Work is a good thing, because it’s God’s thing.

In the Bible, the very first chapter of the first book, Genesis, tells the story of God creating and uses a framework of six workdays to describe its development. Then in Chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, we see work, work, work.

[2:1] Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. [2] 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.
The story of creation from the Jewish scriptures, believed by Christians, is that creation was the product of

God gets right to work from the beginning of time. That’s unique. Many other creation stories in other cultures start with conflict between gods. They say we and our world are products of destruction. But the Christian story says we are products of construction.

When it’s all done, God is satisfied, and can rest. He’s said over and over as he created, it’s good. When he created humans he said it was very good. And then he rested, satisfied he’d done good work.

For the rest of the summer, we’ll be looking at work and rest, and how important they are for followers of Jesus.

And it starts here, with the simple fact that God works, and is still working to provide, care, heal and sustain life for us on earth.

God and Jesus work: in John 5:17 he responded to those who objected to him healing people on Saturday, what should have been a day of rest. He said, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

God didn’t stop working forever, he is still at work, including in and through his son Jesus.

Later in John 5:36 it’s clear God the Father has given him work to do…like an assignment.

Finally, work is in paradise. If the Garden of Eden, in creation, we get a picture of heaven on earth, and we see work is meant to be there, not just added in after humans rebelled against god – it was there before the rebellion. The nature of work changed, but it was meant to be there already.

Today we’ve seen, work is meant to be a good thing…something God embraces. Not an evil virus infecting life.

Question: Why is the goodness of work not more apparent in human life? What makes this so hard to believe?

 

Acknowledgements: Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavour and Work & Rest

Ryan Sim - November 21, 2013

Thursday - Act On It - Grace - in Lifestyle

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I introduced the idea of grace with a diagram. We will build on that now, so if you missed it, go back and watch Tuesday and Wednesday’s content. You may be familiar with the Ten Commandments. They are an important part of the tracks that God has created for our lives, the guidelines that keep us from self-destructing. Where did they come from? They are over 3400 years old. God led the Israelites out of danger and slavery, then gave the laws by which this newly freed people were to organize their life together. Of all these laws, the Ten Commandments come first and take most important place. In a few minutes, please watch the attached video to hear the commandments in detail. But first we need to know purpose first, to understand the commandments in their proper place…lest you come away from this thinking that Christianity is all about following a bunch of rules. A common misconception is to make “Obey God’s laws” #1 as if it could qualify you for a life of knowing God. Sometimes Christians communicate the rules like they are number one, having forgotten how they came to know the God who helps them keep those commandments. Knowing God qualifies you to try and follow these commandments…God is working in and through his followers to help transform their lives from the inside out. This was certainly true for Israelites. God, in his love for the Israelites, saved them from slavery in Egypt by parting the red sea. Only once they were safely on the other side of the sea from the Egyptians did he give them the commandments, and call them to live by those commandments in thanks for the gift he’d given them. The 10 commandments answer the question: “How can I live to thank the God who has loved me so much?” Not how can I behave to earn God’s love, or avoid his hate. Not how can I get others to live by my rules? Take a quick run through these commandments. The Commandments deal with two things: Relationship with God Relationship with One Another. The last commandment is unique, since it talks about contentment. This one may seem a bit different from the others, and it is. The others focus on our outward actions, what to do and not do, while this one focuses on our hearts, what to want and desire, and what not to. God is in the transformation business. He not only wanted to see the Israelites as a transformed society, but also to see the minds of all his created human beings transformed in this way. The Bible contains many other guidelines, principles and laws. We don’t have time to go through them all here. Life is complex, and there is not a specific rule for everything. But these principles, the 10 commandments, or even just the 2 commandments to love god and neighbour, or the principle of grace behind them all, can apply to any area of life. I am happy to help you interpret and apply if you have a specific question. Watch the 10 Commandments in the extra video. Challenge: Show grace to someone today. Give them a gift they don’t deserve. Reminder: Last week we talked about worship, and asked you to complete our online survey about worship here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8TS7K93 Reminder: Earlier in this series, we saw the importance of reading the Bible together in sync, so our new daily bible readings start today in our mobile app and web site.

Related Topics: Grace, Law, Lifestyle, Ten Commandments | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

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This series looks at becoming “like family” with others learning to follow Jesus. We're exploring how the church is not a building, institution or event, but a community of people. It's important that explore what church means as we prepare to launch a new church in Ajax in 2014.

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