Created in the image and likeness of God makes man a unique being – it conveys to man all the attributes that differentiate him from all other creatures, and connects man directly to his Creator.

The in-breath of lives not only gave to man life, but a spirit – a spirit which is in union with the triuine God and can commune with Him.

Further, created in the “image and likeness of God,” conveyed to man virtues such as leadership, kingship, entrepreneurship, duty, and power. Also, it enabled capacities such as coherent speech, will, desire, holiness, rights, and knowledge.  

 Further still, it made man a responsible, blessed and moral being. The creation of man is the first of its kind in God’s universe.

All of these made man resemble God and qualified man for dominion and responsibility.

Now, let us examine some of these blessings individually and briefly.

Working Man 

God patterned both male and female after Himself – God is a worker. Work and the ability to work is a gift from God. The blessing of procreation and fruitfulness is to help man accomplish the God-given task.

From the empty and formless mass wrapped in darkness, trinity worked to give man a universe that is absolutely beautiful and conditioned to sustain human life. 

Created to work 

God considers work to be “very good;” therefore, He commands every man to work. Work is a blessing that was meant to be enjoyed – it is one of the features that distinguish man from the animals. God created man to work because work is good and profitable.

Work promotes love among us as human beings created equal but with diver’s gifts and talents for cooperate profit and satisfaction: 

“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 1:26-27).  

“This we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies” (2 Thessalonians 3:9). 

There is no room for idleness and unemployment in God’s creation. Man lives to work; we are to cultivate the earth for common good.

It has been and would always be part of God’s eternal purpose for man to work and to enjoy the fruit of his labor.

The earth exists for the pleasure and profit of both God and man (Proverbs 8:31). 

Man is a gifted entrepreneur. 

Every man is gifted and talented – every human being brings something to the table of life. Man is both an employee and an employer.

The gifts of science, sports, recreation, travel, culture, food, clothing, shelter, medicine, industry, farming, technology, law, health, architecture, arts and music comes freely from God to man: 

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17). 

And it is for this reason also that the glory of all the labor and achievements of man rightly belongs to God.

Everything has its own proper place: The glory of the woman is man, the glory of man is Christ, and the glory of Christ is God (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:13). God can do without man, but man cannot do without God.

God provides seed to the sower: He “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mathew 5:45): 

 “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater” (Isaiah 55:10). 

Work is at the center of God’s universal program. King Solomon the greatest king who ever lived had this to say about work: 

“There is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion” (Ecclesiastes 3:22).  

God has so prepared the earth that man can live and work in it. The universe, which finds its space in God, is unfathomable, but the earth He has given to man.

As long as the heaven and the earth exist, man will work to sustain what God has created for man’s habitation: 

“The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men” (Psalm 115:16).  

What a glory, we are laborers together with God. We are His husbandry and building (1 Corinthians 3:8-10). 

God is the Employer, man is the employee 

God is the ultimate employer, and man is the employee. All the labor and effort of man would be fruitless without the grace of God: 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-6). 

God worked and enjoyed His work, so He made man to work and to enjoy the fruit of his labor.

A good example of man and God working together is in the naming of the animals as already mentioned (cf. Genesis 2:19-20). For work to be work it must bring satisfaction to both God and man; work must bring joy and pleasure to both employer and the employee.

Labor and capital are inseparable partners that share joy and pain together – they share their profit, or must share their profit 50/50. Why we cannot have equality of opportunity and equality of results is still a wonder in the face of our equality by creation and worthiness.

The profit from work must be equally shared between capital and labor; the producer and consumer; the employer and employee. We must at all cost seek to promote the principle of economic fairness, respect and justice. There must be truth and honesty in all our business lives.

There is no room for evil – greed, profiteering, and unfaithfulness. Every man is to take just what he or she needs, and leave the rest for the neighbor: 

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10; cf. Leviticus 19:13-18). 

Every good work must have its end goal in the blessing of all men – for the resources of the earth are there for all to share.

Happiness, the ultimate goal of all human endeavors, becomes a possession of the soul when our labor profits others. Every human being is created to do good works and not just any work: 

“. . . That the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17).

The act of doing good work covers the wellbeing of all men, and even the lower creatures.

No work is worth doing if it endangers the lives of fellow human beings and animals: 

“Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Ephesians 4:28; Titus 3:14).  

Every human being is born for a purpose – we are all on assignment on earth.

When God sent His Son Jesus Christ to planet earth, He gave Him work to do – Jesus Christ was on earth on mission “to do the Father’s work and to finish it.” And for this purpose, He would not be distracted and wasted no time accomplishing His messianic mission.

On the cross, Jesus cried, “it is finished.” Finished what? He finished the work the Father gave Him to do: 

“For the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me” (John 5:36). 

Again, I, the messenger of God, am a living proof to this truth.

At an early age of seven, I knew that I was born to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations. What I did not know then was that I was chosen also to write books complimentary to the Bible, and not to talk of the one you are reading.

For me, to preach and teach is not an afterthought – it is a God given assignment, and so the praises and rewards from men adds nothing to my mission on earth. My prayer is that someday I would also be able to say like Jesus, “it is finished,” before my final departure from this life.

Now, according to the Genesis narrative, God planted a Garden and commanded man to take care of it, and from this pattern shown, man is to cultivate the entire earth and make it like Eden: 

“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it,” is a road map for all work on earth (Genesis 2:15). 

Eden was planet earth in miniature – man is to cultivate the earth to the pleasure of God and for his own profit.

The earth is blessed with riches, fertility, fruitfulness, well-watered with the dews of heaven, and ready for man to design it to his pleasure, enjoyment, and the glory of the gracious Creator. The earth exists to reward the labor of man.

Further, there is a crown awaiting all those, who by faith in God do good works. Faith and work are two inseparable virtues; faith goes before work, and this divine pattern never changes. Faith always obeys and works.

Without exercising faith in God, all the labor of a man at the end of life would be of no profit to him or her. Surely, it may not be a surprise if at the end of time the earth happens to be just one of the “many mansions in my Father’s house” as Jesus Christ referred to in John 14:1.

In the beginning, work (before sin entered) was not drudgery, painful, and unsatisfactory, but satisfying and pleasurable. The earth produced seeds after its own kind without the back-breaking labor needed today.

The pleasure of God has always been that man would prosper and enjoy the fruits of his labor. Adam and Eve did not have to sweat for their natural or physical needs before the fall: 

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (Revelation 4:11). 

Sin explains why it took man almost six thousand years to get electricity even though the means to do it has been there from the beginning of time.

In truth, every man must be thankful to God that the curse, which came later as a result of sin, did not completely destroy man’s creative blessings. The evidence of creativity can be seen in some of the best things man has made so far; of course, not without the help of his Creator.

Even in our fallen state, work can be satisfying and profitable. Man, to some extent, can, and still enjoys the fruit of the labor. A typical example is the artist, musician, and craftsman who love what they do, and derive great satisfaction from their work. 

God worked and rested 

Man’s work is modeled after God. For six days in the creation event, God worked and rested when His work was done – He rested when that which He had set out to do was completed: 

“Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed” (Exodus 23:12). 

God worked and rested on the seventh day; man rested on the seventh day, and worked from the first day – man works from rest.

“God rested,” is for the education of man – man must not work without a break. God and man rested on the seventh day and man began work on the first day. God took a break to enjoy the fruit of His labor with man.

Consequentially, man must work, but take a break to enjoy the fruit of his labor with God and with fellow man – man must work, but not forget to rest. As to what day of the week to rest, God left it for man to decide: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath:” 

“And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made” (Genesis 2:3; cf. Mark 2:27).  

It is not good for man to work without a break – there must be an opportunity for sober reflection and rest. 

Work and rest is good for man 

But, mark, God worked and rested on the seventh day according to the Scriptures, but He has been working with man since.

God is not on vacation, and neither is He idling somewhere in space completely oblivious to what is happening on earth; neither has He totally abdicated His responsibility of the earth to man.

Ever since the fall, God has even added the additional responsibility of saving man from sin and death. Jesus said He works, because His “Father (God) worketh hitherto” (John 5:17). Jesus worked and He is still working in heaven, daily pleading man’s case before the Father as our redeemer and advocate in heaven.

Again, not only did God rest on the seventh day, but throughout the creation week He intermittently paused to reflect on the work done and stamped his approval by declaring them “good.”

Finally, after the event of the sixth day work was completed, God looked over His entire work and declared them “very good.”

Likewise, man must intermittently pause in the midst of labor to reflect on what is accomplished. There is time for every work done under the sun; there is time to work and time to rest. 

Work and rest is good for man (cf. Exodus 12:16; 20:10). Man must take a break amid work to rest, praise, and worship the Creator for all His benefits (cf. Deuteronomy 8:10).

When Israel became a nation, God made it a law for the whole nation to rest on the seventh day, seventh year, and the fiftieth year. God gave them the day to begin their calendar: 

“This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you” (Exodus 12:2). 

Sadly, many people make so much money without producing anything or rendering any meaningful service to the wellbeing of the human society, and others choose not to work at all while others are waiting for someone to employ them.

This should not be the case; we must render more services than we are paid to do, or is expected of us. Also, we must be able to employ ourselves and pay ourselves because every man is a little world and an entrepreneur.

We can all do our own work, eat our own bread, and cloth ourselves (cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12). Each of us can do certain things better than anyone else. 

Every human being is unique  

Home-based business (multi-level marketing) is not for the few; individually, every man has gifts and talent that are unique to the individual – every man has something the other man does not have.

For example, even though human society esteems the doctor above the garbage collector, the doctor would be no doctor without the garbage collector.

Further, no man is nature’s mistake, and no man is born by accident – there are no accidental children in the sight of God, not even the man who is born out of rape.

Further still, no man is born useless, or a fool – we are all created in the image of God and equipped to do good works. Jesus the Christ said: 

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12). 

Now, let me probe you a little bit: I hope you are also doing the work that is good in the sight of God, a work that is benefificial to others!

I hope you are renderings services more than you are paid to do, or is expected of you. God bless you if you are.

Good works brings pleasure, first to God, then you, and all those who benefit from your labor – we are truly connected to each other when our work benefits all.

Every man is to work and to finish the work he or she is sent on earth to do – work has both temporal and eternal rewards. God hates the sin of mankind, but He loves man, and seeks the wellbeing of every man.

It is essential that we ensure one another’s wellbeing instead of exploiting and destroying one another through greed. The pleasure of God is man, and the pleasure of man is found in obedience to God.

Man’s efforts are vain without the imput of God – the reward from the law of increasing return is the prerogative of the divine: 

“Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain” (Psalm 127:2).  

 “So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:7).  

Ultimate happiness is achievable, but only through the imput and the blessings of the Creator.

Thanks for reading