Work in the context of creation and fall

Genesis 1 and 2 describe the very good world that God made. God rules over all with man ruling ‘vice regent’.

 

A vice regent is a bit like an ambassador, but with one key difference. An ambassador is sent by the king to represent his interests in another land, but a vice regent is to another land to rule on behalf of the king. So the vice regent rules over the land in the name of, and under the command of the king who sent him. In the same way, Adam, Eve and all mankind are to rule the world on the behalf of and under the rule of God.

 

In Genesis 2:15 What two things are Adam and Eve to do as God’s vice regents?

 

 

The context of creation shows that our work is part of God’s ‘very good’ creation and it’s for this reason that the Teacher says:

“A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?”

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25

 

 Stop and Think

It’s easy to look at the world and think that work is ‘grievous’ and ‘toilsome’, but work is fundamentally good since mankind was made to rule, care and work under God.

  

Getting work into context – The fall

Genesis 3 however describes the fall. Mankind rebelled against the rule of God, and no longer wanted to be ‘vice regents’ but kings in their own right. As a result, man was cursed:

‘To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."’ Genesis 3:17-19

 

Read the sections of Ecclesiastes below, and underline the parts that show how the fall has affected our work:

Ecclesiastes 2:17-23  So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.  (18)  I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.  (19)  And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.  (20)  So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labour under the sun.  (21)  For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.  (22)  What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labours under the sun?  (23)  All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-11  What does the worker gain from his toil?  (10)  I have seen the burden God has laid on men.  (11)  He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Ecclesiastes 3:18-20  I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.  (19)  Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless.  (20)  All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.

 

Putting the contexts together

God made mankind to care and work the world as his vice regents. Therefore work is good.

But, Adam and Eve rebelled against the rule of God. The resulting curse leaves us with a work environment that is toilsome and sweaty, and all the while mankind’s destiny is the grave. Therefore, work is hard and will ultimately be given to another.