My readings are going to change a bit, as I'm going to have to cover a lot of different stuff to get this sermon prepped. So watch them jump around.
Genesis 1-3
The first verse in the Bible that is about work is not about mankind at all, except in an indirect sense. It is God who has in fact been working. His work was the work of creation. He does it with authority ("and God said...And it was so"). He does it in an orderly fashion (the days, whether real or literary, divide the story up into distinct, orderly parts). The fruits of his labour are very good (1:31). Work is therefore foundational to creation.
So by the time we get to 2:2, we've already learned a fair bit about how God works. Then a curious, unexpected thing occurs - God rests. The NIV has a note that says "or ceases". Fair enough. But what does this tell us about God and his work pattern? I think we can extrapolate a few things.
Firstly, the universe is built on the foundation of work & rest. Later on, that day of rest would become the Sabbath - enshrined by God into his laws as a day of rest for his people. Mankind rests because God rested.
Did God have to rest? I'd say the answer is probably not. But in doing so he set a standard for his creation. No doubt it is part of God's grace.
Secondly, It tells us that God's work pattern has a beginning and an end. He started creation, he stopped creation. Not just stopped, though - completed. So God finishes what he starts. He also knows when to stop.
2:15
Man is now on the scene. The next thing we learn about work is that Man is involved. Mankind is given a job from God. Before the fall. Which means that work, like pretty much everything, had its beginnings in something good and right.
Also, since God has ceased his own work (of creation), he delegates to mankind some work. This is important - it means that the work mankind does is actually God's work! God is still the final author of it, and God is ultimately responsible for it. But he allows mankind to be a part of it, to have what we might call 'creative input'.
What kind of work is it? I am going to say that it involves both form and function - that is, that the work of mankind is to achieve both the practical and beautiful. My basis is 2:9 - the trees in the garden were both pleasing to the eye and good for food. God created the garden that way, and no doubt it was mankind's work to keep it that way.
And mankind does it, of course, because God has the authority to assign work to mankind.
2:18
We all know where this heads - woman ends up getting created. But the point here is that she is created as a helper for man. That is, someone to help him in his work. Mankind and womankind are both called to work by God.
But there's more. Now there exists in the work of mankind a structure of authority. One is the helper of the other. This is not to belittle the work of one against the work of the other. God did not give mankind work to do in order to belittle or shame.
Now I might point out that it is God who appoints woman to be the helper of man. That is, she reports to God, because God gave her the job.
Both positions of work given to people are given by God, partly to create a relationship between them and God. But they are also meant to work together and have relationship with one another.
It's hard not to read a hierarchical relationship into the man/woman relationship as it is written. However, a lot of that is probably based on order of creation (which actually means fish outrank humans, and are outranked by trees). The idea that the woman is called a "helper", and is formed from a part of the man also contributes, and these are more realistic arguments in my book. Having said that, man was made out of dust, and when you consider the authority of God over both men and women, then any authority we might hold between each other seems a little petty. I think it's also worth noting that mankind is given rulership over the animals, not over woman.
3:16-19
This is where everything stuffs up. I've included verse 16, but not really because of part 1 of the curse, regarding childbearing. Rather, I've added it to show that the relationship between man and woman has changed. Woman now is cursed with a desire for her husband. I had it explained to me once that the word 'desire' is the same word used in chapter 4 to describe sin's desire to overtake and control Cain. So it is not a carnal desire (why would that be a curse?), but rather it is a desire for control. It is further sharpened because now man will be put in rulership over woman. Man's rule over woman is part of a curse, not part of God's creation.
I might just add that the curses, while specifically given to man and woman, are shared by both too. So the curse of rulership over women is also a curse to men.
Anyway, onto the work-based curse that falls on mankind. Work existed before the fall. Now it is toil. Pre-fall, work seems to have involved encouraging a mix of growth and beauty. Now it involves sweat and pain. It is necessary simply to subsist. I think it would be fair to say that it also loses its "sweetness" of reward - a simple life of eating fruit is gone, replaced with seasonal growth of wheat-style crops. Sure, bread is nice, but fruit is the chocolate of the OT, without the work of processing it first. You don't have to process fruit unless you want a fruit salad or a smoothie. Eating heads of grain just isn't the same.
The big point to make here, of course, is that the curses don't ruin the things they curse. Relationships between men and woman are still good. Having kids is still good. Eating is still good. But they now have a mix of good and bad in them, like a field with wheat and thistles. The same, then, must be considered of work. Work gives us a creative outlet, allows us to participate in the work of God (he delegated it to us, after all). However, now it is also a 'live or die' imperative, and it is painful.
It's hard not to read a hierarchical relationship into the man/woman relationship as it is written. However, a lot of that is probably based on order of creation (which actually means fish outrank humans, and are outranked by trees). The idea that the woman is called a "helper", and is formed from a part of the man also contributes, and these are more realistic arguments in my book. Having said that, man was made out of dust, and when you consider the authority of God over both men and women, then any authority we might hold between each other seems a little petty. I think it's also worth noting that mankind is given rulership over the animals, not over woman.
3:16-19
This is where everything stuffs up. I've included verse 16, but not really because of part 1 of the curse, regarding childbearing. Rather, I've added it to show that the relationship between man and woman has changed. Woman now is cursed with a desire for her husband. I had it explained to me once that the word 'desire' is the same word used in chapter 4 to describe sin's desire to overtake and control Cain. So it is not a carnal desire (why would that be a curse?), but rather it is a desire for control. It is further sharpened because now man will be put in rulership over woman. Man's rule over woman is part of a curse, not part of God's creation.
I might just add that the curses, while specifically given to man and woman, are shared by both too. So the curse of rulership over women is also a curse to men.
Anyway, onto the work-based curse that falls on mankind. Work existed before the fall. Now it is toil. Pre-fall, work seems to have involved encouraging a mix of growth and beauty. Now it involves sweat and pain. It is necessary simply to subsist. I think it would be fair to say that it also loses its "sweetness" of reward - a simple life of eating fruit is gone, replaced with seasonal growth of wheat-style crops. Sure, bread is nice, but fruit is the chocolate of the OT, without the work of processing it first. You don't have to process fruit unless you want a fruit salad or a smoothie. Eating heads of grain just isn't the same.
The big point to make here, of course, is that the curses don't ruin the things they curse. Relationships between men and woman are still good. Having kids is still good. Eating is still good. But they now have a mix of good and bad in them, like a field with wheat and thistles. The same, then, must be considered of work. Work gives us a creative outlet, allows us to participate in the work of God (he delegated it to us, after all). However, now it is also a 'live or die' imperative, and it is painful.
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