So, I know it has been a while since I've written anything, most of that is just because I haven't really felt like writing anything. But, I wanted to share something I was talking about with my father. In reading back through Genesis and considering how I would approach different passages to preach about them, I began to consider Genesis 3:17-19. I thought about the curse that God placed on man, that the ground would only yield to hard labor. And I thought about how that passage should be understood in relation to the Christ event.
While perhaps there is some modification of this passage in Genesis 8 where God says he will no longer curse the ground for man's evil disposition, yet we never see anything that indicates that the curse of work has been done away with. (Here I wish to make some distinction between the curse of work and the blessing of work. What I mean by the curse of work is not just that we must work for our food, man was always supposed to be a creature of work, but the fact that work would be toilsome, would require difficulty, and would be painful. Work itself is a blessing from God, but the hardness of work, the pain that comes with work, these are aspects of the curse.) So, throughout the rest of Scripture we see men who work the land, from planting fields to caring for flocks. Jacob, in his reasons for leaving Laban, discusses the hardships of being a shepherd, and those who have worked the ground for farming or gardening know that while there can be joy in the results, the work is also hard and can be painful. So, while God may not curse the ground (more likely he is discussing cataclysmic judgments like the flood) he has not rescinded the curse of labor.
Man must work for his food, and man only eats his food by the sweat of his brow. So even Paul says that if a man will not work, then he shouldn't eat. 2 Thes. 3:10 Our command remains that we are to work to have something to give to others, and we are to work so we can eat with a clear conscience. Even if we are not working, or cannot work, we are to be willing to work, if able.
But, what are we working for? We work for food, with which we nourish our bodies, satisfy our appetites, and have energy to do more work. We work so that we do not go hungry, so that we can be happy. But all we can nourish with the results of our work is the flesh and blood body that breaks down with age and injury, and will not last long. Beauty fades, strength passes, and health gives way to sickness in time. Death is inevitable.
Yet, while we work for our bodies, consider what we read in Matthew 26, "Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.'" (Matt 26:26-29) Here Jesus and his disciples had gathered to partake of a meal, they had gathered to partake of the work of the sweat of their brows, and Jesus invites his disciples to go deeper. Not only does Jesus want his disciples to partake of a meal, he wants them to partake of a meal that he will share with them again in heaven, a meal that celebrates the redemption of sins that he will purchase through his blood. So the eating of bread becomes more than simply the reward for hard work, it becomes symbolic of the redemption that is offered through Jesus.
Here we see a beautiful contrast begin to develop. Where the meal we are invited to partake of reminds us of the curse of work, the meaning of the meal points us to the grace of God. What Paul says to us in Ephesians should be noted here: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) So Jesus invites us to partake of bread, a reminder of the curse of work, but as he does so he changes the interpretation of the event, so that the bread becomes his body, and the wine becomes his blood, bringing to mind the salvation we have received, for which we have not worked. So our labor becomes a reminder of that for which we have not labored.
Here I wish to spell out, in part, a way we might see this contrast: We have worked for our meal, but we have not worked for our salvation. We come, reading in Genesis that by the sweat of our brow we will eat our bread, but finding that Jesus has invited us to a meal that we have not worked for at all. Christ has done the work, being perfect in accordance with the Law of Moses, and now we are invited to eat at his table, where he will celebrate with us one day in Heaven. Though we eat of earthly bread, we are brought to fellowship with heavenly hosts. The contrast could not be more beautiful, or more meaningful: We come sweaty, we come exhausted, we come having labored for our bodies, and we find that Christ has labored for our souls.
While we have fed our bodies with the sweat of our brows, we need spiritual food for our souls. And how can we labor for spiritual food? God fed the Israelites with manna, but even that did not satisfy their souls, as they regularly failed to obey the Word of the Lord. If manna from heaven is not sufficient to satisfy our souls, then what earthly food might we find that will accomplish this task? Christ answers this for us as he reveals that only he is sufficient for our hunger. We who were dead in sin desire the food of life, and his body is that food. Yet we cannot labor for this food, because we can never do enough to deserve to draw near to that which is perfect, being imperfect ourselves, and so we become dependent on him to give us what we could not take for ourselves.
So, Genesis 3:17-19 becomes a passage that leads us to Christ by way of contrast. We see in Genesis 3 why we need Christ. We come from the dirt, and we labor in the dirt. We feed ourselves through our labor, and when we eat our bread we should be reminded of the hardships of life. Yet, earthly bread does not address spiritual concerns, and cannot satisfy the longings of the soul. For this we need spiritual bread, and in Christ alone do we find that bread offered. In Christ alone do we find that we are invited to a meal for which we have not labored, a meal which maybe we never even wanted, but a meal that is more important than any other we will ever eat: a meal prepared for those who have not labored but have found rest in the Son of God.
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