of Faith
Tom
Nelson
Chris
Horst
Audrey
Assad
Gene
Veith, Jr.
Art
Work
Michael
James
Bruner Hamilton
TOM NELSON
Art Gallery
Delve into the theology of why “Work Matters”.
ing in its importance in understanding who He is but then as Genesis continues, as you know, that
humans are made in God’s image, unlike the rest of creation and that word, image, is really important.
It has two main meanings: one is connection and reflection so we were made by an intimate, rela-
tional God and relationships matter, but also we reflect Him and in the context of Genesis 1, where
primarily as a working God, because that’s how he presents Himself. So this idea of work and the
image of God, and being human is deeply connected together right away in Genesis 1 and of course
the whole Scriptures continue to bear that out. Being made in God’s image means many things but in
the Genesis text as it opens, it means in a great deal to be a worker, like Him.
He presents Himself
as a working God,
which is really amazing
in its importance ...
EOF: Tom, thank you so much for coming and spending time and talking with us
today. How are you doing?
NELSON: I’m doing great, Michael. Thank you, It’s a delight to be with you.
So, we’re talking about your book, Work Matters. You start with an explanation on
how we’re made in the image of God and of course, that’s a God who works. So could
you elaborate a little bit on that idea to the reader?
One of the things that is surprising, I guess, but also wonderfully joyful is that God introduces himself
as a worker, as you said. I mean when you think about how the Bible starts, God could have intro-
duced himself in that special revelation in almost any way, right? God has a lot to reveal about him-
self, but he chooses right at the opening verses of Genesis to describe himself as a worker, in being
God created the heavens and the earth. He presents Himself as a working God, which is really amaz-
Right, absolutely. You know, as I was read-
ing your book and a lot of these pieces
are at the beginning, It starts discussing
how we’re dehumanized when we don’t
have the opportunity to work. You know,
most people truly want to work, and that’s
because it’s a part of our purpose. So in
fact, you even go far enough as to explain in
the book how it’s actually worship to God.
Could you share more of those aspects of
work?
Work is such a vital part of the creation design. Of course, we don’t worship our work, right?
I mean that’s a danger for all of us, we’re worshipping the God who works. But I’d say apart from the
danger of making work an idol, work is a really central stream in Scripture of what it means to be
human and for example, we’re not only made in God’s image in Genesis 1, but right away in Genesis
2, what do we see? We see this incompletion. There’s no bush, no rain, there’s no man to work the
ground. So even in God’s integral design, humans fit within that created order to fill that completion
to work. And then in Genesis 2:15, we have really the foundation of the human job description, when
Adam is put in the garden to cultivate it and to keep it. These two Hebrew infinitives capture the
human job description within the created order and that is to cultivate creation for God’s glory and
the common good of others and to protect it. So this word, cultivate, in the Old Testament at least, has
a seamless idea of both work and worship. It’s used, in the Old Testament, as the priest in the taberna-
cle as well as the farmer in the field, so it’s really woven into the integral design that work is a vital part
of imaging God and a vital part of worship and sometimes we miss that because we think that Sunday
is what we do, Sunday is to worship and Monday we work. But that Sunday to Monday gap is really
not in God’s design, and we need to see that we worship Him as much on Monday, if we do it unto God
and to others, as we do on Sunday.