The Working Life Given to Man After Adam’s Fall

To sustain a living on the earth, everyone has to work. This certainly is not an easy struggle. People have to work whether at their work place or at home, and by that their hearts are heavily burdened and distressed. Some regard a strenuous work-driven life as ill fortune, while others think a lifetime spent on working is meaningless. It is already established in many people’s heart that happiness is about living and enjoying life without having to work. However God made man to work during his time on the earth. No one is an exception. This is a condition of life given to man within the will of God. Though our working-life may be exhausting, that is our set task during the time we are given.

This earth was created as a place of work; it is not a place of rest. It is written in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, “For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.” Also, Proverbs 18:9 says, “He also who is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys.”

God detests it when His creations do not discharge or neglect their duties. That is a grave sin before God. There were two incidents of this which brought about God’s judgment. One of them was the angel’s fall, and the other, the fall of man.

Satan did not keep his proper domain but abandoned his abode, so that he has been bound in everlasting chains under darkness until the judgment of the great day (Jude 6). Concerning the fall of the angel that neglected God’s given duty, Ezekiel 28:14-16 says, “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones.”

There was a similar happening with man. God commanded Adam to manage the Garden of Eden. However Adam abandoned his duty after being tempted by the Devil. Consequently he was condemned and banished from the Garden of Eden. The woman did the same in neglecting her duties. Although she was created as Adam’s helper, she instead became a factor that led to Adam’s fall.

Thus God declares to Adam after he cast from the Garden of Eden: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.” (Gen 3:17-19). From that time, Adam had to work the ground in order to sustain a living. As a result, man’s life became far more difficult than before, and the earth became impossible to live on without hard struggle and labor.

Likewise, the woman became afflicted. God said to her, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children” (Gen 3:16). From then on, the woman has to bear the pain of conception and labor of childbirth. The birth of her child does not mean the end of her anguish and trouble either. There is an even greater burden to bear once her child is born which lasts for many years in some circumstances. Even so, the woman cannot have any expectations to be compensated.

Such state of man’s condition continued even throughout the time of the Law, when God was unraveling His will as He led the Israelites. God said, “Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death” (Gen 35:2). Although this verse is highlighting the importance of observing the Sabbath, on one hand, it is on the premise of working for six days. When God said that work should be done for six days, this suggests that God has not forsaken mankind completely. The fact that God still has a command to give mankind implies that there is still hope for mankind. The hard work and labor we do on the earth is not God’s eternal punishment, but a short-term process of reformation for us to be restored as a holy people.

Newly Given Task Through Jesus Christ

By the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, man came to encounter a completely different situation. God did not forgive the angel that left his duty and position. However He forgave man who committed the same sin. The angel was not given any chance of repentance whereas to man, God gave a second chance, namely forgiveness.

He sent Jesus Christ to pay the debt of sin man was carrying and gave us a new life. Concerning this will of God, Colossian 1:20-23 says, “and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

We have received grace. That means God has given us a second chance. The duty given to man was to obey God, but man abandoned his work and thus has been living under curses. However, God sent His Son to bear all of those curses and gave us life with a new duty. By that, we have a new task given in addition to our occupation in this world.

Concerning us who have obtained the chance to work afresh, 2 Corinthians 5:17 writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Then Colossians 3:9-10 says, “Since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man,” and Ephesians 4:22-24 says, “that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

By abandoning his duty, man fell into a pit of failure. Nonetheless, we have obtained the opportunity to overcome our regretful past. To provide us with this opportunity, God sent His Son to the world and made Him die on the cross. And God received us when we came before Him, empowered by the works of His Son. Now we need to do well in carrying out the task God has entrusted us once again. What is baptism? It is to turn away from having forsaken God’s given duty, and openly confessing before God and people that we will diligently discharge our duties from that point on.

Those who return to God and become His people are immediately given work to do. What is that? John 14:15 says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments,” and verse 21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father.” Whoever has returned to God must keep the Lord’s commandments. God is pleased with us doing so. Then how is it demonstrated in the lives of the saints that they are keeping the Lord’s commandments? First of all, it is through their service in the church, and second, in giving offering.

To serve means we are offering ourselves as a living sacrifice pleasing to God. We must not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we may prove what God’s good, acceptable and perfect will is. In everything, we must stand and see from God’s perspective not just our own, so that we may think more highly ourselves than we ought to, but soberly according to the measure of faith given to each person (Rom 12:3). All the members of the church should humbly use the gifts given to each one and serve the church with a joyful heart (Rom 12:4-6). And they must fervently love and be hospitable to one another (1 Pet 4:8-10). Each member needs to do his part, his share effectively and bring growth to the church (Eph 4:16).

The other important duty of saints is offering. Offering must be prepared for in advance and given. Each person should give as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity. God is pleased with the cheerful giver and gives grace to such a person, supplying and multiplying the seed he sows in order that he will bear fruits of righteousness. Offering does not only supply the needs of the saints but also brings glory to God through the saints’ faith and thanksgiving.

After we came back to God, we have much more work to do than before and our lives have become a lot busier. In the beginning, we were not even able to gain God’s interest or go before Him. But now we have attained a glorious status and a new chance. Hence now we must not neglect or give up on this opportunity that came to us with such difficulty, but take it as ours through God’s given faith.

Seek God’s Help

There is something to be cautious about here. Some people think that they will live without any problems in this world so long as they diligently do the work God gave them. However, even the saints who are truly dedicated and fervent also encounter unexpected difficulties. And people might wonder why those things happen to people who have faith. The reason is that man is limited in his ability. He is too weak to battle through the world covered in thorns and thistles. Though we have been given a new duty and living a new life, without God’s help we will only collapse along the way.

The Lord said, “If you keep my commands, you will be loved by My Father. And I will manifest Myself to you and help you. You will realize that I am with you” (Jn 14:21). This means that the one who keeps His commandments has the right to receive the Lord’s help. Then what is it that a person with such a privilege should immediately do?

In regard to this, the Lord said, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (Jn 14:13). If we want to receive God’s help, we must pray for what we need. By doing so, we would make the Lord work. The more help we receive from the Lord, the more glory God the Father will receive.

Without God’s help, we would have to painfully struggle against the challenges of this world, and at times we will collapse being unable to overcome them. If we try to fight against the world with our own strength, we may instead become swept by the ways of this world and assimilate into its characteristics and thus lose the glorious opportunity given us. Isn’t this world full of things that distress and afflict us? And at many times, the people we expect to be the source of our comfort and support, instead hurt us. Who would really help us when we are in trouble? Who can really comfort and soothe us when our hearts are suffering in agony?

Of all these things that afflict us, what we need to guard against the most is the very source of every problem, which is the unclean spirits. They work without rest to trouble our hearts, destroy our bodies, destroy our families, and shake our faith. Because of them, many people are failing to live in obedience and unable to seize the grace that Christ has given through His great suffering.

After a long and difficult day at work, we return home and finally get to lie down to rest. But even then, our enemies will not rest. There is no such thing as mercy to them. They will employ every possible means to destroy us. They can bring sicknesses into our bodies while we are sleeping unarmed and defenseless. Our husband or wife, our children are all vulnerable to their attack. So how can we sleep, and with what confidence? Yet we cannot possibly stay up all night to protect ourselves. That is why we need the Lord to help us and protect us. The Lord gives sleep to those He loves (Ps 127:2).

God does not rest but continues to do His work to the end. He neither slumbers nor sleeps as He helps us. Thus the sun cannot strike us by day nor the moon by night. We must give no rest to God but have Him work until He is glorified (Isa 62:6-7). The Lord promised that He will do whatever we ask in His name (Jn 14:13).

The Lord is attentively listening to us so that He may work for us. Even if we might be desperate for God’s help, He cannot help up if we do not ask. Some people are sanguine that every problem will take care of itself because they regard themselves as spiritual persons. Such people would have to fight against the enemies and struggle through the world unarmed and bare-handed. We do not know what challenges are lurking before us. Hence we need to seek God’s help in advance so that those challenges do not become irreversible problems. And God will certainly make a way.

What Must Be Done

We cannot live a single hour without God’s help. But in order to receive His help, we first have to obey Him. With regard those who ignored His word God said, “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me” (Prov 1:28). If we feel burdened by church life and do not give our best, or we feel hassled and neglect it, our relationship with God will be in trouble. We cannot let God grow tired of us. Since He has assigned upon Himself the responsibility to help us, we must not let Him rethink and resign from that commitment.

We have entered through the gate of repentance and received forgiveness. For Satan, repentance was not even conceivable, yet we obtained a second chance through it and dedicated ourselves once again. Now we must demonstrate the certainty of our faith. Without doing so, a person will not get any chance to seek God’s help nor expect God to help him. We must seek His help at all times and be the ones who are able to receive His help.

Many people dream of living without having to work, and believe that to be happiness. And for people who are drained and worn out from work, perhaps this is only natural. However on the earth, working is just part of ordinary life. A person returning home after a day of work deserves a pat on the back for having overcome the struggle of life. A person working at home all day with domestic duties also deserves the family’s applause just as the rubber gloves are taken off in the evening. Rather than trying to escape a life of work, we ought to overcome the challenges our lives bring us. We might want to work, but there may not be any available positions. Nevertheless, we should not groan about our circumstances but keep fighting. Even our struggles to find work should be taken as a process of life.

Contrary to what most people think, happiness is not related to money. A person who is happy is able to find joy in any situation, no matter how difficult the circumstances. Such a person would never lose peace in his heart even when life is hard and wears him down. But just how many of those people can we find in this world? We however, have all the conditions to be happy. Jesus Christ has made us His own, and works with us with a sense of responsibility. In due time, He will take us into the Father’s house. So then how can we not be happy?

Though our life on the earth might be tough and trying, we need to maintain our status which has been elevated through Jesus Christ and discharge all of our duties accordingly. Since we became heirs to Heaven’s glory with Jesus, we ought to persevere and prepare for our glorious future while we are on the earth. We must work hard and diligently before night falls when we can work no longer. And by doing so, bring glory to God.

In the past, obeying God was man’s sole duty, although he failed. For us who are now in Christ, there are two things which must be done. First of all, we have to obey God and secondly, seek His help. Through obedience we must seek the good of God’s kingdom, and our lives be made well by receiving God’s help. We should express our love for God through our obedience, service and dedication, and fully trust in God so that the Lord may work for us. God the Father should be glorified through us.

Beloved Sungrak members who love and yearn for the Kingdom of the Lord, let us glorify our God greater as we welcome the new year.

I am not only speaking from my perspective, but every minute and second is precious for our faith. This world is moving so rapidly that we are passing through an age of lightning speeds. Yet, we as saints taste and experience God’s light, which is faster than this generation and we live by the power of the Holy Spirit for His glory.

As I dedicated my entire life, I did not live for my own glory or fame. I lived for the Lord Jesus Christ who rescued my family and me from sin. I lived with a loving heart for souls just as God had commanded me. Thus, there is not one thing that I have fulfilled by myself. I started it like sowing a seed, laying a foundation, and planting a tree.

However, all of you and the church must continue and preserve what I have started and tend it so that God, our farmer, can bring a harvest.

For the 21st century, we must become people and spiritual instruments of God, held by His hands. So far, I have been planting for the works of God’s Kingdom and thus, you all must water it and allow God to raise it up.

We are God’s house, field, and His partner (1 Cor. 3:9). Is this true? Is your family really a house of God? Are you truly working with God? Is the field producing with the seeds that God has planted? Put your hands over your heart and examine yourself.

If we are God’s partners, then we must have His concerns. If we are His field, then those planted seeds that God had put in our hands must be growing. Nonetheless, are you perhaps worried that God will use your family or the seeds will actually begin to grow?

The Lord Jesus saw Peter, His brothers and friends catching fish at sea and said, “Follow me, I will make you fishers of men.” Didn’t you hear this? When the world neglected the Lord, He was preparing for the works of God’s Kingdom. No one knows when God will call your family. Yet, in this very moment, what are you doing? Are you preparing to become a fisher of men?

The Lord carefully watches you and your family with His eyes like flames of fire. We do not prepare ourselves diligently just to become pastors but because we do not know when God would call us. Thus, seek the Kingdom of God more than the works of the world. I encourage you to become a family of Berea International Theological Seminary.

Invest the knowledge of God’s Kingdom into your own intellect. I read the Bible many times when I was suffering from hunger and poverty, when I couldn’t even imagine becoming a pastor. Yet because I consumed the word of God, I was able to establish a mega church today. Hence, please prepare yourselves for the Kingdom of God. Thank you. Though you are busy, learn all the more. The Lord is watching everything with His eyes. My expectation for you is great.

Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
Lord’s Day Worship Column

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Outline and Summary translated by Sarah Nam
Letter translated by Jada Shim
Interpretations by Sarah Nam

Chief Editor: Helen Nam
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee