Work series, part 2

Genesis 1:26
Reflect
- we are made in God's image

Rule
- active partnership with God to make something out of the world. He has been seeking partners since the beginning of the story.

Cultural/creation mandate - we are not only/always asked to create families, but also to make something good out of the natural world

The Garden was dynamic, not static. It was a project, not a product.

Genesis 2:8-14: The Garden is described in detail, not as superfluous information, but because it is a picture of raw materials that that we were meant to make something out of.

end of the bible (revelation 21&22) - almost exactly the same as genesis 1&2. But it's not a garden. It's a garden like city. But why? If Jesus is supposed to reconcile everything, why not return us to the garden? Because the Garden was never meant to stay a garden. It's meant to be a garden like city.

Genesis 3 is where sin enters and "the fall" happens. At the end of times, Jesus will reconcile everything and he starts with mankind, called the "new creation"

Matthew 28:18 - Jesus' last words. Go and make disciples of all nations.

Original calling of God - cultural/creation mandate.

Now we have a second calling - help people come back into a relationship with God.

It's a dual vocation. Not one or the other.

We don't just pick to be good at work, we also need to talk about Jesus and bring people to God. We also can't just advocate for God, but we also need to reflect that in our lives and our work.

How you work matters. How you manifest the gospel matters.

Training for a marathon - one would never train aimlessly. You have a plan and a goal and intentionally train towards that. This is the same as parenthood. Don't just aimlessly go about it.

"Your faith is revealed in your response to everyday events". There's a bunch of people who want to be great followers of Christ... on Sunday's. God wants to be a part of our WHOLE life.

Ministry simply means serving God... not necessarily in church or affiliated with a church.

1 Corinthians 3:5-9
Partners vs employees - the difference is in feeling ownership. It changes our attitude towards work, towards the difficult times at work. When you go to work, think of yourself as God's partner in creation. You are a modern day Adam and Eve, working in the garden, partnering with God.

John Mark Comer
Solid Rock Church 2/12/12

Created 4 months ago