Welcome everyone. My name's Steve. I haven't met you before. I'd be grateful if you had your Bibles
open to that section. We are working our way through the early chapters of the book of Genesis.
We'll be lingering in these chapters for a couple of weeks. So it'd be great if you had your Bibles
open. And also the St. Paul's app will give you an outline for today's message. The song Friday
On My Mind was released in 1966 by the Australian band The Easy Beats. It sat at position number one
on the list of Australia's all-time favourite songs for over four decades. And the reason for that,
according to those who study such things, is it catches something of the mindset of Australian
culture. On Monday, I've got Friday on my mind. That is, the day I start working, I can't wait
to finish working. I think about the day when I stop working. Early retirement, in fact, in our culture
is the ultimate thing to aspire to. It's even an idol in our culture, because anything is better
than having to work. And so what we're going to do today in this text is look at a couple of the key
words that keep coming up in Genesis 1 and 2, the key words of work and rest. And I think it's a
subject that's relevant for many of us today. There used to be such a thing called the 40-hour work week.
Unless, of course, you worked for the government, it was 38 hours. True, I used to work for the government
once upon a time, 38 hours. And so it's like, what happened to that? The rhythms, there used to be a
rhythm, if you like. And even in ministry, when I first started ministry 30 years ago, there was this
rhythm of work, rest, and play, and that almost doesn't exist anymore. What's happened? What's
going on? Families and communities are suffering because of a culture of work in our society. So
I've got three points on the app, called to work, how to work, and working well. So called to work.
As part of the image bearing that we see there in the creation, people are called to work. God
himself works. Genesis 2.2. By the seventh day, God had finished the work he'd been doing, and on the
seventh day, he rested from all his work. God works. And although we read there that God ceased his
creating activity on the seventh day of creation, we are told in John 5.17 that God continues to work.
He still works. In fact, as the Lord of creation who upholds everything by the power of his word,
if he ever ceased to work, everything we know now would dissolve into nothingness.
He continues to uphold the universe as it is. And so this is an amazing statement here.
What is so amazing about Genesis 2.2?
In creation accounts of Eastern culture, for instance, the Babylonian creation account,
probably the most famous Eastern creation account, called Eluma Elish,
humanity is created as a primitive, lowly creature for the purpose of laboring to keep the world going
so that the gods don't have to do anything. That's why humanity was created.
And for creation accounts like Eluma Elish, work is considered bad, primitive, terrible.
The divines don't work.
On the other hand, on the creation accounts in Western culture, like those of Greco-Roman culture,
the most famous of Greco-Roman culture creation account is Pandora's box.
Zeus gives Pandora this box. It was actually a jar, really, but it's become known as a box.
And Zeus says, open it. And she opens it.
And what comes out of the Pandora's box is all this bad stuff.
Death, disease, decay, and work.
And so in the Greek myths, work is bad.
Eastern and Western, work is bad.
And Genesis 1 is the opposite.
Work is good.
Genesis tells us that work is something that our creator God actually does.
It is something good.
In chapter 2, verse 7, we read,
Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
The man became a living being.
I said last week that the book of Genesis, before anything else,
it is about God.
It is the beginning of the doctrine of God.
First and foremost, his name, God is referred to 35 times in the first chapter.
And there is something really interesting that we note here about God.
Up to this point in Genesis, Moses has used the name Elohim for the name of God.
Up to this point.
It's a name that portrays God's majesty as the creator of all that is.
It signifies a omnipotent deity.
But from chapter 2, verse 4, which technically is actually the beginning of chapter 2.
We won't get into that.
The guy who originally put the chapter headings in the Bible,
because it never used to have chapter headings.
It wasn't written with chapter headings.
And when he put the chapter headings in, the guy who did that,
apparently did it on horseback.
So, you know, we're cutting some slack here.
Chapter 2, verse 4, the name of God switches to Yahweh Elohim,
the Lord God.
And so from chapter 2, verse 4, to the end of chapter 4,
the dominant name for God is Yahweh Elohim.
And it's a combination of the creator God and the covenant-keeping relational God.
And the God of Genesis, therefore, is not a distant, cruel, angry God
who creates primitive beings to do his labor.
He is a God who is powerful but very good.
He is a God who is humble and gentle of heart.
And we get a glimpse of that, the first glimpse of it, in chapter 2, verse 7.
This is such an interesting contrast to Greek philosophical thinking,
which says manual work is bad.
Manual work is a curse.
Manual work is a punishment.
Chapter 2, verse 7,
God stoops down into the soil and forms man.
This God is a God who's got dirt under his fingertips.
Humanity is the apex of God's creation,
creating the image of God.
According to verses 26 and 28 of chapter 1,
we are his image bearers,
and part of our purpose as his image bearers
is to rule the created order.
We are God's royal figures,
his vicegerents over creation.
We exercise a delegated power on behalf of our God.
And then from verse 8,
we see in verse 2 that God is the God who plants the garden.
And then he puts Adam in it and tells him to be the gardener.
All work, including manual work,
is part of paradise.
And all work is held up as good.
It is part of God's good creation.
This is so different than the way we think of things in our world.
For instance, in communist ideology,
professionals are disdained.
Manual workers are disdained in capitalism.
But in biblical Christianity,
all work is good,
and all work has dignity.
So then how should we work?
That's my second point.
I want to touch briefly on three practical things
on how we should go about our work.
Really simply, look in,
look out, look up.
That's really the three points, really briefly.
This is how we go about our work
and what the Bible says about the nature of things.
So look in,
that is, look into what you're gifted to.
Take a look at chapter 1, verse 26.
Then God said,
let us make mankind in our image,
in our likeness,
so that they may rule.
God's image is that he is the creator
and ruler of all that he's made.
And so he makes humanity in his image
and he makes us rulers of all that he's made.
We are all made in the image of our creator
and so we create.
The Hebrew word for God creating
in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2
is that he creates out of nothing.
That's his creative work.
Ex nilio.
It is out of nothing.
Nothing exists and he creates.
And that's used three times
in Genesis 1 and 2, that word.
Three times.
All referring to God's creating work.
But there's a heap of other words
that are used in Genesis 1 and 2.
Words like form, make, separate, shape.
And they are used of both God and people.
So the truest sense of our humanity's creating work
is to make,
is to sub-create, if you like.
God's creative work
is to make something entirely new
from no matter at all
and only God can do that.
To sub-create is to make something relatively new
using existing material.
And sub-creating is what the spirit does
in chapter 1 verse 2.
Hovering over the empty matter
and bringing order from chaos,
newness out of unformed material.
And every human being,
in some way,
has a desire to reflect
that work of God.
It might be developing a product.
It might be starting a business.
It might be creating a piece of,
or sub-creating a piece of art.
It might be turning around
a dysfunctional work team
or a dysfunctional partner,
a department,
or a dysfunctional organisation.
It might be an educator
bringing out the potential in a student,
a medical professional
bringing order to a broken body,
a therapist bringing order to a broken mind.
I could go on and on and on and on and on.
A mother changing,
or a father actually,
I don't want to get,
changing a nappy.
Changing a nappy to bring disorder
from this mess.
You could go on.
It could be bringing order
to gardens and buildings
and people's hair and clothing
and raising.
I mean, you just go on bringing.
That is the work of sub-creating.
As I mentioned last week,
in Greek philosophy,
divides the world
into the spiritual being good
and the physical being bad.
It is not biblical Christianity at all.
There is something very physical
about the work of spiritual work
that I do.
And there is something deeply spiritual
about the physical work you do.
And I do.
God does not divide
between the secular and the sacred.
It is not biblical Christianity
to do that.
So as a Christian,
if you are not well,
pray to God about your sickness
and go to the doctor.
And go to the doctor.
You are not being super spiritual.
You are not being more spiritual.
You're not being more mature
by not going to the doctor.
If your car breaks down,
pray about it,
but call a mechanic.
God has gifted humanity
for the work
of bringing order
out of chaos.
That's his job.
That is our job.
So look into how God has gifted you
in that space.
I am so deeply thankful
for the people who bring order
in my life
amongst the chaos
in all kinds of way.
The legal professionals
who jump in
when there's legal disorder.
for Craig,
sitting over here,
the work that he does,
most of us
are not even aware of.
We get to sit in an ordered building
because of this guy.
We get to enjoy
ordered grounds
because of this guy.
You ought to be praising
his work as much as mine.
Or more,
if you don't praise mine at all.
Look out
is the second point
to a world around you
and give the world
what it needs to have.
Chapter 2, verse 15,
the Lord God took the man
and put him in the garden of Eden
to work and take care of it.
To take care of it,
not to abuse it,
not to exploit it,
not to use it.
And this is the issue
of stewardship.
We are stewards
of God's resources.
We are stewards
of God's gifts
that he's given us
for a higher purpose.
our own glorification
but for the creating of order
in society,
in his world.
You see,
the first point
of looking in
to see how God gives me
really does suit
the Western individual
mindset really well.
Thanks for that, Steve.
Let's finish the sermon there.
But this one
about the rest of the...
Not so much.
And this is the balance.
work
is not just
about using
my gifts
and fulfilling me.
It is about
working for the good
of others.
So the biblical view
of work
is we are stewards
of the world
and the people
around us.
How is my work
in contributing
to the advancement
of society?
How is it contributing
to the advancement
of society?
That's a question
for you
before you go
to work tomorrow morning.
Or if you're not sure,
ask me,
I can tell you.
In one way or another,
it's really...
I mean,
it's clear.
I mean,
my optometrist
over here
helps me to see things
so I can write sermons
and read.
Get a greater glimpse
of the world.
Bringing order
out of chaos.
The last one
is to look up
to the one
who has called you.
There is to be
a sense of mission
or purpose
to our work.
Ephesians 2.10,
we are God's
handiwork
created in Christ Jesus
to do good works
which God prepared
in advance
for us to do.
The Christian perspective
on work
is that if we look in
and see the way
God has gifted us,
if we look out
to make a difference
to those gifts
in the wider world
to bring order
to chaos,
then we know
ultimately
that God
will use that work.
And if we work
like this,
we will be content
with our vocation
in life.
But we need
all three things
together.
All three of them.
And that moves me
here to the final point.
Because what I've just
said can seem
so unrealistic.
There is certainly
truth in that thought.
Frankly,
for me personally,
I have a job
that ticks
all the boxes
for me.
My vocation
in life
ticks all the boxes
for me.
But even so,
every single job,
every single vocation
can be
unbelievably
frustrating.
And at times
crushing.
And filled
with all kinds
of difficulty
and anxieties.
I fully understand
that our work
can hurt us.
It can drain us.
It is so frustrating.
And yet,
we haven't got
to the rest
of the Bible yet,
which is so realistic
about this.
Work will never
be the good
it was created
to be
unless we see
that
what we need
in our hearts
in order
to work well.
So let's move
to the third point
on working well.
What we need
in our hearts
to work well
is rest.
That's what we need.
Genesis 2,
2-3.
By the seventh day,
God had finished
the work
he had been doing.
And so on the seventh day,
he rested
from all his work.
Then God
blessed the seventh day
and made it holy
because on it
he rested
from all
the work
of creating
that he had done.
God finished
his work
and he rested.
It is the only
day of creation
that God blesses.
He made
the seventh day
holy.
That means
it's been set apart
and it's been set apart
for us.
Unlike
the previous
six days,
the number
of the day
of this particular day,
day seven,
is repeated
three times
in Genesis 2
and 3.
Chapter 2,
2 or 3.
The seventh day
stands
apart
in
solidary
grandeur
as the crown
to the six days
of creating.
God's rest
here
is one
of deep
pleasure
and satisfaction
at the fruit
of his labor.
From the beginning
of creation,
the seventh day
was central
not only
to creation
but to the
ultimate
destiny
of all
of humanity.
We can read
in these
two chapters
a rhythm
of work
and rest
and it's
certainly good
for all people
to practice it.
But the Bible
tells us
there's more
to this rest
than is
immediately
obvious
here.
Immediately
obvious.
if we
truly
want to
be able
to work
as we
have seen
here
then we
need to
have a
truly
Sabbath
rest,
a deep
Sabbath
rest.
Let's just
dig a little
bit deeper
on that.
Psalm 95
is all
about worship.
Psalm 95
all about worship.
At the end
of the
psalm
we read
something
that's a
little
unusual.
I'll
paraphrase
it a
little bit
for us.
Hear
his voice.
Do not
harden
your hearts
as your
ancestors
did.
So I
declared
on oath
in my
anger
they shall
never
enter
my
rest.
It's all
about worship
and God
says
they have
rejected
me and
therefore
they will
never
enter
rest.
It
doesn't
end there
though.
If you
go further
into the
Bible
Hebrews
chapter
3 and
4
it says
there
that there
is still
a rest
for the
people of
God.
What's
that all
about?
Well
jump back
into Psalm
chapter 3
verses 5
and 6
this is
David
I
lie
down
and
sleep
I
wake
again
because
the
Lord
has
sustained
me
throughout
my
sleep
I
will
not
fear
though
tens
of
thousands
assail
me
on
every
side.
So here's
David
saying
I am
surrounded
by tens
of thousands
of enemies
and I'm
sleeping
like a
baby.
Apologies
if your
baby
does not
sleep
that
well.
The
Psalmist
is talking
here about
deep
rest
of the
soul.
Deep
rest of
the soul
a rest
that we
all need
and a
rest that
so many
do not
have.
And it
plays out
in our
work.
She's
one of the
biggest
selling
female
artists
of all
time
having
sold
over
400
million
albums
around
the
world.
She's
done
TV
work,
film
work,
launched
her own
line of
clothing,
her career
has
expanded
more than
four
decades
and she's
won
multiple
Golden
Globes
and
Grammys.
But
Madonna
still can't
find
rest.
When
Madonna
was in
the
heyday
of her
cultural
significance
she gave
a now
famous
interview
with
I think
it was
Vanity Fair
or Vogue
for me
I don't
care.
She said
what she
said there
about her
work was
very sobering.
I have
an iron
wheel
and all
of my
will
has always
been to
conquer
some
horrible
feeling
of
inadequacy.
I'm
always
struggling
with that
fear.
I push
past
one
spell
of it
and
discover
myself
as a
special
human
being
and
then I
get to
another
stage
and I
think I'm
mediocre
and uninteresting.
My drive
in life
is from
this horrible
fear of
being
mediocre
and that's
always
pushing me
because even
though I
become
somebody
I still
have to
prove
that
somebody.
My
struggle
has never
ended
and it
probably
never
will.
that
was her
answer
to the
question
of why
do you
work
so
hard?
Harold
Abrahams
was an
English
athlete
who won
the 100
metre
gold
medal
at the
1924
Paris
Olympics.
What was
his motivation
to work
so hard
train
so hard?
He was
asked that
question
what drove
you?
He said
quote
I've got
10 seconds
to justify
my
existence.
You see
on top
of the
work
that we
do
our
vocations
in life
is this
deeper
work
that's
going
on in
the
soul.
A
work
that
sits
under
all
of
that
work
and
for
most
part
for
the
most
part
it's
unseen.
so many
of us
unaware
that we're
not actually
just working
in our
vocations
we're
working
deep
in our
souls
at the
same
time.
The
atheist
Stephen
J.
Gould
put it
like
this
we're
here
because
one
odd
group
of
fishes
had a
peculiar
fin
anatomy
that
could
transform
into
legs
for
terrestrial
creatures.
Because the
earth never
froze entirely
during an
ice age
because our
small and
tenuous
species
arising in
Africa a
quarter of a million
years ago
has managed
so far to
survive by
hook or by
crook
we may
yearn for
a higher
answer but
none
exists.
This
explanation
though
superficially
troubling
is ultimately
liberating
we have to
construct
therefore
any
meaning
ourselves.
And he's
absolutely
right.
If you
want to
begin
with the
premise
that there
is no
creator
God
that it's
all an
accident
a freak
accident
then you
have to
construct
meaning
for
yourself
because
no
other
meaning
exists.
That is
the bedrock
of secularism.
There is
no such
thing as
purpose in
life and
Stephen Jay
Gould is
one of the
few
atheists
who
actually will
acknowledge
that
or did
acknowledge
it.
And so
many of
us in
our
productivity
driven
western
world
are
trying to
construct
that
meaning
out of
our
work.
Out of
our
vocation
out of
our stages
in life
out of
our
gifting.
There is
a deeper
work going
on that
our vocations
feed into
and that
we actually
try to
extract from
our work.
And that
is what
makes our
work such
a burden
such a
mess
so far
from the
ideal.
If
anything goes
wrong with
our work
then our
sense of
self becomes
unraveled.
When we
retire our
sense of
purposelessness
increases.
Our identities
get rocked.
This is where
the Christian
teaching on
creation and
work is just
so helpful
for our
sense of
being.
in Genesis
2 when
God finishes
the sixth
day of
creating
he
effectively
declares
it is
finished.
It's
done.
Centuries
later the
same God
cries out the
same words
it is
finished.
The first
time God
got rest
because of
creation
the second
time Jesus
Christ
calls out
it is
finished on
the cross
so that we
could have
deep soul
rest.
Hebrews 4
verse 9
puts it like
this.
There remains
then a
Sabbath rest
for the
people of
God.
For anyone
who enters
God's rest
also rests
from their
work just
as God
did from
his.
See the
rest of
Hebrew 4
tells us
that we
can enter
God's
eternal
rest
the purpose
of creation
right now
in Jesus
Christ.
Right now.
The approval
that every
human being
needs
is to be
approved
in God's
heart.
The
significance
that we
really need
is the
significance
that we
get from
God's
eyes.
The
security
that we
need
is the
security
of being
wrapped
in God's
arms.
work
will
never
ever
give it
to us.
God's
work
is
finished
on the
day of
creation
and the
day of
redemption.
The
Lord God
is Yahweh
Elohim.
He is
our creator
and our
redeemer.
In
Jesus
Christ
our
existence
is
justified
before we
even get
up in
the morning
and head
to work.
He is
our
existence
and he
is our
justification.
He is
not our
work.
Religion
turns even
him into
a work.
We will
never have
joy and
freedom and
rest in
our work
until we
realize that
the deepest
work,
the work
to redeem
and to
justify
our souls
has
already
been
fully
completely
accomplished
and
finalized
in
Jesus.
And so
what Jesus
does is
he calls
us to
come to
him.
Come to
me all
you who
are weary
and burdened
and I
will give
you rest.
Take my
yoke upon
you and
learn from
me for
I am
gentle and
humble in
heart and
you will
find rest
for your
souls.
for my
yoke is
easy and
my burden
is light.
He offers
us deep
deep rest
because he
took our
burden.
A rest
that's so
deep that
your world
can move
into chaos.
Your
workplace,
your vocation
can move
into chaos
and yet you
can still
have rest.
He was
crushed for
our sin,
he shouldered
our burden.
So how
do we know
that we
are truly
resting in
the finished
work of
his redemption
and not
just his
creation?
Well, for
a start we
can take
time off.
We can
stop and
we commune
with him.
If we do
not stop
from all
of our
work to
be with
God,
it's one
of the
first signs
that we
do not
have
spiritual
rest in
Jesus.
Our
experience
of rest
is
proportionate
to our
trusting in
him.
Our
wholehearted
trust
brings rest
to our
souls in
all of
its divine,
cosmic,
and ideal
dimensions.
as the
great
Saint
Augustine
said,
our hearts
are restless
until they
find rest
in God.
Life
apart from
Jesus is
constant
striving,
and we
will remain
restless no
matter what
we obtain
or what we
attain in
this world.
And so
Jesus calls
you,
the weary,
the burdened,
to come to
him and
receive the
gift of
rest.
His deepest
heart towards
you is not
to lump you
with more
work.
His deepest
heart towards
you is
gentleness
and humility
and rest.
Come,
follow
Jesus,
treasure
Jesus,
and find
rest for
your souls.
Amen.