Regardless of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, we Christians must remember that our blessed mandate to work originated in the Garden of Eden as a means to glorify God. It was repeated in the Great Commission that we may be reminded that our work and our wealth is all for the purpose of glorifying Christ.
Both the Creation Mandates and New Creation Mandates are designed for the subduing of the earth to the glory of God. The Creation Mandate was to begin at Eden (Gen 2:15) and gradually to extend throughout all the earth (Gen 1:26-28). It was restated after the Great Flood (Gen 9:1-7). The New Creation Mandate [i.e., the Great Commission], which supplements, undergirds, and restores man ethically to the righteous task of the Creation Mandate, was to begin in Jerusalem (Luke 24:47) and gradually to extend throughout the world (Matthew 28:19).
Do not buy into the secular-sacred dichotomy concerning work. When Adam tended the garden was that secular or sacred work? When Adam named the animals was that secular or sacred work? There is no such dichotomy found in Scripture. Christians should strive for dominion in all fields of labor (e.g., industry, science, medicine, law, engineering, etc.). All work is sacred, for whatever we do we should do as unto Christ that we may bring all things under His lordship.
Our labor began in the Garden, continues in Christ, and will be consummated in His return when His glory encompasses the entire globe. Till then may we labor to disciple the nations.
Important Questions:
In what ways are your wealth and career effecting the Great Commission? Are you retired; have you retired from the Great Commission? How are you being used in your riches/poverty to glorify Christ?
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Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers.
Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University.
You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.