A DIRTY FOUR-LETTER WORD – Pt 1

II Thessalonians 3:6-16

I will not take the space here to write all the verses above, but take the opportunity yourself to read them. For the next 3 week I will deal with the subject of work in CHALLENGING CONCEPTS.

Work is considered a nasty word by many people, but work is really a good word. Since the beginning of the human race, work has been thought of in many different ways. Some think of it as only a necessity. Others view it as a blessing or a curse. The question you must ask yourself as you read this blog is, what is your viewpoint of this nasty four-letter word?

It is wrong for a person to look at work in connection with sin. It is true that sin has made work a burden, but even before the fall of man, work had been given to man for his enhancement and welfare. Work, then, is a very good word.

The Word of God has much to say about work. The fullest statement on this subject is found in the passage of Scripture that we will examine in the next few weeks.

The people who Paul is addressing in the passage had recently been converted to Christianity. Because of their interest in their new-found belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, and their involvement in the work of the Lord, they had become so committed to the ministry that they had neglected some other work that had to be done. Paul became aware of this and took some immediate steps to put work in its proper perspective. Let’s take a look at Pauls comments:

I. PAUL SPEAKS ABOUT THE RESPECTABILITY OF WORK

Notice what he says in verse 13 “But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.” This verse is short but is powerful as the Apostle Paul takes man’s daily work and lifts it from humdrum to the glorious purpose that God had for mankind. When Paul called work “well-doing” then “work is doing well.”

A person cannot study the Word of God without realizing that man’s work deserves his very best. Work has been dignified by God. In the Bible you can see very clearly that work was lifted up to a level in which we should delight. When you see work from God’s perspective then it becomes respectable.

A. Work was the DESIGN of God - Genesis 2:15 “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” We need to understand that work is a respectable activity because it was designed by God. From the very beginning God planned that man should work.

Even in a perfect state and environment, Adam had a job. He had work to do even before he made the choice to sin. He had the responsibility of keeping the garden. Tending paradise was the will of God for Adam’s life.

God’s will for man was not altered by sin because it’s still God’s plan and purpose for us today. If you read the Word of God very closely you will see that after the fall of man God speaks about work.

Genesis 3:19 “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return”

God’s design before and after sin was for man to work. Work was respectable because God ordained it for man. Every honorable man since his father Adam has involved himself in this activity which we call work.

B. Work was DEMONSTRATED by God – Over and over you read in the first chapter of Genesis phrases such as “God created” and “God made.” What did God call this activity of creating and making? Notice what we read in Genesis 2:2 “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.” Twice He use the word “work.” We see here that God Himself stamped “Respectability” on good, honest and hard work.

Let’s go a step further and look at the life of God in human flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. As a youngester Jesus was taught the trade of carpentry. His earthly father, Joseph, took Him into the workshop and gave Him duties like any other man of that day.

After His earthly ministry started at the age of 30, He said in John 9:47 “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh when no man can work.” Notice also His statement in John 5:17 “But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.”

Even near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus said in John 17:4 “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” Jesus came to work the will of the Father and on the cross of Calvary we read in John 19:30 “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”

His work had been finished. The work that He came to do was to make a way for all of us to get to heaven. Only through His work can man be made righteous by placing our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

When we consider all we have looked at in the Word of God, we should never again think of work as something beneath us. By DESIGN and DEMONSTRATION God gave respectability to the word “work.”

II Thessalonians 3:13 “But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.”

That’s my view; how about you?