Why I Labor | Part 3

We left off in Part 2 of this installment asking ‘What does it mean to be made in God’s likeness and have authority to rule over his dominion?’

It’s a question that is quite theologically deep.. but I’ll do my best to unpack it here.

We’ve been tracking the Genesis account to explore what the Creation story can tell us about our work. We learn that from the very beginning, God’s nature as an intelligent designer gives inspiration for and significance to vigorous work. It also shows us what it means to delight in the fruit of your labor.

So where do you and I fit into all this? Why does it matter for our jobs?

Here's a look at what's up ahead:

• What makes us unique

  • #1. God’s Resemblance

  • #2. God’s Representatives

  • #3. God’s Rulers

• The Cultural (Creation) Mandate

  • Cultural mandate as vocational stewardship

What makes us unique

26Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and 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.”

27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

28And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” _{Gen 1:26-28 ESV}

What separates man from every other creature? We see in the first 25 verses of Chapter 1 that God seems to have a plan as He brings forth light from the darkness, day from the night, the earth, skies, seas, and their inhabitants. The creation of man is the culmination of that plan- the magnum opus of His 6-day masterpiece- for three key reasons:

#1. God’s Resemblance

The first is that man ‘is different from every other order of created being because He has a created consistency with God’.² In other words, by being made in God’s image, you and I share characteristics with our Almighty Creator unlike any other living thing on the planet.

Why might that be?

#2. God’s Representatives

Well, when we ‘image’ God we are reflecting His attributes, namely the moral, intellectual, and spiritual capabilities that separate us from the rest of creation. This job of signaling our unique, divinely-inspired nature to the watching world is found in the Hebrew word for image, ‘selem’, which has the meaning for something carved or cut out- like an idol. As John Mark Comer puts it:

#3. God’s Rulers

Our stunning status as a image-bearers, participating in God’s nature, and possessing His capacity to love, know, and create becomes evident in the job description assigned to the human race. Don’t miss this from verse 26 (now the NIV):

26Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule.. _{Gen 1:26a NIV}

This word rule- radah- is translated to “reign” or “have dominion”, which seals our created purpose as God’s representatives over His kingdom. We were created for this responsibility to steward His created order.

This responsibility we’re given as rulers has been misconstrued over the millennia, but here we’ll attempt to unravel its core meaning and application.

The Cultural (Creation) Mandate

Exercising our kingship, dominion, or viceregency sounds like a foreign concept (since these can feel like foreign words in the developed Western world). We can liken our assignment to rule on behalf of God’s authority as culture-builders for His glory. We do this by multiplying- filling the earth with His images- and ‘subduing’ or ordering the vast resources He has placed at our disposal.

D. James Kennedy offers the following definition of this task:

Cultural mandate as vocational stewardship

Our purpose on this earth for the short time we’re here is:

• not minuscule

• not about our happiness

• not absent from the natural order

• not restricted by manmade agendas

• not confined to just ‘missions’ activities

And not just about making babies (although I think we can do a better job about that 😜). The multiplication and dominion involved in culture-building tie directly into our vocational impact.

Nancy Pearcey describes ‘the ideal human existence [as] not eternal leisure or an endless vacation..but creative effort expended for the glory of God and the benefit of others. Our calling is not just to “go to heaven” but also to cultivate the earth, not just to “save souls” but also to serve God through our work.’³

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” _{Gen 2:15 NIV}

What are you working towards today? This week? What are you taking care of, cultivating and stewarding on behalf of God?

I pray that your work this upcoming week does not feel meaningless. I pray that you see yourself and the primary instrument God is using in your workplace, home, neighborhood, community, city, etc to make His glory known. You are made uniquely as His representative, in His resemblance, to rule over His creation.

In other practical terms, I’ll leave you with Ricard Pratt’s description of how you can be commissioned this week:

May the favor of the Lord our God be upon you, to establish the work of your hands,

Trent

² Blue Letter Bible, David Guzik (I’ll get a real citation once I get some more time 😅)

³ Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 49.