants Adam, God wants man, to supply the labor. 00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:23.799 There is the dignity of real responsibility to work and cultivate. 00:23:24.940 --> 00:23:26.559 And we heard it in verse 8. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:36.220 The Lord God planted a garden and he also planted the man in there to work God's garden for God and with God. 00:23:39.919 --> 00:23:41.859 We probably know the idea. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:43.779 We've probably seen it and heard it. 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:49.480 Not so much in our culture, but maybe in other cultures of bring your child to work day. 00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:59.099 Every day is designed by God to bring his child to work day. 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:09.759 God made us to work with him, enjoying communion and fellowship with him in our work. 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:16.420 And that takes us to the two trees in the center of the garden and that one test. 00:24:16.539 --> 00:24:17.379 End of verse 9. 00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:22.539 In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:24:23.700 --> 00:24:24.759 Verse 16. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:29.160 The Lord God commanded the man, you are free to eat from any tree in the garden, 00:24:29.160 --> 00:24:32.980 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, 00:24:33.100 --> 00:24:35.500 for when you eat from it, you will certainly die. 00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:39.500 We're going to come back to this when we get to Genesis 3. 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:43.160 But for our purposes just now, to recognize one emphasis. 00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:46.100 What kind of creator is God? 00:24:46.180 --> 00:24:47.279 What kind of father is God? 00:24:47.420 --> 00:24:48.620 He's extremely generous. 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:51.860 There's a whole garden that God says yes to. 00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:54.820 There's only one tree that God says no to. 00:24:55.220 --> 00:24:58.279 And one tree in the garden is the tree of life. 00:24:58.279 --> 00:25:05.399 There is life-giving freedom on offer to Adam if he will gladly live in fellowship and friendship with God. 00:25:06.019 --> 00:25:09.440 But there's that second tree that represents the one great test. 00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:14.039 Will Adam accept God as God? 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:21.639 Will he accept that God alone has the right to determine what is good and evil, what is right and wrong? 00:25:21.879 --> 00:25:24.379 Will Adam submit to that word? 00:25:24.380 --> 00:25:32.060 Will he work and worship acknowledging God as his Lord and King? 00:25:32.460 --> 00:25:38.200 Will he find joy and contentment in working with his God? 00:25:38.380 --> 00:25:41.960 Because if he does, he will enjoy life. 00:25:42.060 --> 00:25:44.200 He'll enjoy God's smile on his work. 00:25:44.340 --> 00:25:48.120 God will continue to be with him, to walk with him, to talk with him. 00:25:48.119 --> 00:25:52.319 And do you know when we put it from that positive way? 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:59.659 Then we think about that tree with the access denied sign on it. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:06.059 That's a protection that God gives for Adam's good. 00:26:06.939 --> 00:26:12.500 Because if Adam will obey, if Adam will say no to what he is supposed to say no to, 00:26:12.500 --> 00:26:21.019 then life and his work will be enjoyed in communion with his God. 00:26:22.279 --> 00:26:24.720 And so the test at the center of the garden, 00:26:26.099 --> 00:26:30.119 which in a sense becomes the test at the center of our own existence, 00:26:31.339 --> 00:26:33.480 is will I let God be God? 00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:41.440 Will I let God's word determine how I live and how I worship and how I work as well? 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:47.799 And we'll see how Adam responds. 00:26:48.080 --> 00:26:54.000 But just to close us out, having seen these principles for our work, 00:26:55.600 --> 00:26:56.860 let's think about Jesus. 00:26:58.539 --> 00:27:00.340 We need to think about the work of Jesus, 00:27:00.500 --> 00:27:03.420 because Jesus is the work of God to restore what we've ruined. 00:27:03.500 --> 00:27:05.880 We haven't gotten there yet. 00:27:05.960 --> 00:27:07.759 We haven't got to Genesis 3, 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:10.160 but we know that we will. 00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:16.039 Ever since Adam stretched out for that forbidden fruit, 00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:22.620 ever since Adam decided he was going to do what God said he should not do, 00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:28.200 our relationships have been spoiled. 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:32.720 And that includes our relationship to work. 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:41.019 It's the nature of sin within us that means sometimes we turn work into our God. 00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:46.839 Sometimes that's why we regard it as a gross thing. 00:27:46.839 --> 00:27:57.480 It's the reality of sin and the consequences of sin that mean we are frustrated in our work. 00:27:58.759 --> 00:28:01.079 Sometimes we struggle because we can't find work, 00:28:01.119 --> 00:28:03.339 or we don't find work that fits with our gifts. 00:28:03.339 --> 00:28:08.799 But it's also why we sometimes try and falsely find our identity in our work. 00:28:08.879 --> 00:28:11.519 There are thorns and thistles everywhere. 00:28:13.319 --> 00:28:17.759 God designed work for our good and gave us good principles that we have seen. 00:28:18.059 --> 00:28:22.199 But what's God's response when things go wrong? 00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:25.420 God responds by sending a worker. 00:28:26.420 --> 00:28:28.640 He sends his own son, the Lord Jesus. 00:28:29.940 --> 00:28:36.880 And the work of Jesus is the work of securing our forgiveness and bringing us salvation. 00:28:37.840 --> 00:28:43.480 The work of Jesus is to restore a right relationship with God again, 00:28:43.480 --> 00:28:47.059 to begin restoring the image of God in us, 00:28:47.120 --> 00:28:51.599 which we in our sin have defaced and devalued. 00:28:52.500 --> 00:28:55.259 Now, how does Jesus work when he comes into the world? 00:28:56.420 --> 00:29:00.220 Jesus is the only person who could truly say to his father, 00:29:00.339 --> 00:29:02.960 to do your will, I take delight. 00:29:04.180 --> 00:29:06.700 We hear it and we see it in the gospels. 00:29:07.079 --> 00:29:09.079 Jesus always trusted his father. 00:29:09.319 --> 00:29:13.000 Jesus always obeyed his father's will for his life. 00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:18.480 Jesus sought to bring glory to God in all of his work. 00:29:19.140 --> 00:29:22.279 That work, that mission of bringing in the kingdom of God, 00:29:22.620 --> 00:29:25.460 of demonstrating and spreading the glory of God, 00:29:25.700 --> 00:29:28.500 of restoring sinners back to life with God. 00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:30.019 Jesus did it well. 00:29:30.140 --> 00:29:31.059 He worked hard. 00:29:31.380 --> 00:29:33.079 He accomplished his task. 00:29:33.480 --> 00:29:39.120 And the climax of his work finds Jesus in another garden, 00:29:39.240 --> 00:29:40.759 this time not the Garden of Eden, 00:29:41.120 --> 00:29:43.200 a garden of pure perfection and delight, 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:46.019 but the Garden of Gethsemane, 00:29:46.600 --> 00:29:51.299 where Jesus anticipates drinking the cup of God's anger, 00:29:51.940 --> 00:29:54.840 where he anticipates what it will feel like 00:29:54.840 --> 00:29:58.019 to have the crushing weight of our sin placed upon him 00:29:58.019 --> 00:29:59.460 as he became the sin bearer. 00:29:59.580 --> 00:30:01.960 And yet Jesus prayed, 00:30:01.960 --> 00:30:10.700 as he committed wholeheartedly to the work of the cross. 00:30:10.700 --> 00:30:13.720 So that we could read in Hebrews, 00:30:14.259 --> 00:30:17.340 Jesus who for the joy set before him, 00:30:17.799 --> 00:30:18.740 endured the cross. 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:21.200 That was the joy of returning to his father, 00:30:21.400 --> 00:30:24.740 but it was also the joy of mission complete. 00:30:26.039 --> 00:30:29.700 Jesus has joy that the work of salvation is done 00:30:29.700 --> 00:30:31.519 so that you and I, 00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:36.559 we can rest to enjoy God's saving grace, 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:41.360 and we are set free to work for God's glory. 00:30:42.220 --> 00:30:45.140 We are restored by faith in Jesus 00:30:45.140 --> 00:30:48.140 to the dignity of a relationship with God 00:30:48.140 --> 00:30:52.080 so that we go with God into our work. 00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:55.399 Now we know that whatever we do, 00:30:55.399 --> 00:30:57.619 our work matters to God 00:30:57.619 --> 00:31:00.859 because we matter to God. 00:31:01.819 --> 00:31:05.819 Now our work takes on a whole new purpose 00:31:05.819 --> 00:31:08.859 as we work for the Christ 00:31:08.859 --> 00:31:11.240 who worked for us. 00:31:12.439 --> 00:31:13.639 Let's pray together. 00:31:13.640 --> 00:31:43.620 Let's pray together.