We are created for work and work is good
I used to think that work was bad, a curse. It won't surprise me if you feel the same way from time to time. Most people see work in the same way. I lacked knowledge of the fundamental theology of work and assumed that work was a product of the fall. But God designed us to work from the beginning. We work because our Creator works, and we're made in His image to reflect Him.
God is a worker…
Have you ever noticed that God is introduced to us as a worker in the very first chapters of the Bible? Perhaps you've never thought of Him that way, but God is a worker.
Let's look at Genesis 2: "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work," (Genesis 2:2). God created all things. When He was creating the world, He was working. And God's work had a purpose, not just working for Himself; it was for His creation…for us.
Work is good…
Let's back up one chapter to the very beginning, in Genesis 1. God pronounced His work worthy: "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good," (Genesis 1:31). God created. And God worked. And it was good. But that's God and his work. How does this tie to us, to you and me, and our work?
We are made in His image, to work…
In Genesis 1, we also see God's purpose for us revealed as it relates to work. It says, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule (Genesis 1:26) over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." We can read in the scripture that we are image-bearers, children made in God's image. We are to mirror God and to do like God—if God is a worker, then we are workers too.
God charges humankind to work…
Also, God gave us a lot of responsibility. He gave humankind the earth and made us sovereign over all of it—to grow it, to manage it, and to lead. Look at the work assignment he gave to Adam: "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." (Genesis 2:15)
We can now connect the dots on things that God intended for us as His children, and for our life: God is a worker, God charges humankind to be workers, and we are made in His image. This is not just an Old Testament concept; it carries forward into the New Testament as well. Paul says in Ephesians, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do," (Colossians 3:23).Simply said, we are made to work and do good work, just like God – we were, we are, made in His image. This is the fundamental reason that we were created. When we are working, we are mirroring God.
It's amazing to learn that at the very beginning of the world, when God made the world, "work" was at the core. And it was at the core of worthiness, of goodness. We oftentimes think that work is bad, but the original intent was that work is good. This may seem simple and basic as we "review" scripture; but we really don't LIVE this out in the workplace. But God wants this for me; He wants it for you; He wants it for the marketplace!
God is a worker. Work is good.
We are made to work, just like God – we are made in His image.