The End of Work [1]

Introduction

Recent decades have witnessed an explosion of interest in Christianity in the marketplace with a new emphasis on the equality of vocation shared by all believers, whether in the world or in the church. This has generally been framed within a holistic spirituality of creation and ministry promoted by websites, seminars, books and marketplace ministries. Themes such as mission, ethics, evangelism, prayer and finance have been fuelling what can only be seen as a global movement raised up by God to restore his presence in “all things” (Eph 4:10). Overall this has been very healthy and points to an extensive reformation in the Church catalysed by the action of the kingdom of God in the workplace.

In the process of this marketplace awakening many resources have effectively addressed the issue of “dualism”[2] amongst the people of God; the tendency to elevate heaven over earth, Sunday over Monday, clergy over laity, church programmes over the secular sphere. An often unaddressed dualism however is that between time and eternity. This problem can only be resolved by an effective application of New Testament eschatology, the doctrine of “the last things”. The purpose of the teaching of this article is not to impart information, but to provoke marketplace transformation through the impartation of an enlivened eschatological (end times) awareness.

Living in the End Times

God’s purposes can only be fully realised in the marketplace if we recognise that the New Testament consistently teaches that the “the last days” is a period between the first and Second Coming of Christ[3]. We are currently in “the last days” because Jesus was sent as the “Last One”[4]. Flowing from this, the New Testament is permeated with an expectation of the imminent Return of Christ. Here is one example pertaining to the domain of work, “This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.” (1 Cor 7:29-31).

This anticipation of the impending dissolution of present world structures has profound implications. Peter speaks to the tension of living ethically in a world where injustice often seems to lead to profit and justice to loss. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Pet 3:10-13). The living hope of an imminent new creation full of justice empowers the Christian to live in the midst of present injustice.

Question: “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet 1:13) How does this sense of anticipation compare to the spirituality of your own Christian community?

In the Beginning

Most biblical treatments of work begin with God’s command in Eden, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”” (Gen 1:26-28). This is a description of the “cultural mandate”, whereby humanity made in the divine image is commissioned to serve God in the public sphere, whether by economic engagement, scientific inquiry, literary exploration, environmental care or a host of other activities. The original divine command to “have dominion” imparts an intrinsic value to employment in all it expressions. Unfortunately, this command has often been interpreted too narrowly.

In the history of Christian thought and spirituality there are two rather divergent ways of interpreting the creation story. The first, following Augustine (354-430), has dominated Western theology. As created by God, Adam was made to be prophet, priest and king. He was enabled to hear God and speak his Word (prophet), was called to offer up the holiness of life and culture in all dimensions to the Creator (priest), and to rule with dominion over the lower creation (king). Sin affected the entire life of man and manifested itself not only as ignorance, blindness and error (prophetic sphere); but also, as unrighteousness, guilt and moral pollution (priestly sphere); as well as misery, death and destruction (kingly sphere).  Through “the Fall” humanity lost its original righteousness and glory (Rom 3:23). This includes the blessing of the divine presence in the sphere of work. Whilst this position is biblical, it tends to be one dimensional.

The Eastern Christian tradition accepts the basic structure about the Adamic vocation as prophet, priest and king, but teaches that human growth into perfection is essentially future and goal directed. Immortality cannot be imparted from a beginning but only from an end. Adam deviated not merely from an original glorious state but from what he was called to be[5].  Adam lost his place in the world because he failed to offer up to God as priest all over which he had dominion as king, by refusing to prophetically see the coming kingdom of God[6].

Like Adam, we are called to be “future men and women” who spiritually see the coming kingdom of God (John 3:3). This means to live by faith in a future promise that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab 2:14).

Question: Do you think of God’s purposes in terms of restoring what was lost through sin, or, going forward to a much more glorious future than was present in Eden?

The Loss of Vision

Since the image of God is not entirely destroyed by sin (1 Cor 11:7; James 3:9), the orientation of humanity towards the future remains, though in a distorted form, even after the Fall. The thrust to purposefully rule remains but men and women offer up their efforts to other gods. These include self, family, nation, ideology, corporation or false religion. The eternal and immortal destiny God promises is sacrificed for a more immediate and satisfying future reward[7].  In this state each human heart profoundly desires to avoid consciousness of the final fate God has appointed for the rebellious.

Since Adam and Eve fled from the divine presence in terror of immediate punishment (Gen 3:8), humans have been spiritually paralysed by the fear of death and controlled by Satan “all their lives” (Heb 2:14-15). In such a depraved state no one can seriously entertain an eternity in close contact with the divine life[8]. The thought of the Advent of God upon the earth at the Final Day is unbearable and drives lost people to hide from God’s face (Rev 6:15-17). Those who live in such a fear of punishment[9] completely lack “confidence for the day of judgment” (1 John 4:17) and actively oppose the divine rule. This rebellion is presented in a particular way in scripture.

A pivotal messianic psalm reads, “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed” (Ps 2:2 cf. v.10). Since this psalm is prophesying about the coming of Christ it is eschatological. In its New Testament fulfilment “the kings of the earth” actively set themselves against the one rightful sovereign[10],“Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth” (Rev 1:5). Whilst God has dispersed uncountable blessings amongst his creatures by virtue of common grace[11], including the realms of science, the arts, civic virtue and natural love, these are not offered up in praise to his name (prophetic vocation), for his glory (priestly calling) nor for the extension of his kingdom (kingly mission). The net result is the conflict between God and Satan, the Church and the world, and between Babylon and the Bride which dominates the contours of scripture. The way out of this dire situation can only be clarified as we consider Jesus own end-time ministry.

Question: The stand out biblical characters who served God most effectively in the marketplace of their time, Joseph, Daniel, Esther, did so in a context of intense idolatry. How does your view of the End help you face such a world with creative engagement and courageous confrontation?

Vision Restored: the Work of Jesus

From the beginning, God had a “purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Eph 1:9-10). The integrating thread through creation, preservation and consummation is the person of Jesus (Col 1:16-20; Heb 1:3). It is in Christ that God declares the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10). The key to understanding that eternity is a culmination of time, and not its termination, is to be found in the human life of the Son of God.

Whilst both Old and New Testaments share the hope of a new heavens and a new earth (Isa 65:17; Rev 21:1), only the latter can frame this in terms of the return of Christ for his Bride, the Church[12]. Scripture speaks strongly of the crisis which will end this world’s opposition to God, “the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away…and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” (2 Pet 3:10). This does not however mean the total annihilation of the raw materials of our age followed by a second creation. Such would imply evil has so marred this world that all our present efforts to create a more just society are finally unfruitful. Rather, if the climax (Gen 1) and centre (Gen 2) of the original creation was a human being (Adam), this structure will be true for the final order. Unlike the old order however the new is imperishable because it is built on the resurrected humanity of Jesus. “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable….The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.” (1 Cor 15:42, 47).

The world to come will be as recognisable in its shape for human habitation as the resurrection body of Jesus. Christ’s risen life is the guarantee of an identifiable, historical and relational connection between the world we know and the one to come (1 John 3:2). As Jesus own risen life was constituted by all his experiences in our space-time, purged, redeemed and glorified (Luke 24:26), so this will be the condition of the new heavens and earth. Just as Jesus prayed in John 17, the fruit of his earthly work for his Father will be the establishment of an eternal realm of glory.

“I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed…. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth…. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:4-5, 16-19, 24). The outcome of Jesus’ earthly trials was the redemption of his entire life[13] with all its activities and experiences. His exaltation lifted all the elements of his humanity to God-glorifying productiveness and fulfilled enjoyment (Heb 12:2). In the same way, since we are “in Christ” we will share in a future where no effort for the kingdom of God will prove ultimately fruitless. The recovery in the Church of this confident anticipation of faith requires an exposition of the gospel.

Question: “There is not one inch in the entire area of our human life about which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry out, “”Mine!”” (Abraham Kuyper, Prime Minister of Holland). If this is a cry for the healing of the whole creation, how does this cry ring out in your world?

The Justification of Work

The Protestant Reformers, particularly Luther, are most famous for a rediscovery of the power of the gospel. What is often overlooked is the connection between their theology of salvation and their belief that the world was falling apart with the End near.  The Pope was the anti-Christ of Revelation, the Catholic Church was the Great Harlot, and Islam (the Turk) was threatening Europe.  The ground was shifting under everyone’s feet: intellectually, theologically, and politically. Luther’s own life was in danger and he hoped for the soon Return of Christ. It is in only by appreciating this eschatological (end-time) environment that the Reformers contributions to Christianity can be grasped.

At the same time as Luther was recovering “justification by grace through faith alone” he, more than any other Christian thinker, was releasing Christendom from centuries of bondage to the conviction that religious occupations were more valuable than secular[14] ones. This was a resurrection of the notion of “vocation” as applied to all Christians. For Luther, “vocation” refers to more than mere dedicated service in one’s occupation. It refers to the whole theatre of personal, communal, and historical relationships in which one lives. As salvation is not an escape from creation but its restoration and fulfilment, so also the Christian life is not to be an escape from creaturely life but a calling to it. The call to follow Christ leads not to any religious vocation removed from daily life, but instead it transforms the attitude and understanding one has of the situation in which one already is, in all its dimensions[15]. The link between Luther’s theology of justification and his teaching on vocation needs to be explored if contemporary Christians are to more fully enter into God’s calling for them in all the spheres of life.

The Reformers inverted the traditional order of works and justification. Rather than a person being justified by their works, it was the person who was justified by grace through faith, apart from works. As justified, their works were deemed acceptable to God. Justification was a completed act of God without any degrees or delays[16]. This connects to eschatology in the following way. The divine declaration of justification is a decree of the End that has broken into the present, justification is participation in an acquittal before the Final Tribunal now. Jesus taught the same truth this way, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5:24). Being freed from condemnation (Rom 8:1) the believer need have no fear of the day of judgement (1 John 4:17-18). Absolved from a guilty conscience about the End, Christians are emboldened to glorify God in whatever they do now (1Cor 10:31).

Living confidently in our completed justification we can be open to the sanctifying work of God as he seeks to empty us of ourselves and fill us with Christ so that he may be all in all (Eph 4:10). Being justified allows us to work out of love for God (2 Cor 5:14) in response to our salvation from the penalty of sin. This removes all duty based drudgery from the common life that the Christian shares with his/her neighbour. It also involves a radical transformation in understanding our place in the world as prophets, priests and kings.

Question: Earlier generations of Christians meditated and sung much about heaven. Has the contemporary Church lost something vital in this regard?

Coheirs with Christ the King

As coheirs with Christ of all the good things of God (Rom 8:16-17; 1 Cor 3:21-22) we partner with Jesus in God’s work upon the earth[17]. Therefore the priesthood of believers extends beyond our personal access to grace to embrace the whole of life as a self-offering to God for the sanctification of humanity. This includes not only prayer but common service of others. In the prophetic realm, whatever testifies to Jesus is prophecy (Rev 19:10). Believers have access to supernatural wisdom and knowledge for their sphere of employment and daily relationships. Under Christ’s kingship (Rev 1:5-6) we share his reign[18]. A direct link between justification and reigning with Christ is made in the following passage where Paul elaborates on the Adam-Christ motif,

“But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” (Rom 5:15-17)

Question: “For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” (1 Cor 3:21-23) So what?

Nothing is Lost

The Christian life is one lived in hope of the Return of Jesus to set everything right. This is a hope grounded in Christ’s being “set right” with God for us in resurrection (Rom 4:25; 1 Tim 3:16), and the knowledge that we have been set right with God in justification (Rom 5:1). It is Jesus’ resurrection victory in the Spirit defeating the power of sin and death that assures us that nothing we have sown or sacrificed for his kingdom will in the end prove fruitless.

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.” (1 Cor 15:56-58)

“For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Gal 6:8-10)

“And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them!”” (Rev 14:13)

The Scriptures strong assurance that Christ has abolished futility is a tremendous motivation and encouragement for consistent Christian living in a world where the gospel is rejected.

Question: If your current work place climate is ever depressive, how are the above promises God’s words for you?

Suffering to bring the Presence

The paradigm for the Christian life is the life of Christ. This means that we must share not only Christ’s resurrection power but also his sufferings (Phil 3:10). Jesus offered up “a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:2) by righteously suffering for the unrighteous (1 Tim 3:18). In this way he entered into his perfected prophetic, priestly and kingly ministry (Heb 2:10). The same pattern must also apply to us.

If we are indeed in the “last days”, then the following words about the antichrist find application today[19], “Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.” (Rev 13:16-17) Exclusion from the activities of the marketplace should come as no surprise to alert Christians (Matt 24:9; 2 Tim 3:12). Such sacrifices must but be accepted as both the cost and glory of discipleship.

Paul teaches, “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” (2 Cor 2:15-16). Believers bring the fragrant and saving sacrificial presence of Jesus amongst those with whom they work by their willingness to loving suffer for others as Christ did. If the cross meant Jesus’ own exclusion from the realm of common goodness, so we too must endure injustice and rejection as part of the cost of bringing in God’s kingdom with power.

Question: “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” (Heb 13:12-14) What would it look like in your workplace to suffer like Jesus that others might enter the eternal city?

The End of Work

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,  and God himself will be with them as their God. ” (Rev 21:2-3).

The Bible’s vision of the end of all things is not a return to the original undeveloped paradisiacal state of the bliss of a garden, but the life of a city that will endure forever. Human life in heaven will exceed that in Eden to the degree that Jesus outgrew Adam[20]. At the End all dualisms are done away with, for the life of heaven and the life of earth are perfectly united as one[21]. Unexpected to popular imagination, life in the celestial city is not ethereal but the consummation of God’s plan and presence working with humanity throughout history. All the fruits of human civilisation will finally be brought into the city of God.

“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.” (Rev 21:22-25 cf. Isa 60). These kings are the rebellious rulers of the earth who have been converted to the cause of Christ and the service of his kingdom[22]. We are the kings who enter the heavenly city. As kings, we are representatives of cultures, considered in the fullest possible sense. On the Great Day of the Lord[23] and the consummation of the marriage of the Lamb with his Bride, the accumulated output of human work through the ages purged and redeemed will be laid at the feet of Christ.  The fruit of all human culture, language, literature, art, music, science, agriculture, business, sport, technological achievement, actual and potential, freed from the presence of evil, will be available to all people forever.

The wealth of nations[24], considered in the broadest possible sense and freed from all its idolatry, shall be released into the service of the Lord’s eternal kingdom. The New Jerusalem will be a commercial, cultural and aesthetic hub with corporate structures beyond our imaginings. Only in this way can God’s original purpose guiding the creation of humanity and its “cultural mandate” to rule the earth be fulfilled. At the End, in the brilliance of the light of Christ (Rev 21:23-24), it will be known that the glory of the Lord filling the earth (Hab 2:14) was always to be a divine-human glory. Through the cleansing power of his sacrifice the Lamb of God will draw all the goods, artefacts and instruments of culture to himself. As the power of the blood of Christ is expressed cosmically[25] the purpose of the “cultural mandate” shall have reached its goal. The power of this vision is immeasurable.

Question: In what ways is your daily labour transformed by the knowledge that it is all contributing to that which God will one day redeem and include within his new creation?

Conclusion

The New Testament possesses a vision of a Body growing “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ… the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph 4:13; 1:23). This cosmic perspective must embrace the marketplace ministry of believers in the light of the imminent Return of Jesus, whose prophetic, priestly and kingly ministry is the power by which universal transformation shall be effected. This is a transformatory work accomplished in partnership with us.

Luther said, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” The Reformer lived in the knowledge that the biblical message of the gospel in the context of its own eschatology left no space for terminal despair or escapism[26]. The biblically informed Christian lives his/her life in the knowledge of a crisis (1 Cor 7:26) before which the global financial, political and natural crises of our times are diminutive. We live on the edge of the transformation of this present aeon into “the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ” (Rev 12:10). With the assurance that we will reign with Christ forever (1 Tim 2:12) and that no-one can take away our inheritance as a reward (Col 3:23-24 cf. Eph 6:5-8) we are galvanised to work for the transformation of every element of social and cultural life, at whatever cost. This is a call for Christians to live as prophets, priests and kings to God, which is also our eternal vocation.

Question: In the Parable of the Talents the master entrusts three servants with resources “five talents…three talents…one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went away.”  (Matt 25:15). Which servant do you most identify with?

Select Bibliography

General Resources on Marketplace Ministry:

www.lausanne.org/documents/2004forum/LOP40_IG11.pdf

On Luther:

many books and papers have been publihsed about Martin Luther

http://www.presenttruthmag.com/archive/XLIV/44-4.htm

On God’s Final Purpose:

Darrell Cosden, The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work, Hendrickson, 2006

Richard J. Mouw, When the Kings Come Marching In, Eerdmans, 2002

James Thwaites, The Church Beyond the Congregation, Paternoster, 1999.

Christopher J.H. Wright, The Mission of God’s People, Zondervan, 2010