Tag: Genesis

Work: Blessing or Curse?

On By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life3 Comments 
 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15, ESV) 

In the beginning, God created us to work. Wait a minute. Does that sound right to you? God created us to work?

Sure, that’s not the only reason God created us. He created us to know, enjoy, and love Him and others. But, yes, God did in fact create us for work.

It’s unfortunately common for many people–including many Christians–to view work as a curse rather than a blessing. Work is thought of as a necessary evil. Something that gets them the paycheck so they can do what they really want. You can hear it in the statements “Thank God it’s Friday!” and “I’m livin’ for the weekend!”

When you think of work as drudgery and curse, you won’t take delight in your 9 to 5 job. You won’t see how your work connects to a larger purpose or is part of what gives life meaning, because you don’t think of it as part of your created design.

Let me say something that might sound a bit radical. Work is less about earning a paycheck and more about living out your God-given purpose. Yes, I understand that the paycheck is important, that we need money to feed and care for ourselves and our families. And I’m not saying earning a lot of money is inherently evil. But I am saying that your work is about so much more than increasing your cashflow. Work is a blessing.

Think about how this perspective can transform your life.

If you work 40 hours a week for 40 years (pretty typical for many people), that is 80,000 hours of your life at work. So, how you view work really matters.

It all begins with seeing who God is. 

When Genesis was written, other cultures at this time had their own creation stories. And in the Babylonian creation story, the gods basically get tired of working and then one of them has the bright idea of making man to be the little slaves that work for the gods, apparently so that the gods can relax on the heavenly beaches with mai tais and sunglasses.

But notice how different the story is in Genesis. First of all, work is not drudgery for God. God delights in His work of creation and calls it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Then God rested on the seventh day from His work and blessed it (Genesis 2:2-3). But God wasn’t done working.

Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (John 5:17).

And when God creates man, He tells him that one of his great purposes is to do this honorable work of cultivating and developing His garden.

 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15, ESV) 

The ancient Greeks and Romans viewed work as a necessary evil. Aristotle even famously said that some people were made to be slaves who worked and others were made for the higher life of philosophy and contemplation.

“The whole Greek social structure helped to support such an outlook, for it rested on the premise that slaves and [craftsmen] did the work, enabling the elite to devote themselves to the exercise of the mind in art, philosophy, and politics.” (Leland Ryken, Work and Leisure in Christian Perspective, 64)

In stark contrast, the Hebrews believed that work is part of our royal dignity as image bearers of a God who works. The Bible presents work as one of God’s blessings for taking dominion of the world He’s made for us. Again, Adam is put in a garden called “Delight” (Eden) “to work it and keep it.”

At this point, the world was perfect (well, almost perfect because he doesn’t have a wife yet). There was no curse because sin had not yet entered the world. Adam is in paradise, and he’s working. We might assume work is the result of the curse, but work is a blessing, intended for honoring God and loving others.

I’ve talked with a lot of business owners over the last few years. And one of the recurring trends is the lack of young people with a good work ethic, who are committed to doing quality work. This lack of motivation tells me that many people simply have a warped view of work.

Genesis 2:15 teaches that from the very beginning God intended for man to work and cultivate the ground and make something of the world he was living in. These two words “work” and “keep” are the same Hebrew words used elsewhere to describe the vocation of the priests. Well, what did the priests do? They worked in the Temple and led the people in worshiping God.

Here’s the idea. God created the whole cosmos to be His Temple. From the very beginning, God intended to dwell with His image bearers in a world He created. Man and woman would walk in fellowship with Him and glorify Him, even as they developed the world into a civilized paradise. 

Do you know that you can worship God through work? And when you rely on Him, you can see work as a way of loving your neighbor. Whether you are a teacher, attorney, engineer, firefighter, homeschool mom, store clerk, pizza delivery guy, or police officer, when you see your work as part of God’s grand plan for caring for His world, you can actually take joy in even very demanding work. When I worked at a hospital, I asked a nurse what she liked best about her job. She said that “Every nurse knows how hard it can be,” but that even on very hard days, she knows she’s serving people and that gives her work meaning.

Also, keep in mind how high a view of mankind the Bible has. We weren’t created to be God’s little minions, slaving away in drudgery. God’s calling on our lives is much, much bigger than that!

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. (Psalm 8:3-8, ESV)

God didn’t create us to be His little slaves. No, God creates human beings and puts all things under our feet. And He then invites us to partner with Him in making something of this world. We should see work as a gift–a privilege, even–where we get to partner with God in creating civilization by cultivating the planet He made to be our home.

God cares about your work. And I’m not just talking about your 9 to 5 job. Being a full-time parent is God-honoring work. Cleaning your home is God-honoring work. Scrubbing toilets is God-honoring work. Why? Because you are bringing order out of chaos, and that is what God does.

Prayer:

Father God, help me enjoy the work you have given to me–even the menial tasks that can feel like drudgery. Help me see how my work is connected to how You care for the world You have created for us to dwell in. When I clean the gutter, mow the lawn, serve food, or wash the dishes, help me take pleasure in bringing order out of chaos. Give me joy in my work in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

If you have thoughts on this post, I would love to hear from you.

Every Reason for Gratitude

On By Jason SmithIn DevotionalLeave a comment
Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.” (Psalm 118:1, NIV)

We are entering the season of gratitude, but, if we’re honest, many of us feel anything but grateful right now. We have lived through 2020, and much of it has not been fun. We’ve seen the entire globe caught up in the spread of a pandemic. We’ve seen injustice, civil unrest, wildfires, hurricanes, and a heated presidential election.

Many of us have been caught off guard by this year and are more focused on getting the ground back beneath our feet than looking for reasons to be thankful. Having an attitude of gratitude suggests there is something to smile about, yet we might find more reasons to be sour-faced this year. You and I are probably more concerned with getting this year behind us than reflecting on all we have to thank God for these past twelve months.

For myself, I can say there’s definitely been times this past year when I’ve found it easier to complain than praise God.

If you had to guess, would you say that there’s been more expressions of anger or gratitude on your lips lately? More irritation or elation? Gloom or glee?

Someone might suggest it’s oxymoronic to try to “count your blessings” in a year that feels so cursed. If that’s you, it might surprise you to learn that “cursed” is precisely the word that the Bible uses to describe, not just the year 2020, but the present condition of our world.

Very early in the story of Scripture, God creates a beautiful world and fills it with living creatures. At the apex of creation, God creates human beings to be His close and personal friends. Perfect harmony exists. But then the first human pair make the terrible decision to rebel against their Maker and go their own way. In the aftermath of their mutiny, God pronounces judgment. “Cursed is the ground because of you,” God tells Adam (Genesis 3:17, NIV). However, God promises a Savior who will one day rescue them from the evil that has overtaken them, but the plot takes many twists and turns before He even shows up.

According to the Bible, our world today is cursed. And this account is meant to be read as sober history. Although many today want to write this story off as a myth, I find it interesting that Jesus and the biblical authors always refer to Genesis as genuine history.[1] But, really, is it so hard to believe? In fact, doesn’t the Genesis account make sense of the fact that our world is both beautifully and intricately designed and also filled with tragedy and suffering?

The Apostle Paul explains it this way: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:22, NIV).

There’s no doubt about it: this year and every year since humanity’s fall has been tarnished, damaged, and spoiled by sin. Our world is broken; we are afflicted on every side by death, disease, and disaster. Life on earth is not everything God meant it to be.

“For the creation was subjected to frustration,” (v. 20). Frustration. Can you relate? And yet the thought doesn’t end there. “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21, NIV).

Although right now creation groans and aches under the brokenness of sin, God will one day redeem creation itself. The natural world will be set free from the cycle of decay and disorder along with all the children of God.

Our world is fallen. Picture a beautiful sports car right after it’s been through a head-on collision. The beauty and design is still there, but it’s badly distorted. Such is the case here. We have never seen this world as God originally created it, but all those who know God will one day see this creation reclaimed, refined, and renewed. Speaking of this future state that the Bible calls the New Heavens and the New Earth, we are told: “No longer will there be any curse” (Revelation 22:3, NIV). Don’t miss this promise: No more curse! Cue the angelic choir singing “Hallelujah!” The curse will be reversed.

And, like the account of the curse, this is no fairytale. This is a genuine promise of a coming restoration, and thus a cause for celebration.

Because God is rich in mercy, He has promised to not abandon this beautiful-yet-bruised planet. Heaven itself will invade and restore this world to be a place free of pain, disease, tears, and, yes, even death (see Revelation 21:1-5). God will take what is best about our incredible world and purify it of all that makes this world unbearable. Most importantly, God Himself will dwell with His children when creation is made new: “God himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3, NIV).

Maybe we have trouble thinking of things to be thankful for because all our focus is on the “groaning” of this current world rather than the glorious future God has in store for it. When the anxieties and challenges of life seem to multiply, it’s very easy to find reasons to grumble. But when we put our confidence in God’s Word, we have every reason for sheer gratitude. On those days when life seems dreary, look with the eyes of faith on the future that God has in store for His own, and then thank Him in advance.

As you adopt this future-oriented perspective, you’ll find it easier to thank God for the countless smaller blessings in life today. Don’t let them slip by without noticing. They will remind you to persevere — with gratitude.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6, NIV).

[1] See Matthew 19:3-6; 24:38-39; Mark 10:5-9; Luke 11:50-51; John 5:45-47; Romans 5:12-14; 1 Corinthians 15:20-22; 2 Peter 2:5; 3:5-6.

Jesus Is the Promised Seed

On By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for LifeLeave a comment

By Jason Smith

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  (Genesis 3:15)

The Bible, from its very beginning, makes sense of the world. It explains why we are both beautiful and wonderful — because God created us in His image — and why we are also deeply flawed and tragic, and indeed why our whole world is in a constant cycle of triumph and failure — because of our sin. Yet, from the beginning of Scripture we are promised a Savior. In only the third chapter of the Bible, our first parents, Adam and Eve, rebel against their Maker by eating the forbidden fruit in act of open defiance. Their generous Creator, Yahweh, gives them the entire Garden of Eden, inviting them to indulge freely in all its variety of delicious fruits.

However, a serpentine traitor and enemy of Yahweh — a one-time captain of the Lord’s hosts — beguiles the human couple by casting God in a negative light as a miser who withholds His very best from them. Charmed by the hiss of the snake, they take of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil — the only tree off limits. In choosing the fruit, they really choose themselves over God and His good authority. Just as they were warned, the consequence of rejecting the Author of life was and always will be death (Genesis 2:16-17). Their revolt against God left a path of destruction in its wake, and we are still feeling the aftershock of humanity’s fall from glory today. Despite our numerous achievements, all of human history is pockmarked with war, famine, disease, suffering, and death — the residual effects of separation from our Creator.

The Snake Crusher

And yet, we cannot miss that in this very chapter — Genesis 3 — the Lord shines the ray of hope into the darkest moment in the storyline of Scripture. No sooner does God bring Adam and Eve under His just curse in Eden than He promises a future “Seed” that will undo the damage wrought by the serpent who tempted them into rebellion. In fact, although the promise is for humanity, He gives the statement in the form of a judgment directed to the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel” (Genesis 3:15, NASB).[1] The Hebrew term for “seed” here is zera` (זֶרַע) and can be translated as “offspring” or “descendant.”

Writing roughly four thousand years later, the Apostle Paul recalls this precise passage when he tells the Roman Christians, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you” (Romans 16:20). Even in this statement there seems to be an assumption that in order for us to be reconciled with this “God of peace,” the serpent, Satan, must be crushed underfoot. Tracing this idea back to Genesis 3:15, we see early hints that this “snake crusher”[2] is also the Savior who will reconcile us back to God, the one we have been running and hiding from (see Genesis 3:8).

Tracing the Promise of a Seed

As we continue in the story of Genesis, we come to Abram, the man Yahweh calls out of pagan idolatry to worship Him as the one true God (Joshua 24:2ff.). In calling Abram, God also made some grandiose promises to him. “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you,” Yahweh told him. “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3). God elaborates on this astonishing promise: “To your offspring [zera` (זֶרַע)] I will give this land.”

In the next chapter, the Lord shows Abram the land of Canaan and reiterates the promise: “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever” (13:14b-15). Once again, the word zera` (זֶרַע), “seed,” is used (here translated “offspring”). Given the narrative structure of Genesis, we have an early hint here that the seed of the woman (3:15) is connected to this seed of Abram (13:15). As Abram grows older, he begins to doubt that any offspring will actually come from his loins (15:3). God responds to Abram’s doubt by upping the ante: “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them… So shall your offspring [zera` (זֶרַע)] be” (v. 5).

When Abram and his wife Sarai attempt their own scheme for getting Abram an offspring by having Abram sleep with their maidservant, Hagar, the result was disastrous. A boy Ishmael is born, but a vicious family feud ensues and God declares that Ishmael is not the “seed” that was promised. Instead, the seed line is to come from Sarai’s womb, despite the fact that she is nearing 90. As it turns out, through a miraculous conception, Sarai (now called Sarah) and Abram (whose new name, Abraham, means “father of many nations”) have a son named Isaac. God assures Abraham that “through Isaac shall your offspring [zera` (זֶרַע)] be named” (21:12).[3]

This promise of a seed to come is repeated throughout the remaining narrative of Genesis (24:7, 60; 26:3-4, 24; 28:4, 13-14; 32:12; 35:12; 48:4). Interestingly, King David is also promised a seed [zera` (זֶרַע), “offspring”] who will both come from his body and reign from his throne forever (2 Samuel 7:12-13). We know Solomon, David’s son and immediate heir, only partially fulfilled this promise (vv. 14-15) because Solomon no longer sits on the throne (v. 16) and his kingdom certainly did not last forever (vv. 12-13). Psalm 89 also makes clear that this ultimate Seed of David will reign in an eternal kingdom (see Psalm 89:4, 29, 36). So after Solomon, Scripture leaves the reader expectantly awaiting this true or ultimate Son of David yet to come. In other places this descendant of David is called “a Righteous Branch” (Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15) and “the Stump of Jesse”[4] (Isaiah 11:1). At times, this promised Seed is simply called “My servant David” (Ezekiel 34:23-24; 37:24; cf. Jeremiah 30:9) as if shorthand for “Son of David.”[5] It is clear by now that the Seed is referring not merely to a generational line of descendants, but more specifically to an individual descendant of both Abraham and David.

The Seed of the Woman

At this point, it is worth reviewing the original promise of Genesis 3:15. The attentive reader will remember that the promised Seed is said to come from the “the woman.” This is very odd considering that the “seed” normally comes from the man.[6] Thus, Genesis 3:15 presents something of a conundrum. Despite it being the first reference to a promised Seed, it does not fit with the normal Jewish understanding of zera` (זֶרַע).

We find a clue concerning how the promised Seed could come from a woman in Isaiah 7. There, Yahweh gives a prophetic sign through Isaiah to Ahaz, a king of Judah with a shaky faith in God. In fact, Isaiah says the prophecy is for the whole “house of David” (v. 13). The prophet then says, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (v. 14). Significantly, `Immanuw’el (עִמָּנוּאֵל)means “God with us.” A virginal conception was as common in Isaiah’s day as it is today. It would therefore constitute a legitimate divine sign that this little baby is “God with us.”

Now we come to the New Testament, which details the arrival of one called Jesus of Nazareth. In the opening narrative of his Gospel, Matthew describes both the conception and birth of Jesus, making the clear argument that Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.[7] “When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18). An angel tells Joseph, Jesus’ adoptive father, to name the child “Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (v. 21). Matthew then comments, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (vv. 22-23).

Additionally, Luke’s Gospel records what the angel Gabriel told Mary, who wondered how she could bear a son as a virgin: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy — the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). It is remarkable that Gabriel also connects Mary’s virgin-born son with the prophecy given to David: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (vv. 32-33).

The Promise Keeping God

All that we have seen from Scripture boils down to this startling conclusion: Jesus of Nazareth is the Promised Seed “of the woman” of Genesis 3:15. He is the virgin-born God-man of Isaiah. He is the Son of David, who will reign on His throne forever. He is the Seed of Abraham, who will bring blessings to the nations. The Apostle Paul makes this connection, too: “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring [Grk. sperma, σπέρμα]. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16, emphasis added).[8] Thus, the Promised Seed of Genesis 3, first spoken of in only the third chapter of the Bible and hinted at across the pages of the entire Bible, could only be speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, how did this Promised Seed crush the head of the serpent under His feet (Genesis 3:15)? Not only did Jesus overcome every temptation of the devil (Matthew 4:1-11), but we are also told that the “reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8b). If Satan’s power is bound up with leading us into sin and condemning us for that sin, then Christ bearing our sin and guilt away on the cross would spell his undoing. Indeed, this is the message of rescue we find in the New Testament: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses… God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him” (Colossians 2:13-15).

The “rulers and authorities” here refers to the spiritual forces of darkness. Jesus went to the cross so that “through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). As our guilt is removed in Christ, the ancient serpent loses all ground for accusing us, and we are rescued from our great enemy. God has been telling His people for ages of this One who would be bruised that we might be healed (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 53:5). What a marvel it is that our gracious God would pursue us in love even as we ran from Him and promise us One who would “save His people from their sin” immediately after we, in Adam, first turned our back on Him. Just as He always will, God kept His promise.

[1] I am unsure why the NASB does not capitalize the “him” in this sentence, following its convention of capitalizing divine pronouns.

[2] I first saw this term used of Satan in the children’s book The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden by Kevin DeYoung and Don Clark (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015).

[3] Hebrews 11:17-19 recalls Abraham’s great faith in this divine promise, emphasizing his recognition that Yahweh can do all things — including raising Isaac from the dead were he to sacrifice his beloved son to the Lord.

[4] Jesse was David’s father, so the prophecy carries the same meaning as promising one from the Davidic line.

[5] It is clear from Isaiah 9:6-7 that this promised Son of David who will reign on David’s throne will be both God and man.

[6] For example, in Genesis 38:8-9, we read that Onan was to have sex with his dead brother’s wife in order to raise offspring on his behalf. Onan, knowing that the “seed” [zera` (זֶרַע), “offspring”] would not be his, spilled his “seed” [zera` (זֶרַע)] on the ground (v. 9). Also see Leviticus 15:16-18, 32; 22:4, where the ESV translates zera` (זֶרַע) as “semen.”

[7] Matthew intentionally begins his Gospel with: “This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1).

[8] Similarly, Luke records Peter making this same connection in Acts 3:25-26 when he preaches to the Jerusalem crowds.