Take your Bibles, if you will, and turn to Genesis chapter one. This is a Labor Day weekend, and so I have decided to suspend our series on the Psalms for today and look instead at something related to Labor Day. As you know, Kristen Stiles posts the sermons on the website each week, and I told her when I gave her the title of this morning’s message—she always wants a title to post there—when I gave it to her, she was afraid she wouldn’t fit it on the website. It’s two titles, actually: A Message for Labor Day, that’s the easy one; or, Monday Morning in Biblical Perspective. That’s what we’ll try to look at this morning. Genesis chapter one, and I’ll begin with verses 26 through 28.
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'” And then if you will just drop down to chapter two, verse 15: “The Lord took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it.”
As you know, Genesis chapter one records for us what we call the creation account, the origin of everything. More than just the origin of everything, Genesis one is intended to tell us great things about God. Not just that this is how creation and nature came about, but it’s intended to show us something of the greatness and the glory of God who brought it all into existence simply by his spoken word. You’re familiar with the account in Genesis chapter one: the six days of creation, and then the seventh day, God rested.
On day one, God created the light, the day-night cycle. Day two, God creates the firmament, that is the atmospheric heavens, and he separated the two bodies of water above and on the earth. Day three, God created the dry land and the plants. And then on day four, he created the sun, the moon, the stars, the light bearers. Day five, he creates the fish, the sea mammals, the birds. And then day six, God creates land animals, and he creates man and woman. Now, when we come to chapter two, verses one and following, the seventh day, this is clearly the climax of the narrative.
God rested. And that ties us in to a story that will take us through the entire Bible to the end: God resting. How that rest was interrupted by human sin and God has brought us into that rest again through the work of Christ. So in verses one through three in chapter two, we have the climax of the narrative. But backing up to the creation week itself and God’s work of creation, clearly day six is the climax of God’s creative work. Here he creates man and woman, humanity, and he makes them the crown of his creation.
The Purpose for Which Humanity Was Created
Just to highlight some of the leading ideas in verses 26 through 28 that we have read: verse 26, “Let us make man in our image after our likeness.” So God has created humanity in some way to reflect him. This at least has to do with the personhood of humanity. We are moral beings. We are rational beings. We have self-consciousness. We’re self-directing. And in those kinds of ways, we reflect God.
In verse 27, it tells us God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. So humanity is binary, male or female. Men and women alike share the image of God. You’re either a man or a woman, even if you’re confused about that these days. But man and woman both reflect the image of God. They are created in his image alike. Not just men, but men and women created in God’s image. And yet at the same time, we find in verse 27 just a hint of the ordering of relationships of men and women that will become more specifically laid out later on. God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. There’s still just a hint of the ordering of relations that will be expanded later.
More to our point this morning, in verses 26 and 28, we have the purpose for which humanity was created. It’s stated in verse 26: “Let them have dominion over all the earth.” This is the superior dignity of humanity over all the rest of God’s created order. This is the function of God’s image in humanity. Reflecting God in some important ways, humanity then is given dominion over all the rest of God’s created order. Now God himself, of course, remains Lord over everything, but he has created humanity in the earth to serve as his vice-regents, exercising dominion over his created order. He created us with that purpose, the stated role: rule over the earth, exercise dominion. We are God’s caretakers over the created order that he has given us.
And then verse 28, he gives the corresponding command. And in verse 28, we have five imperatives, five commands: Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, have dominion. So, fill the earth with my image bearers and extend my rule over the entire thing.
Now, when we come to Genesis 2, we have a narration of the initial exercise of that dominion that God has given humanity. In chapter two, verse 15, that we have read: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it.” It’s an interesting way of saying it. It just emphasizes, highlights again, the lordship of God over all. He creates a man, takes him, puts him in the garden, and says, “Work.” Work it and keep it. And then chapter two, verses 18 and following, we have Adam naming the animals. Presumably he’s looked at them, he’s naming them according to their characteristics. And the point concerns not so much the characteristics of the animals and their names; the point has to do with man himself, Adam here, the crown of creation, exercising his dominion over the earth, naming the animals.
Now, when we turn to chapter 3 of Genesis, of course, we have the epic failure of Adam with regard to this mandate to exercise dominion over the earth. God has commanded him: exercise dominion, work the garden, keep it, guard it, protect it. And that is, of course, exactly what Adam did not do in Genesis chapter 3, and he surrenders his lordship to Satan. And of course, then that takes us into the story of the rest of the Bible, where that must be repaired. And in verse 15, God promises a champion who will finish this for him.
But despite that failure in Genesis here, the narrative continues to highlight humanity’s dominion and the exercise of dominion over the created order. We turn to chapter 4, verses 1 and 2. Adam and Eve had children, Cain and Abel. And verse 2 tells us Abel was a keeper of the sheep; Cain was a worker of the ground. Chapter four, verse 17: Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch, and he built a city. Chapter four, verses 18 and following, we have further descendants. Verse 20, Jabal: he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. So they’re herdsmen, they’re ranchers. Verse 21, Jubal: the father of all those who play the lyre and the pipe. So we have musicians. Verse 22, Tubal-Cain: he’s the forger of instruments, bronze and iron. So we have metallurgy and manufacturing of some kind.
And so we have throughout the narrative, right from the get-go, humanity bearing children, building cities, farming, agricultural developments, shepherding, raising livestock, manufacturing, musicians, metallurgy, making tools—and all of that right from the get-go. So it’s not an overstatement, it’s not oversimplified at all to say from the outset, God created man to work.
The Dominion Mandate
Verse 26 of chapter one: “Let us make man in our image and our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, over the livestock, over all the earth and over every living, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” And then verse 27, God blessed them. The sense of that is God enabled them. He empowered them to do what he has commanded them to do to fulfill their created purpose in exercising dominion over the earth. And then verse 28, the corresponding command is given to the newly created man: fulfill the earth, subdue it, and exercise dominion. And then chapter two, verse 15, that we’ve seen: “The Lord God took the man, plunked him down in the garden and said, ‘Work it and keep it.'”
And it’s important to highlight that all of this is prior to Genesis three. All of this is prior to the fall. All of this is prior to sin and the curse. Now this side of Genesis chapter three, work has taken on a different connotation. There’s the idea and the notions of sweat and toil and burdensomeness. But from the beginning, we have the command, “Work it.” Exercise dominion over the earth. And from the beginning, God gives a certain dignity to work. And in fact, along the way, as you read through the Bible, God warns us against and even condemns laziness and sloth.
In fact, God created two men. All the others came from natural generation, but he created two men: Adam, from the dust of the ground; and Jesus, through virgin birth. And both of those men, he made of the artisan class. Manual labor. And he gives a certain dignity to work as it was from the beginning. Now all of this has been called, and rightly called, the dominion mandate, or the creation mandate, or sometimes called the cultural mandate.
I doubt anyone will remember it at this point—I do, because I was the one doing it—but I remember, it’s got to be 18 years ago or something like that here at RBC, I sent an email to the entire congregation and I said, “What verse in the Bible commands us to develop concrete, to dig mines, and to build computers?” And it was Steve Daniel who wrote back and he got the prize. He wrote back and just said, “Genesis 1:26.” And he was right. We are told, have dominion over all the earth, exercise dominion, subdue it.
And so God is telling us here from the outset, from the very account of creation: I’ve provided food for you in the earth itself, go develop agriculture, get it for yourself. I have given you all the building materials needed for building, develop it, dig it out, get it, build houses, build buildings, build cities. I’ve given you every kind of natural resource that you will need for your life and for human flourishing. Go find them. Dig mines. Call it out of the earth. Develop it. There’s a whole world of knowledge to be gained; let’s have some explorers and go find it. There’s a whole world of knowledge to be discovered and to be gained; let’s have some researchers, let’s have some teachers. Bring it all to the fore and use it for human flourishing.
Verses 27 and 28: God created male and female. He said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth.” So mothers, fathers, let’s do it. Let’s have the kids. Spread God’s image, his image bearers, over all the earth to exercise his dominion over it. And then he says, “Subdue the earth, have dominion.” So develop agriculture, explore the seas, dig mines, mine the earth, develop its resources, explore, find, develop every means of human flourishing. Build tools, build devices of all kinds. Develop every machinery that you can discover and manufacture for human flourishing. And that is: create a culture. Create a culture that reflects the greatness and the goodness of God in providing for his creation. Each of you take your own corner of God’s kingdom and exercise dominion over it. The creation mandate.
The Protestant Doctrine of Vocation
Now all of this gives rise to what you may have heard and are somewhat familiar with, and that is the Protestant doctrine of vocation. Now we use the word vocation to mean simply your occupation, what you do for work. When the Reformers formulated their doctrine of vocation, they understood the word in more of its etymological sense. Vocation means calling. Develop your calling. Each of us has an individual calling from the Lord to work out in our own human experience.
Now in that world, in the Roman Catholic Church, a calling was simply for holy orders. You could be called of God to be a priest. You could be called of God to be a nun. Calling was for holy orders. The rest of it—well, you’re just riffraff. Well, the reformers had a better view of things than that, and they pointed, for one, to 1 Corinthians 7, verse 17, where the apostle Paul says, “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.” Now in context there, Paul is dealing with differences like Jew and Gentile, married and unmarried, bondservant and free, things like that. But their point was well made that Paul is highlighting here that whatever station you have in life, that is God’s calling for you to be faithful in it.
God calls or assigns—in fact, Paul uses that word in 1 Corinthians 7 as well—assigns to us or calls us each to our own role in life. Each of us has our own corner of the kingdom and we are to serve him and to serve our neighbor there. So the home, the workplace, the church, society, culture, the government—in every respect, work out in your corner of the kingdom, exercising dominion for God’s glory in that realm. This is somewhat related to what we find in Matthew chapter five, where the Lord Jesus commands us to be salt and light in the earth, working out the dominion of God over created order in whatever capacity we have.
This is one aspect of the doctrine of individual priesthood, the priesthood of every believer, another doctrine that was championed during the Reformation: that each of us is a priest before God. Each of us has direct access to God through our high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t need priestly mediators. This is why Protestants have so revolted against calling the minister a priest. We don’t need any intermediaries. We have Jesus. And each of us is a priest before God through him. And all of life then as a priest to God is rendered to God. All of life then is made sacred. Each of us has our own area of dominion and we’re called to live out our faith in our homes, in our individual lives, in our workplace and society and whatever station God has called us to.
And so all of life then is rendered to God. All of it is made sacred. Parents, husbands, wives, children, employers, employees, labor, industry, technology, blue collar, white collar, government, home—in every dominion, in every area, exercise dominion, work on. There’s a famous story of the reformer Martin Luther. He was formulating this doctrine and he, one day, walked across some bricklayers at work and he asked one of them, “What are you doing?” And the bricklayer said, “I’m laying bricks.” And he asks the man next to him, “What are you doing?” And he said, “I’m building a cathedral for the glory of God.” And Luther thought, “That capsulizes exactly what we’re trying to do.” In fact, he even suggested that we have ordination services for bricklayers.
Well, this is the teaching of the scriptures as well. All of life is rendered to God, and it is in that sense, all of life is sacred. God is sovereign with regard to our individual callings in the roles that he places us, but each of us in our own way is called to serve God in the pursuit of human flourishing and in bringing the world into subjection under the order of God.
We have a common practice in our churches, and I think in Christian homes generally, to pray for the preacher. I hope you do that. Please do that. If you don’t, please start. But why not pray for the bricklayer? Why not pray for the mother who’s at home with her children? Why not pray for the teacher, the one in education, in the medical fields? Why not pray for each of us in our particular vocation that God—the way that God has called us—whether it is education, construction, electricians, painters, plumbers, real estate, bankers, technology, business, government, politics, in whatever role God has called us.
And in fact, it strikes me as I was thinking through this: what do you expect that we will do in the new heaven and the new earth? You think we’ll be sitting on clouds playing harps? I saw a video this week on Facebook where somebody suggested that in the new heaven and the new earth, he’s going to get a cottage right on the side of a lake and he’s going to get a rocking chair. He’s going to sit there right on the edge of the water. And after 10,000 years, he said, “I’ll start rocking.” I appreciate the humor of it all and all of that, but boy, that sounds like a boring resurrection life.
Might we continue in our resurrection bodies in the new earth? Might we continue to carry out the creation mandate as we were given? And I think there’s just a hint of that, at least, in Revelation chapter 21, verses 24 and following. Here he’s describing the new heaven and the new earth, and he says, “By its light, will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.” So each nation, evidently with its own culture, bringing its contribution to the glory of that eternal state—minus the element of toil and exhaustion, but in our vigorous resurrection bodies, continuing to carry out the creation mandate. Imagine that then, if that is right, imagine a whole world of people given for the glory of God to carry out their created role.
Work as Worship
Now once we’ve said all of that then, that elevates all work. And it elevates all work to the level of worship. And I’m not playing games with words there. It elevates all of life to the level of worship. You’ve heard me—this is one of my pet peeves—you’ve heard me talk about it before that I’m not real fond of the way we use the word worship today. We go to church to worship. And particularly what it means today is you sing; that’s worship. Worship is singing. We don’t find the use of the words that way in the New Testament. I mentioned that recently in a message in Romans chapter 12: living the transformed life is worship to God. And that certainly entails what we do at church when we come together corporately to express our worship. But it’s not limited to that. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 31: “Whether therefore you eat or drink, or [let’s just expand it] whatever you do, do it to the glory of God.” A. W. Tozer called this verse the sacrament of living. That living is to be to the glory of God; it makes all of life then an act of worship.
And let me turn to one passage with you in the New Testament where this is brought out: Colossians chapter three. Colossians chapter three, verses 17 and following. I’ll begin reading with verse 17. Colossians 3:17: “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children unless they become discouraged. Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord, and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
Now let’s look through this again. Verse 17 begins with the broad scope. “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” All of life, every aspect of it, in every detail, brought into the service of Christ. That’s the general proposition that he’s going to unfold now in the following verses. Verse 18, he begins the specific application: wives. Verse 19, husbands. Verse 20, children. Verse 21, fathers. Verse 22, bondservants. And then verse 23, back to the broad picture again: “Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men.” And then in verse 24, he lays down the underlying principle of it all: “Knowing… do all of this knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
What a stunning turn of perspective. Imagine a bondservant sitting there in the congregation hearing this: “You are serving the Lord Christ. From him, you will receive your reward.” Verse 22, the motive: “not by way of eye-service as people-pleasers,” trying to curry favor with your employer, your boss, your master. Why? Verse 22 again: because that’s just your earthly master. In other words, they’re the employer, they’re the master—if you’re a slave or whatever—but they’re not the ultimate employer. The ultimate employer is the Lord Jesus himself. And so he gives—they’re just the secondary employers. First and foremost, you’re working for Christ. And so he gives the exhortations: be dependable, be reliable, be honest. Don’t be pilfering at work. Give them an honest day’s work. Serve Christ faithfully, because this is your divine calling.
Verse 18, it’s the same for wives. Verse 19, it’s the same for husbands. Verse 20, it’s the same for children: “Obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” Verse 21, the same is true for fathers. And then verse 22, it’s the same for bondservants.
Now all of this is what has given rise to what historically is recognized as a Protestant work ethic. It’s not as common today in our society to hear the language of “Protestant work ethic” because we’ve become more and more secularized in our society. But the Protestant work ethic is an important notion historically. It accounts for the relative superior productivity of Protestant nations as compared to Roman Catholic nations because of this recognition that we are working for God, and it ought to give a new zeal and a new step of enthusiasm in our work, recognizing that we are working not just for our employers and not just to gain an income, but we’re working for the glory of Christ.
And it’s not just in productivity of nations that are Protestant generally, but it has affected the work of individual Christians as well, who recognize: I’m working here for my employer, yes, and I’m working here to get my paycheck, yes, but I am working under Christ for his honor and for his glory, and so I’m faithful, and so I work hard, and I do all that is expected of me. Imagine a worker, a Christian worker in his workplace; he recognizes this, and so he is faithful. And he works hard and he’s conscientious. He’s hired to pay, he’s paid to work for an hour, he gives a full hour’s work. The employer might not like him because he doesn’t participate in the same jokes, and he may not invite him to a party because he knows he doesn’t do that kind of thing, but the employer is going to love having an employee like that.
When Jimmy, our son, was in high school, he had a lawn and landscaping and hardscaping business. Started it when he was 12, developed it. When he was in high school, he hired his youth pastor to work for him. The youth pastor was a seminary student working part-time at the church, and the guy moved like a snail. I’ve never seen anybody work so slowly. It was just incredible. Jim talked to him about it. “Well, I’m paid by the hour. I get paid the same however much I do. I don’t see any point in hurrying.” With my blessing, Jimmy fired his youth pastor. What a disgrace. A disgrace to every Christian. A disgrace to the ministry.
What we see in all of this teaching, from the cultural mandate to elevating the importance of work and the dignity of labor and all of that, is what an important step it is to give us motive and zeal to work hard and to do our best. It’s the antidote for laziness, the antidote to make us zealous in our work. And this then gives us the dignity of work. Every job, our vocation. Every job, our calling. Parents, teach your kids the dignity of work. Teach them the dignity of labor, teach them responsibility, faithfulness in work, and develop in them this initiative to fulfill their created purpose and find the satisfying reward to the glory of Christ in work.
While Labor Day is given, of course, to celebrate the working man and woman, we must then let these Biblical teachings shape our perspective on each of our callings—for pastors and for every other area of work. Genesis 1, verse 28: exercise dominion over your corner of the earth. Rule it to the glory of God in the way that he has directed. 1 Corinthians 10:31: “Whatever you do, do it to the glory of God.” Colossians 3 verse 17: “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father through him.” And if you like, we’ll have an ordination service for your particular vocation.
Let’s bow together in prayer. Our Father, forgive us that we are sometimes given too much to laziness, to put off our responsibilities. I wish to recognize the dignity of work and the importance of working for your glory faithfully in every way that you’ve given to us. May we honor you in the way we do it. May we give advance to the gospel of Jesus through the way that we carry out our work. We pray in his name. Amen.