The Design and Dignity of Work
INPUT – What are some of the wrong attitudes that our world, or even followers of Christ, can have about work?
INPUT – What aspects of work can we find frustrating or discouraging?
3 principles about work found in the Garden of Eden
I. The First Worker in the History of the World Was God Himself
Genesis 2:1-3 - Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
A. Brought order out of chaos
Genesis 1:1-3 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said…
INPUT – What other jobs, or aspects of a person’s job, achieve a similar function?
INPUT – Does our culture always value or reward this function? How can/should we be different?
B. Took steps that were organized and systematic
INPUT – How do we see this emphasis in the creation narrative?
INPUT – How can a follower of Jesus Christ work similarly today?
INPUT – What should a Christian think today if he/she does this, but it isn’t appreciated?
C. Took time to evaluate and find satisfaction in His work
INPUT – How do we see this emphasis in the creation narrative?
INPUT – How can a man speak/live in a way that helps his wife and children have a similar reaction to the work they are called to do?
INPUT – How can we help other people do this?
D. Rested from His work
INPUT – Do you find the fact that God rested on the 7th day surprising? Why or why not?
INPUT – What lessons are there for people like you and me?
II. God Created His Image-Bearers to Follow His Example of Work
A. Made us in His image and likeness
Genesis 1:26 - Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
INPUT – What are some examples of human beings exercising dominion over creation with their creativity and ingenuity?
INPUT – Can practicing civil engineering be as spiritual as preparing a sermon? What other examples might we give?
B. Given the privilege of work as part of God’s blessing
Genesis 1:28 - God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
INPUT – What is surprising about the relationship between the first three words in that verse, and everything we read afterwards?
INPUT – Describe a man who truly believes this.
C. Elevates what we might consider service work
INPUT – How can fathers help their children develop a biblical work-ethic?
III. In Christ, We Can Work in a Way that Honors the Lord
INPUT – What principles do we find in Colossians 3:22-24 that can direct us as we allow our Savior to change the way we think about our work?