Humanity with Creation

Genesis 1:11–12 “11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”

“It was good” repeated.

Genesis 2:9 “9 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.”

Creation is still good now

God has made us finite

Food and drink

(God has empowered us to create using his creation)

Shelter

Medication

Application

Use these things

Love others by helping them with these things since they’re finite

E.g., Dropping off a meal for a family with a newborn

Pray for these things to be supplied

Not spending too long on this since the danger for most of us isn’t undervaluing but overvaluing

B, The brokenness of creation that means we can’t ultimately depend on it

Gen 3 - the Fall means is broken

Romans 8:22 “22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”

Food/drink - food poisoning

Medication doesn’t work

The car breaks down yet again

But people try to ultimately rely on creation / they expect the things of this world to deliver more than these things can deliver

We still face this temptation

When sickness hits hard and we desperately hope that the right medication will make everything right

When we are struggling with pain and we rely on entertainment, food, alcohol, or some other coping mechanism to distract us from the pain

Question: Is there something in this world that you think will give you more than it can actually give you?

Reality

The right medication might help, but only temporarily

Entertainment and food might help, but only temporarily

If we completely rely on these things, we’ll go through an endless cycle of desperation and relief, desperation and relief

We’ll never be satisfied

But of course, there is someone we can truly rely on

(C, Christ is the only one we can truly rely on)

2 Corinthians 12:8–9 “8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

Paul relies wholeheartedly on Christ.

That sounds nice but what does that mean? If I can’t find the right medication, how is Christ dependable?

Steph Adams https://www.facebook.com/stephanie.adams.222783/videos/676042953221692

Application: Have a healthy reliance on creation.

Use it, because God made creation to be good.

But don’t think that it will ultimately provide or solve your problems, because creation is also broken.

Instead, remember the only unbroken and perfectly reliable one. Jesus.

We can apply this perspective to enjoyment as well.

2, Healthy enjoyment of creation

A, The goodness of creation that means we can enjoy it

Almond trees

1 Timothy 6:17 “17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”

Implication: We can enjoy creation.

Hikes in the mountains, golf, reading a good book, listening to music, going out for dinner

Not like the child who takes everything for granted but enjoys the gifts from mum and dad and thanks them for the gifts

Enjoy it and thank God for it

B, The brokenness of creation that spoils our enjoyment

Gen 3 - the Fall

Result: dissatisfaction

Solution?

We see this in… Bad solution 1: Chasing after more and more

Travel, holidays

Latest toy, phone

Newest cafe/restaurant

But it just brings temporary joy, and we end up wanting more and moreOthers... Bad solution 2: Detachment

But that doesn’t actually work

Just suppression of God-given desire to be happy

God has given us everything to enjoy

The only true solution is to find true joy in Christ

(C, Only in Christ can we have true joy - both now and in eternity)

Context of Habakkuk (Babylonian threat, no enjoyment of creation, joy in the Lord)

Habakkuk 3:17–18 “17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

Joy in God, who saves him, who loves him

Details in Christ

PSA

Joy as we look forward to Jesus’ return and the glorious age to come

Joy as we continue remembering Jesus, knowing his love for us, knowing that he provides for us what we need

Summary

Enjoy creation, because God has given it to us to enjoy

But don’t find ultimate joy in it, because it’s broken

So find ultimate joy in Christ instead, knowing that you are dearly loved in him

And this perspective applies to our work as well.

3, Healthy work with creation

Define work

Anything that uses energy and exertion

Not just paid work

Adam and Eve weren’t paid

Encouragement from retirees

Stay-at-home mums

A, The goodness of our work

Assumed in Genesis 1:28 “28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.””

Explicity in Genesis 2:15 “15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

Before the Fall -> work is good

How is work good?

The work itself (teaching kids, providing services to make life easier, creating products that benefit society)

Ephesians 4:28 “28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.”

Money/food for others

Context for showing Christ to others

Titus 2:9–10 “9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”

Application: Work hard and with purpose

B, The brokenness of our work

Gen 3 - the Fall

Frustration in work

The work itself is hard

We don’t get the results we want

Death

Gen 5 - “then he died” eight times

Bridge

Parenting

Health professionals

What to do?

Bad solution 1: Giving up on work

Idleness leads to unhappiness

Sharply rebuked in the Bible

We’re made to work

Bad solution 2: Finding ultimate identity and purpose

Historically, lots of men have fallen for this, but a growing number of women now as well.

Working harder to get their results, but they end up neglecting their families, become sleep deprived

Some do make it to the top, but they just feel empty and lonely there

Solution: To recognise the goodness and limitations of our work, and to find ultimate identity and purpose in Christ

C, Hope in Christ’s work

The most important work for us to know is Christ’s work.

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 “3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”

PSA and impact

Identity

Died for our sins -> forgiven -> children of God

Not work, which can change

But “in Christ”, children of God, kept safe by God

Joy in this identity

Stability/security in this identity even despite difficult circumstances

Purpose

1 Cor 15 appearance -> commission -> us

Glorify God / servants of Christ

Frees us from society’s overbearing expectations (and perhaps our own)

E.g., Ken Mansell at Stromlo Christian Church

Very capable - could become a CEO or start up a new successful small business

Works in tax - recognises the goodness of it and seeks to glorify God in his work

But seeks to glorify God in other areas - family, church

Why? Identity isn’t ultimately in his work, but who he is in Christ

Application: Against idolatry of work

Big temptation in today’s society

People are identified based on their work

People are valued based on their work

For some of you, work has become an idol

Diagnostic questions:

Is your work almost always on your mind?

Does your commitment to work stop you from serving well at church?

Is your work hindering your marriage, your relationship with your kids, or your friendships?

If you answered yes/maybe to at least one of these questions, there’s a good chance that you have elevated work above where it should be.

Deliberate effort to lower that idol

Not checking emails at night or on the weekends

Intentional time with family

See the one who is far greater than work - Christ

Application: Identity, purpose and rest in Christ’s work

For all of us, even if work isn’t an idol

Remember Christ

Saviour -> resting in him, identity secured in him

Lord -> living for him

Conclusion

Gaming

Enjoyment by myself, with friends and family, with thanksgiving

Careful not to rely on it for things I shouldn’t rely on it - escapism

Creation

Good

Broken

Complete reliance and joy in Christ instead

Sermon

Intro

Some of you might know that I used to play a video game competitively.

Here’s a photo of me playing at a tournament ten years ago.

The game is called Super Smash Bros, a Nintendo game where characters like Pikachu and Mario battle it out.

Lots of people love this game.

Here’s a photo of what these tournaments look like.

I’ve made a few friends through the Super Smash Bros community.

And as I’ve gotten to know these gamers, I’ve seen there’s a spectrum of healthy and unhealthy views on gaming.

The healthy view of gaming shows us appropriate goodness of games.

They’re something we can enjoy.

Something that can foster friendships.

An unhealthy view of gaming demands the games to provide something that they can’t provide.

I’ve had gaming friends who put their ultimate happiness in gaming.

“I’ll only be happy when they’re number 1”.

Since they’re not number 1, they’re unhappy.

Other friends who put their whole identity in how well they play.

And they’re devastated when they lose.

Others use games to escape difficult life circumstances.

And they don’t actually take responsibility for addressing those difficulties.

Now, unless these gamers are good at self-reflection, it can be difficult for them to figure out whether they have a healthy or unhealthy view of gaming.

Because they’re immersed in the world of games and it’s hard to be objective when you’re in that world.

And what about us?

We’re all immersed not in the world of games, but in God’s created world.

We all interact with God’s creation in a variety of ways.

And we too can have a healthy or unhealthy view of creation.

A healthy view of creation recognises both the goodness and the limitations of creation.

But an unhealthy view can elevate creation above what it is.

That means having unreasonable expectations of what the stuff of this world can bring us.

And when those expectations aren’t met, we can become angry, desperate, or depressed.

So this morning, we’re focussing on humanity’s relationship with creation.

We’re going to look at three ways that we relate to creation.

We rely on it.

We enjoy it.

We work in it.

And in all these things, we need to have a healthy view.

We need to see that creation is good.

But because of sin, creation is also broken.

So our ultimate hope can only be found in Christ.

So that’s what we’ll look at this morning.

Up on the screen are the three things we’ll focus on.

1, Healthy reliance on creation

2, Healthy enjoyment of creation

3, Healthy work with creation

Healthy reliance on creation

Healthy enjoyment of creation

Healthy work with creation

Let’s start with point 1.

1, Healthy reliance on creation

Healthy reliance on creation.

Everyday, we rely on creation.

We eat food and we drink water and other drinks.

Why can we depend on things in this world for sustenance?

Well it’s because God created it good.

It’s what we see when we read Genesis chapter 1.

In Genesis chapter 1, God creates… and he sees that his creation is good.

He creates… and he sees it’s good.

Part of its goodness is providing us with food.

Let’s read Genesis 2:9.

Genesis 2:9.

Genesis 2:9 NIV

9 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.

God’s creation (despite the effects of sin) - God’s creation still has much goodness in it.

And that means we can rely on it.

We should eat food.

And God has empowered us to use the resources he’s created to make things that benefit humanity.

From God’s creation, we build houses that shelter us.

From God’s creation, we generate electricity.

We create medication.

We make clothing.

These are things people use everyday, and rightfully so.

We are finite creatures, and there’s a healthy reliance on creation.

If that’s true, then we can use creation without shame.

Some Christians say that because God is spirit, because our greatest need is spiritual, because the gospel is of first importance… then the physical stuff doesn’t matter.

But what we’re seeing in Genesis is that the physical stuff does matter.

God created it good.

So we should use it.

And when we love others, of course we care about their spiritual needs.

But we care for them by meeting their physical needs as well.

We provide meals for families who need help.

And our prayers include the physical needs too.

I’m not spending too long on that because undervaluing creation isn’t a big danger for most people in our church.

The big danger for most of us is in overvaluing it.

We look for ultimate meaning in the things of this world.

We seek lasting satisfaction and purpose in creation rather than the Creator.

Why is it that we can’t completely rely on creation?

Well in Genesis 3, we learn about the Fall.

The effects of sin aren’t just in a broken relationship with God or broken relationships with other people.

Even our relationship with the rest of creation is broken.

The ground is cursed.

The apostle Paul even personifies creation as a person groaning in pain in Romans 8.

I’ll bring that up on the screen.

Romans 8:22.

Romans 8:22 NIV

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

And we know this all too well in our own experience.

Food is good!

But it spoils.

People get food poisoning.

The medication that seemed great at the start stops working.

The car breaks down yet again.

If we don’t appreciate the brokenness of creation, it’s so easy for us to slide to expect the things of this world to deliver more than they can.

That’s something that we see in people around us...

Perhaps even in ourselves.

There’s the person who’s very sick.

And in their sickness, they pin all their dreams on the right medication that will make everything right.

There’s the person who’s got a problem they just don’t want to deal with.

So they use some coping mechanism like food or alcohol or entertainment to drown out the pain.

In fact, anything in God’s creation can be elevated above where it should be.

So let me ask you a question.

Is there something in God’s creation that perhaps you expect more than it can actually give you?

Is it possible that there’s something that you have put on a pedestal?

If that’s the case, then you need to come back to the healthy view of creation.

That things are good, but broken.

The right medication might help, but only temporarily.

Enterainment and food might help, but only temporarily.

And if we put our complete reliance on anything in this world, well we’ll go through an endless cycle of desperation and relief, desperation and relief.

We’ll never be satisfied.

But of course, there is someone we can truly rely on.

Christ is the only one who is truly dependable.

The apostle Paul had many problems that he faced.

But he beautifully shows us what it look like to rely on the Lord.

I’ll put up on the screen 2 Corinthians 12:8-9.

2 Corinthians 12:8–9 NIV

8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Now relying wholeheartedly on Christ sounds really nice, but what does that actually mean?

I have a friend from Bible college called Steph.

I don’t know the exact name of her condition, but part of her brain is unusually swollen.

It messes with her hormone levels.

One day, she had a seizure.

Her sodium levels were almost zero.

Her family took her to hospital.

And she almost died.

Shortly after, the doctors told her that she almost died.

And Steph calmly replied, “well that’s okay… if I die, I’ll see Jesus”.

When Steph reflected on this incident afterwards, she realised that her reliance on Jesus isn’t just head knowledge.

She genuinely believes that she is safe with Jesus even at the point of death.

And if that’s the case, if in the worst case scenario of death, she can rely on Jesus, then she knows that she can rely on him in every scenario.

I see that in her calm, quiet confidence no matter what happens.

She kept relying on Jesus during a biopsy on her brain when they drilled into her skull.

She keeps relying on Jesus during the stresses of her work.

She keeps relying on Jesus when she’s uncertain about her future.

So what does that mean for our reliance on creation?

Well it means we should rely on creation.

We can use it.

God made creation to be good.

He made us finite and he gave us what we need to sustain us.

But we also remember that creation is broken.

It cannot ultimately provide for us.

It cannot ultimately solve our problems.

And so we rely on the only unbroken one, the perfectly reliable one.

Jesus.

This perspective on creation can also be applied when we think about enjoyment as well.

So let’s move to point 2.

2, Healthy enjoyment of creation

Healthy enjoyment of creation.

Some people mistakenly think of God as tyrant who just gives us commands we have to obey.

But actually, God is a loving Father who gives us gifts to enjoy.

You may have seen it in our Bible reading, in Genesis 2.

Let’s read verse 9.

Genesis 2:9.

Genesis 2:9 NIV

Did you catch it?

The passage describes the trees as pleasing to the eye.

Audrey and I sometimes go for afternoon walks, and it’s especially nice now that we’re in Spring.

My favourite tree at the moment is the one full of white flowers.

There are a few in the school courtyard and I think it’s called an almond tree.

Is it just trees that God has given us to enjoy?

Well let’s jump forward to 1 Timothy 6.

We looked at this passage at the end of last year.

1 Timothy 6:17.

Let’s see how much God wants us to enjoy things.

1 Timothy 6:17 NIV

17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

That is, God loves us so much.

He wants us to be happy.

So as a loving Father, he gives us so many good gifts to enjoy.

And that means we should enjoy them.

We can enjoy them without thinking we’re being selfish.

Some of us enjoy going on hikes in the mountains.

Others here like to curl up a read a good book.

We can enjoy golf.

Listening to music.

Eating good food.

There’s so much God has given us that we can enjoy.

And as we enjoy them, we make sure we’re not like the spoilt child who gets lots of gifts from mum and dad, who doesn’t say thankyou but just expects to have all this stuff.

Rather, when we enjoy something, we thank God for it.

We thank God as our loving Father who blesses us with so many good things.

However, there’s something that spoils our enjoyment.

And that’s sin.

Shortly after Genesis 2 where God gives Adam and Eve all these good things to enjoy, we have Genesis 3, the Fall.

There, we see the ugliness of sin.

Sin taints all of creation.

And the result is that we are never truly satisfied with the stuff of this world.

We see this in people around who are never content.

When I was working as an engineer, lots of my colleagues were just chasing the next holiday.

Happy when they were travelling.

And unhappy when they were back at work.

Neverending cycles of ups and downs with no lasting satisfaction.

Others try to find that enjoyment in the latest toy or phone.

Or in trying that newest restaurant in town.

These things can bring us joy but it’s only temporary joy.

Chasing for more and more can’t be the answer.

So some people decide to give up on finding joy.

And unsurprisingly, lots of these people are miserable.

The path of detachment doesn’t actually work.

It’s a suppression of a God-given desire to be happy.

God has given us everything to enjoy and he wants us to enjoy his good gifts.

So what can we do if chasing for more and more doesn’t work and giving up doesn’t work either?

Well of course, the answer is found in Christ.

Only in Christ can we have true joy.

I’d love for us to turn to the end of the book of Habakkuk.

Habakkuk is my favourite Old Testament book because it reminds me how limited my understanding is and how much greater God’s plans are.

The context is that Judah, God’s people, are facing the threat of the Babylonian army.

Habakkuk finds no joy in what’s happening around him.

No joy in creation.

And yet, he finds joy in the Lord.

Let’s read Habbakuk 3:17-18.

Habakkuk 3:17–18 NIV

17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Why is it that Habakkuk rejoices in God?

Well it’s there at the end of verse 18.

God is Habbakuk’s saviour.

Habbakuk knows that God loves him and will save him from these difficult circumstances.

He doesn’t know the details of that salvation, but he trusts God and find true joy in him.

As Christians, we know the details of our salvation.

So how much more can we delight in God our Saviour!

We know that God saves us from the consequences of our sin by sending us his Son, Jesus.

We know that Jesus took our punishment on the cross when he died for us.

We know that the eternity we’ll be part of will be us glorifying God and enjoying him forever.

And that is why we can genuinely rejoice.

We look forward to the return of Jesus and the glorious age to come.

And in the meantime, we continue rejoicing in Jesus because of his great love for us.

He has saved us and will keep us safe forever.

So how does that relate to our enjoyment of creation?

Well we enjoy creation, because God has given it to us to enjoy.

At the same time, we don’t find ultimate joy in it, because it’s broken.

Instead, we find our ultimate joy in Christ.

He is our God and Saviour and we are dearly loved by him.

And this perspective on creation applies to our work as well.

We’re at point 3.

3, Healthy work with creation

Healthy work with creation.

Just to clarify terms here, what we mean by work is anything that uses energy and exertion.

That’s not just paid work.

Adam and Eve worked but weren’t paid.

The retiree who sets aside lots of time to serve at church can put in a lot of work without expecting to be paid.

The stay-at-home mum will testify about how looking after a family is hard work.

We’re using ‘work’ quite broadly to refer to anything that uses energy and exertion.

As we come back to Genesis, when God created his good world, we see that work was there from the beginning.

It’s assumed in Genesis 1:28, also known as the creation mandate.

[Don’t read]

Genesis 1:28 NIV

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

God told Adam and Eve to subdue the earth, and that takes work.

Work is more explicit in Genesis 2:15.

I’ll read that for us.

Genesis 2:15.

Genesis 2:15 NIV

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Now, remember that this is before the Fall.

This is in God’s good creation.

Which tells us that work is made to be good.

How is work good?

Well as we sift through the Bible on this topic, we see that work is good in three ways.

Firstly, the work itself benefits others.

Hopefully that should be obvious.

The stay-at-home mum works to care for her family, and that benefits her family.

The teacher teaches, and that benefits the children.

When I was an engineer, I helped make sure bridges were constructed in a safe manner.

And that benefits our society.

The usefulness of work is in Ephesians 4:28.

I’ll bring that up on screen and I’ll read that for us.

Ephesians 4:28 NIV

28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

So the goodness of work is firstly in the work itself benefitting others.

The second way work is good is that paid work gives people money to love others.

That’s also in this verse.

We work so that we can share with those in need.

The third way work is good is that it’s a context for showing Christ to others.

Paul tells Titus that slaves are to work in a godly manner.

[Don’t read]

Titus 2:9–10 NIV

9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

And if they do that, they make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive.

They help people to trust in Jesus in the way they work.

God made work to be good.

And that means that we should work hard and with purpose.

There is much to be gained in our work.

And yet, work is also broken.

Shortly after God introduced work in his good creation, we read about the Fall in Genesis 3.

The Fall means that work is frustrating.

The work itself is hard and we don’t get the results we want.

Lots of people spend time in Genesis 3, but if we flip forward two chapters to Genesis 5, we see something else that frustrates work.

That’s death.

In Genesis 5, we see the terrible results of sin in death.

There’s a phrase “and then he died”.

And that’s there over and over again… eight times in fact.

The point is that sin leads to death.

Death is the greatest frustration to work.

I can build a bridge to help people to get safely from point A to point B… but they’re going to die.

We can do our best to help our children be safe and grow healthily… but they’re going to die.

We’re blessed to have health professionals and modern medicine and technology… but that’s all temporary.

We’re going to die.

The reality of death is the greatest frustration to our work.

How can we deal with that reality?

Some people think that death means that work is meaningless.

So they give up on work.

But that solution doesn’t end up helping anyone.

Their idleness leads them to unhappiness.

It goes against something deep inside us.

God made us to work.

Other people take a solution on the other end of the spectrum.

Rather than dismissing work, they try to find their ultimate identity and purpose in work.

They deal with the frustrations of work by just trying work harder.

Historically, lots of men have fallen for this trap, but nowadays, a growing number of women have as well.

And it really is a trap because of what it can do to people.

People who find their ultimate identity and purpose in their work often end up neglecting their families.

They become sleep deprived.

They drift away from God.

Some of them do make it to the top of the corporate ladder… but they just feel empty and lonely there.

Placing our identiy and purpose in work will fail us.

Giving up on work also fails us.

So what can we do?

The Bible’s answer is for us to know the goodness and limitations of our work and find our ultimate identity and purpose in Christ.

To know the goodness and limitations of our work our ultimate identity and purpose in Christ.

We’ve already seen what the Bible says about the goodness and limitations of our work.

But the Bible tells us that the most important work we need to know is Christ’s work.

Christ’s work is of first importance according to 1 Corinthians 15.

That was our first Bible reading.

We’ll look now at 1 Corinthians 15:3-8.

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 NIV

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

This is the apostle Paul’s summary of the gospel.

It’s Christ’s work that is of first importance.

See, it is only through Christ’s death that our sins are forgiven.

Only through faith in Christ are we declared righteous and become children of God.

And that means that our fundamental identity isn’t in our work, which can change.

No, our fundamental identity is who we are before God.

We who trust in Jesus are God’s dearly loved children, we’re ‘in Christ’, we’re God’s chosen people.

That’s something that’s true every second of our lives, even when we’re not working.

And it’s something that won’t change, because God is the one keeping us safe.

Brothers and sisters, that’s a wonderful identity to have, isn’t it?

And so we can have immense joy and peace in this identity, because it rests on Christ’s work, not ours.

Christ’s work also shows us our ultimate purpose.

After he rose, Jesus appeared to many people.

That wasn’t just to prove that he was alive.

The great significance of Jesus’ appearances is that he commissioned the apostles to testify about him to others.

And we have benefitted from the apostles’ testimony!

That is, through the apostles, we’ve heard the good news about Jesus.

We’ve turned away from our sin and committed to living for Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.

And if Jesus really is Lord, then our purpose is to serve him.

That means that work isn’t our ultimate purpose in life.

And that’s immensely freeing.

We don’t have a lord who is overbearing.

We have a Lord who knows what’s best for us, who gives us good commands that help us love others, who has even died for us so that we would have life.

Let’s come back to creation.

In God’s created world, we’re made to work.

Sadly, in today’s society, work has been elevated above what it should be.

People are identified based on their work.

People are valued based on their work.

And the big temptation for us is to idolise work.

To put it above God.

How do we know whether work has become an idol?

Well I’ve got three questions to help us figure that out.

Question 1: Is work the thing that you think about the most?

Question 2: Does your commitment to work stop you from serving well at church?

Question 3: Is your work hindering your marriage, your relationship with your kids, or your friendships?

If you answered yes to at least one of these questions, there’s a good chance that you have elevated work above where it should be.

If that’s you, you must be deliberate in getting rid of the idol.

Perhaps that means not checking emails outside of office hours.

Perhaps it’s setting aside more intentional time with family.

Whatever steps are taken, all of it must be grounded in a realistic picture of work and of Christ.

Work is good but broken.

And so we must look to the one who is far greater than any of our work.

Christ.

Even if work isn’t an idol, look to Christ.

Remember that he is your Saviour.

And so you can rest in him, knowing that he provides for you.

Your identity is secure in him.

Remember that Christ is your Lord.

So he is the one you live for.

Conclusion

I enjoy playing video games.

As I play games, I try to make sure I have a healthy perspective on gaming.

That is, I can see the goodness of gaming in providing temporary enjoyment and helping me connect with friends.

And I also need to see its limitations, that it can take time away from my family or be used to distract me from difficulties in life.

I hope this morning that we’ve all been encouraged to have a healthy perspective on creation.

Creation is good, but broken.

We can only find true hope and joy in Christ.

So as we continue relying on creation, enjoying creation, and doing our work in creation, let’s keep looking to Christ.

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