📖 Biblical Definition
Work is both cursed and blessed in Scripture. It is blessed as the original calling of Adam in unfallen creation: "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it" (Genesis 2:15). Work pre-dates the fall — it is part of being human, not part of being broken. It is cursed in its soil and texture after the fall: "cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it... Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee... In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" (Genesis 3:17-19). The redemption in Christ does not yet remove the curse from the soil but begins to redeem the worker. The new creation will finish what grace has begun.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(Composite.) The biblical understanding of work as both originally blessed and post-Fall cursed; awaiting full redemption in Christ.
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Three frames stack: (1) Eden — work as unfallen vocation (Gen 2:15); (2) Fall — soil cursed, work soaked in sweat (Gen 3:17-19); (3) Christ — the worker redeemed, the soil not yet (Romans 8:20-22 awaits the cosmic redemption).
The saint's work today bears both stamps: the original dignity of pre-Fall calling and the present friction of post-Fall ground. Both are real.
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 2:15 — "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."
Genesis 3:17 — "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it."
Romans 8:21 — "Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."
1 Corinthians 15:58 — "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Two errors: treating work as wholly cursed (so any rest from it is gospel) or wholly blessed (so any complaint about it is unspiritual). Scripture insists on both.
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Genesis 2 and Genesis 3 must both be honored. Adam worked unfallen; he worked fallen. The curse is real (the soil resists, the body tires); the blessing is real (the calling was given before the Fall and is being restored in Christ).
1 Corinthians 15:58 is the redemption note: the saint's labor is not in vain in the Lord. The curse on the soil is temporary; the dignity of work, redeemed in Christ, is eternal. Work hard now; the new earth will be fully recovered.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Genesis 2 and Genesis 3 supply the dual framing.
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Hebrew avad (Gen 2:15) — to work, serve; the unfallen vocation.
Hebrew itzavon (Gen 3:17) — sorrow, painful labor; the post-Fall texture.
Usage
"Genesis 2 and Genesis 3 must both be honored."
"Work is blessed in calling, cursed in soil, redeemed in Christ."
"Your labor is not in vain in the Lord — the redemption note."