One of the most fundamental and sweeping claims of the Christian faith is found in the very first words of the Bible: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” It is not hard to see that this claim involving God and everything else is far reaching. Less obvious is how this sweeping claim relates to something as mundane as work.
Thankfully, help has arrived. Bruce Ashford and Craig Bartholomew’s recently released volume, The Doctrine of Creation, is a fresh, in-depth exploration that shows the rich connections between a God who made everything and our everyday work. But first, a caveat.
The Doctrine of Creation is about a lot more than work. (It is, after all, a 400+ page theology book!) The authors pull from a dazzling array of sources to take up an wide range of discussions—involving not only theology but also philosophy, science, and ethics. We won’t be attempting to summarize the volume here. (A simple web search provides the curious with the table of contents.) Rather, our aim is to see the numerous ways The Doctrine of Creation connects creation and work.
God as a Worker
The first connection the volume makes between creation and work is in regards to God himself. After all, the God of the Bible is a worker setting about the task of building the world. We know God’s act of creation is work because Genesis 2:2 explicitly tells us when God finished creating he rested from his work. But this is also clear in the imagery the text uses.
“By portraying a God not too important to work, the Bible infuses work with dignity and value.”
As Ashford and Bartholomew note, the text depicts creation as the building of a garden-temple in which human beings will dwell with the God they worship. In other words, God is like an architect building a temple-home that is “substantial, sheltered from dangers, pleasant, with a measure of luxury”. By portraying a God not too important to work, the Bible infuses work with dignity and value.
And Behold, It Was Very Good
A second connection between creation and work is found in the “very good” (Gen 1:31) world God made. Even after sin’s misdirecting power takes hold, the fundamental structures of God’s good creation remain upheld by God’s providence and common grace. This recognition of the post-fall value and dignity of creation has implications for work. If work is what we do in and with this world, an affirmation of this world is an implicit affirmation of our work.
Yet as Ashford and Bartholomew detail, from its inception, Christianity has had to battle those who would deny the God-given goodness and redemptive potential of this world. From Biblical times to the modern world, this “Gnostic” penchant for denigrating creation undermines the value of making something of this world.
A Call to Cultivate
These two ideas—that God works and that God made a good creation—form the backdrop to the volume’s third and most explicit connection between creation and work. In Genesis 2:15 God calls humanity to follow his example of work by working the garden.
Humanity is qualified and charged to take up this task because they are uniquely in God’s image. Ashford and Bartholomew explain that this call for humanity to cultivate ultimately entails not only cultivating plant life, but also “cultivating art, architecture, music, liturgy, clothing, sport, and entertainment”.
“God invests his creation with hidden cultural potential for his image bearers to develop, be it music, tool making, farming, city building, or any number of occupations.”
Indeed, “God invests his creation with hidden cultural potential” for his image bearers to develop, be it music, tool making, farming, city building, or any number of occupations. Indeed, anything in creation can be developed such that it is directed towards or against God—be it cultural phenomenon (technology, art, scholarship) institutions (unions, schools, corporations) or even human functions (emotions, sexuality, rationality).
Ashford and Bartholomew draw these three connections between creation and work to their logical conclusion: our work matters.
To the questions “Are my actions in this world significant? Does my life mean anything?” the Christian tradition answers, “yes, you are called by God.” […] In our view, all (moral) vocations are equal. Doctors, pastors, sewage technicians, […] each of these vocations serves its purpose in God’s economy and each plays a role in glorifying God and flourishing humanity. It is incumbent on us to undertake our callings, therefore, with an eye toward glorifying God and serving humanity.
The authors show that the Christian view of creation has built within it a robust theology of work. Although under the curse, work is not a curse. Rather, it remains a calling given at creation and redeemed through Jesus Christ.
Looking to dive deeper into the connection of creation and work? Pick up a copy of The Doctrine of Creation today.
Bruce Riley Ashford and Craig G. Bartholomew, The Doctrine of Creation: A Constructive Kuyperian Approach (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2020).
Robert Covolo is a Cultural Theologian and Author of Fashion Theology. He is also on staff here at the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles, serving as our Director of Vocational Discipleship.