Subject: Work - Genesis 1-3

Genesis 3:17-19 (ESV Strong's)

And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”

Subject:  Work

Man was created to fellowship with God and was given the job of caring for God's creation, especially the Garden of Eden.   Adam and his wife were to care for a place that was perfect and, at the beginning, contained no sin nature.   That means the animals were in sync with creation and man and man was in sync with all creation.   There was no pollution, no sickness, no violence, nor anger.   But, because of the disobedience of eating the fruit, Adam would now have a nature that was in opposition to creation.  As part of the curse the land would now bring forth "thorns and thistles."   As part of the curse the earth would have to be subdued and there would be pain and sweat in regard to the earth.   Labor would no longer be a purpose of creation, but rather it would be a curse of creation.   Because of man's new sin nature, Man would now toil in the earth, when originally there was to be harmony with the earth.   Today our "jobs" and our interaction with the earth is troublesome.  We often see two extremes: Man hates work and avoids it, or man is consumed by work.  The ground has been cursed and the man who is to work the ground is cursed with it.   Romans tells us that along with the earth, man longs for redemption:

Romans 8:22-23 (ESV Strong's)
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

So, when God redeems us, we have a new perspective on work and toil.  Our sin nature will continue to fight, but our new nature has a new purpose; a restoration of the original purpose.  We have be born again to serve the creator and to care for His creation and to toil in creation toward Him.   It is only the redeemed who can properly understand the nature of work, because only the redeemed as a new nature toward work.