The God of the Bible is the God of the physical as well as
the spiritual. He is the God of the temporal as well as the eternal. He is fulfilling
His purposes in both the perishable as well as the imperishable. To think His
works are of value in the eternal realm but not in the temporal, is to fall
short of appreciating His full purposes for both heaven and earth. He is out to do His will in both.
There is a tendency to value the eternal, spiritual aspects
of reality so much that, even if by implication,
we downgrade the temporal, physical world of the here-and-now. While this goes well
with Plato, it was never a hallmark of the ancient Hebrew. [See http://youtu.be/KBd9mB2S6S0.] The First
Commission of Genesis 1:26-28 is a call to engage with the material world, as
co-workers with God.
We usually think of “worship” as something we do at church
on Sunday morning. But could a man also
be engaged in legitimate worship by sanding a hardwood floor on Monday morning?
I’m not talking about whistling a
worship song while he’s working. I mean, could a man be engaged in authentic worship
through sanding wood? Could sanding wood be “the Lord’s work?” Or is
the committed Christian more likely to think, “someday I’ll quit this job and
go into the ministry!”
It boils down to some simple questions, like, Does God care about hardwood
floors? Does He care about building houses, or manufacturing good electric
sanders? Does He really want these
things done?
Jesus said He only did what the Father showed Him to do. Did that
arrangement only get started at age 30? It appears the Father showed Jesus to
do carpentry for about six times longer than He showed Him to do preaching and teaching.
Justin Martyr, in the second-century, reported that people in his day
were still using plows made by Joseph and Jesus. It must have been quality
workmanship! Yet these plows are not used today. Does that mean Christ’s
carpentry had no real value, because His plows haven’t lasted 2000 years?
I think the Father really wanted the carpentry done in the day Christ did it.
