The Story of Work - Part 4

Review Series:

Creation

God the Creator is the first worker

God Designed work to be

Fall

Promise

Redemption

Introduction:

Introduction:

What is the meaning and significance of my work now?

My kids will be well taken care of?

I may have a monument or plaque?

I can honor the Lord by working hard and being honest

Set up story: Bay Area dump day (Slide)

“One man’s trash, another man’s treasure”

Restoration is becoming increasingly popular (Slide)

Some people have an incredible imagination for how to restore those things that are broken and worn down

We are a new creation, and we are being restored

The Gospel story presents a picture where because of the redeeming work of Christ and his resurrection, all things are being restored

Christ’s work began a new work of reversing the curse and since that curse affected work, we should expect there to be a shift in the way we think about our work

How is the Gospel shaping your worldview about your work?

We are going to look at a few passages this morning that help us answer the question about the significance of our work.

Text:

Colossians 3:23–24 ESV

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.

Question: What kind of work qualifies as work “for the LORD?”

Question: And how should we do that work?

Question: If you’re a Christian, who do you work for?

Question: What are we working towards?

Question: What are we working towards?

Question: What does Paul mean when he says, “an inheritance as your reward?”

Question: Where does Paul get this idea of an inheritance from?

Colossians 1:11–13 ESV

being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

Col 1:11-

Summarize passage:

So when we (21st century Americans) hear the word inheritance, we think of a large sum of money that a rich relative left for us in their will. But in the Scriptures we get a different picture.

The first we hear about an inheritance is in the OT and in the majority of instances the inheritance referred to the land of Canaan. God promised the Israelites that He would give them this land that flowed with milk and honey (goats and bees). This was the best land, the land that he had set apart for his chosen people.

Now, let’s bring that image into our text. Whatever job you have, work at it with all of your heart just as if Jesus was your boss, because you are working towards your inheritance which is the full reality of the Kingdom of Christ.

So because we’re receiving life in the Kingdom of Christ, we should work heartily? Now, if Paul doesn’t write anything else in the Scriptures about the resurrection and the Kingdom of God, we could say Paul is basically saying, “Hey, since you are getting to go to heaven, you should work as hard as you can.” But, that’s not what he’s saying. Could you give us a little more, Paul? Because I don’t see how they correlate.

Thankfully, Paul does write more about the resurrection, and life in the kingdom...

Text:

Summarize passage: Paul’s audience is a mixture of Greeks and Romans. We could say that they were a very disenchanted people. They were on board with the idea of trusting a Creator and Savior, and doing good to others, but the idea of the resurrection of Jesus and all Christians, was a fairy tale. It was rejected by some in the Church in Corinth.

So, Paul is saying, look just like the Scriptures say Jesus was going to die, he died and just like they say he would rise, he rose. Guys, if you don’t believe me, go journey to Jerusalem and ask around. Jesus presented himself to a lot of people after he rose from the dead.

Because if Christ is still dead...

:12

1 Corinthians 15:12–14 ESV

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:15–16 ESV

We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

1 Corinthians 15:15–17 ESV

We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

1 Corinthians 15:18–19 ESV

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Summarize passage: In other words, if Jesus only died for our sin, the job is incomplete and we’re still in our sin. Let’s go ahead and throw in the towel. The resurrection is A BIG DEAL, church.

1 Corinthians 15:20–22 ESV

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

1 Cor 15:20-

Summarize passage:

Summarize passage: What’s happening here? Are you zoning out, yet? I began to talk about this last weekend, but I want to flesh this out a little more, because it’s really important that we understand this.

Much of the way that modern evangelicalism understands death and heaven and hell needs to be addressed. Many people have a picture in their minds of what happens in the afterlife that is foreign to the Scriptural picture of the afterlife.

The way some or many think about heaven and earth is that they’re two separate domains (one physical and one spiritual). Man lives in one and God lives in the other. When humans die, if they’re a Christian, they go to live in God’s domain and at the end of the world, the earth is wiped out and we live as disembodied spirits on the holy clouds, playing harps, and wearing robes, and living in mansions.

Now, if that’s your perspective of heaven and earth, death and resurrection, than work is a means to an end and there is no future to your work. To engage with the first question, our work has no meaning and no significance because there is no future to it.

But the Scriptures present a different perspective about heaven and earth. In the beginning God walked in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, but then they were expelled from the garden. And it is true that man’s space became separate from God’s space. However, there were a number of times when God inner acted with humans on earth. There was a moment when Jacob (the grandson of Abraham) had a dream, and in his dream he spoke with God. When he woke up he said, “This place is awesome! This is the house of God, this is the gate of heaven.”

Then there was the infamous burning bush with Moses when God said, “the place you are standing is holy ground.” And then we can go throughout the OT and see where the tent, the tabernacle, and the temple represent the hot spot of God’s presence on earth. And then you have Christ who comes to earth as the Son of God, the New and better Temple, God’s presence on earth. Finally, what does Paul say in , “We (the Church) are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” Are you starting to see the picture, now?

Does this sound like God’s presence is pulling out or spreading out?

I hope we’re starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Paul referred to the place we’re in now as the domain of death, or the domain of sin, or this present evil age. But because we’re in Christ, we’re also in that intersection of the domain of life, the Kingdom of Christ.

1 Cor 15:50

1 Corinthians 15:50 ESV

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Summarize: Paul uses language to describe that there has to be a Spiritual transformation that takes place in order for people to be transferred (as He says in Colossians) from the domain of darkness into His glorious light.

1 Corinthians 15:51–57 ESV

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Summarize: So, here is where that tension lies; we’re all being changed, and it’s painfully slow, but the promise is that He who began a good work in us (through salvation) will continue that work (sanctification) until the day of Christ (glorification).

So because of the resurrection and the promise and the inheritance… Let’s stockpile the investments, let’s contribute more to our 401K, let’s set ourselves up for a care-free retirement...

So because of the resurrection and the promise and the inheritance… Let’s stockpile the investments, let’s contribute more to our 401K, let’s set ourselves up for a care-free retirement...

So because of the resurrection and the promise and the inheritance… Let’s stockpile the investments, let’s contribute more to our 401K, let’s set ourselves up for a care-free retirement...

1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

So since we know the resurrection of all things is certain, our work has purpose, it’s not in vain.

Question: What kind of work is the LORD’S work?

Let’s think out loud about this, because this is paradigm shifting if we believe this: How can my work actually make a difference, what is the future of my work, is there any significance?

How can your work as a computer scientist not be in vain?

How can your work as a personal assistant for a financial firm not be in vain?

How can your work as an officer not be in vain?

How can your work as a school teacher, not be in vain?

How can your work as a mom, not be in vain?

How can your work as a retired person with your joints hurting, and your organs giving up, how can your work tomorrow NOT be in vain?

What if when you went to work you saw that person as more than just an object? What if we saw that person as one of God’s kids who doesn’t know him yet? What if we prayed that the Holy Spirit would break into their life and show them their need for Christ? What if instead of complaining about the way this person shows their depravity, we saw ourselves as ambassador of God’s love and mercy?

And it’s worth the hard thinking that you’re going to put into it because there is an ending of this story of work, but it may not be what you think...

Isaiah 65:17–19 ESV

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.

Is 65:17-19

Isaiah 65:21–23 ESV

They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them.

Is 65:21-

This does not sound like your modern evangelical or even protestant vision of heaven. Did Isaiah say we have to build houses? Did he actually say work?

It’s only fitting that we end the story of work with the ending right?

Revelation 21:1–5 ESV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Revelation 21

Summarize: IS God making all new things or all things new?

Revelation 21:22–27 ESV

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Rev 21:22-

Summarize: You take these passages from Isaiah and Revelation and you have this incredible image of a large city, a densely populated area where music, and food, and houses and buildings, and gardens and people from all over the nations are bringing their glory and their honor into… the picture is almost a replica of the story of when Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem and all of these kings from all over the known world and the Queen of Sheba are bringing to Solomon what is valuable, what has worth, what is beautiful, so they can participate in this incredible house of God.

Yes Redemption Church, your work matters. How you do your work matters. And it doesn’t merely matter for your family and your bank account, but all of the work done “for the LORD” now will some how bring value to the restoration of heaven and earth.

Question: What would your workplace look like if Jesus showed up?