by Wyatt Pruitt
Work is a divine calling. The Triune God is a God of work. True work is love put into action. God is love. “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 1:8, King James Version). Love is to will the good of the other. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). If God then is love then he is also work. God has been continually loving himself from before eternity. God is three eternal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.” (John 3:35). The Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son, and in Him we abide in all things. “Therefore God the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, when He has been given to man, inflames him to the love of God and of his neighbor, and is Himself love” (St Augustine, 17.31). Therefore since God in his Triune nature is love then he is also by nature work. God then, in his divine plan, willed to express this work through creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalm 19:1). When the Triune God created the heavens and the earth he desired that he would make a race of people to bear His image. This Image would come with the directive and imprint of God’s divine work. This race would desire to work and create for the glory of God.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:27-28)
This work would be without sorrow, pain, trouble or toil. Man would be God’s representative to the cosmos, working to cultivate the raw earth towards God’s purposes.
At some point in time before Man’s fall, an angel, who was the greatest of God’s creation, who is called Lucifer, Satan, the Devil, and many more names, in his pride, rebelled against God, and tried to set himself up as the ruler of the universe.
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:12-14)
The way that Lucifer did this was by deceiving Man in the Garden. He told them that God did not really love them. That God did not have the best interests in mind when he gave them their directive for work. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth
know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). In Adam and Eve eating of the Tree, the curse of death was brought upon them. They acquired separation from God’s life giving Spirit because they rebelled against his will. As a consequence work became toilsome.
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:17-19)
After the fall Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden. Satan was cursed and he set himself up as the false god of the world. “The god of the world; that is, Satan, who was designated God to those who believe not” (Irenaeus 46). Satan now is working to tear the faithful away from God. As a result, our work is full of adulterous temptations of the flesh, and we must fight to remain faithful and diligent in all of our work.
Mankind is unable to do good works because of sin. “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” (Luther, Small Catechism). Because of Man’s inability to have faith in God, God had to bridge the gap between Man and Himself. Jesus Christ became Man, Died and rose from the dead so that all may be not only restored to the state of innocence in the garden, but be brought to perfection in Christ. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). In Christ’s perfection Man can now do works pleasing to God because they now have been freed to follow the will of God.
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection… (Romans 6:3-5).
In Baptism, we have been freed by the application of Christ’s atoning blood to do good works. These works are not the basis for salvation, nor do they add to salvation, but are out of a love of God, a want to thank him for what he has done, and a will to do his will.
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge… (2 Peter 1:3-5).
Since Man is being united to the Divine Nature in Christ, the promises that are given to Man in the Gospel, Baptism and the Eucharist, empower the believer to do works pleasing to the Lord.
On the final day, Jesus Christ will return for His bride, the Church. In the New Creation God will continue his development of the world through man. He will do this work through the Davidic King, Jesus Christ. All will be subject to his dominion, and Man will work on Earth in paradise with Him. The New Heaven and Earth will be united. No longer will there be a divide between the dwelling of God and Man. The capital of the universe will be New Jerusalem on earth, where God will rule the Cosmos. “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21:10). There shall be cities, children, animals, nations and kings. In this paradise, work will be fulfilling. “Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore, the brothers should have specified periods for manual labor as well as for prayerful reading” (Vogt, 74). The ideal life for the Christian here in this world and the next, is prayer and work. This is the nature of Man.
The center of vocation in the Christian life is the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the life of Christ given to the believer. When a believer partakes of the Eucharist they are eating Christ’s flesh and blood, offering up their own life as a sacrifice, and offering a memorial to God of the sacrifice of Christ.
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. (John 6:53-56)
This flesh, which is eaten mysteriously in the Eucharist, is for the forgiveness of sins. In this forgiveness, it also unites Man to the work of Christ, and empowers Man towards good works when received in faith. When the Eucharist is understood in these terms, then life becomes lived Eucharist to Eucharist. Man becomes excited to weekly, receive God’s grace, and then to see life as a living sacrifice to be offered to the Father on the Altar of the church. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). The Sacrament of the Lord’s Table leads us into the love of all.
Finally, the blessing of this sacrament is fellowship and love, by which we are strengthened against death and all evil. This fellowship is twofold: on the one hand we partake of Christ and all saints, on the other hand we permit all Christians to be partakers of us, in whatever way they and we are able; so that by this sacrament all self-seeking love is uprooted and gives place to love which seeks the common good of all, and through this mutual love there is one bread, one drink, onebody, one community, -that is the true union of Christian brethren. (Luther, Compend of Luther’s Theology, 176)
This love then is the true work of man in the world. Empowered by this work, God has given us three offices by which we dedicated ourselves to God in the world: Priest, Monk, and Family.
Priest, Monk, and Family, are all equal offices of which God calls people to serve him. In a way, all functions of these three positions are given to everybody. The Priest is called to represent God to the people, the Monk is called to live a life of chastity (expressed and singleness) in prayer and service, and Families are those called to be in a monogamous relationship of one man and one woman for the betterment of the kingdom of God and the raising of God’s children. In a spiritual sense, all Christians have all three of these offices. All are priests. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9). All are called to be monks. “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thess. 5:16-18). All are called to have families. “For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15). Even though all have attributes of these positions, some will have a particular call from God towards one of these positions. Some will be called to be clergy, some will be called to a life of singleness (monk), and some will be called to have families. From there Man can discern his particular vocation.
Vocation is the particular job in the world that God has called one to be in to be a witness to his righteousness. In all vocations God has called Men to do them to the best of their abilities. “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity” (1 Cor. 13-14). God, in his providence, has a divine plan for the vocation of everyone’s life. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10). For those in Christ, God has prepared a vocation, prepared for the individual, that will lead them to the fulness of sanctification. For the wicked he has prepared a vocation that will lead them to damnation unless they repent.
“(The) Father so embraces all things under his power- so governs the m at will by his nod- so regulates them by his wisdom, that nothing takes place save according to his appointment; that received into his favor, and entrusted to the care of his angels, neither fire, not water, nor sword, can do him harm, except insofar as God their master is pleased to permit” (Calvin, Institutes, 131).
God loves Man so much that he has planned their whole life. Whether it be working in a coal mine to the 9-5 Office work, God has personally planned everybody’s life.
God has always intended for man to work. Man lost his innocence and in so doing brought death into the world. Death made work difficult. Christ came into the world to save Man, give him a right relationship with God and work. God is love, and He loved man so much, he restored his purpose of work, to love God and enjoy Him forever.
Works Cited
Augustine. “On the Trinity (Book XV).” CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book XV (St. Augustine), http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/130115.htm. Accessed 14 Feb. 2025.
Calvin, Jean, and Henry Beveridge. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Hendrickson Publishers, 2017.
“Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenæus.” CHURCH FATHERS: Fragments (Irenaeus), http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0134.htm. Accessed 14 Feb. 2025.
Luther, Martin. A Compend of Luther’s Theology Luther. Ed. by Hugh T. Kerr. Westminster Press, 1966.
“Luther’s Small Catechism.” Luther’s Small Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther, catechism.cph.org/en/creed.html. Accessed 14 Feb. 2025.Vogt, Brandon, et al. St. Benedict Collection. Word on Fire Classics, 2018
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