Work, Work, Work

[dave c]

simpletruth #139c revisited 12NOV11 salicart@msn.com

For This Reason—Page Three: Work, Work, Work

by rev. dave carter

Genesis 2:8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil….15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (NIV).

The Micro$oft Encarta World English Dictionary 2001 defines “garden” as: “1. planted area of ground: a plot of ground where plants such as fruits, vegetables, and flowers are grown. 2. park: a park or recreational area for the public, generally planted with flowers, shrubs, and trees (often used in the plural). 3. farming region: a fertile, well-cultivated region.” The primary characteristics that generally separate “a garden” from the rest of the world include: Intentionally choosing a geographic area of some size, planting specific flora, and working to maintain the conditional quality of both the ground and the plants. God chose the location for the Garden of Eden, and He caused the types and numbers of trees to grow there according to His will. While the Bible does not list specific trees, we are told that they were both beautiful in appearance and practical for their production of food. Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

From the very beginning God intended for the man to work. Genesis 2:15 tells us that you and I must labor not because of Adam and Eve’s fall and the subsequent curse upon humanity as described in Chapter Three, but that from the beginning we were designed and consigned to work. In Genesis 2:19 we learn that Adam was given the task of naming all the animals—a task that we continue to the present under the auspices of Science. God gave to man and woman as a couple the directives, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Ge 1:28; NIV). Interestingly enough, no matter how stridently an atheistic individual or society denies the existence of the Living Creator God, this five-fold Divine assignment remains ingrained in the very fiber of that individual and society. This is true in spite of ever increasing and mind numbing entertainment. This is true in spite of birth control and the murder of the unborn. This is true in spite of the call for larger and larger geographic preserves. This is true in spite of the “greening” of Western Culture. This is true in spite of the extremes of animal rights activists.

The New Testament is quite clear in Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians regarding daily work: In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ""If a man will not work, he shall not eat.'' We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat (2Th 3:6-12; NIV).

James is very specific in his admonition for Believers to be righteously productive in the material world, as well as in the rational and the spiritual, If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (Ja 2:15-18; NAS). Paul, in Ephesians 2: 8-10, is adamant that although we are not saved by good works, we are saved to do good works, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (NAS).

Jungles can be very beautiful, but they are wild and pretty much everything in a jungle wants to eat you. The difference between a jungle, or a wilderness, and a garden is the intentional desire, plans, and work of intelligent and capable beings to exercise some controls over the immediate geographic, social, and spiritual environment. It is toward this end that the Lord God commanded the first man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Ge 2:15-17; NIV).”