Work Honors God Ephesians 6:5-9

“With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men” (Eph. 6:7).

After God creates the heavens and the earth, God creates animal life to inhabit the waters, the skies, and the land. The earth is now prepared for human beings. So, God creates humanity and gives them work to do. “Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds in the sky, and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth (Gen. 1:26, NASB; also 27-28). Mankind has a lot of work to do. Mankind, male and female is to honor God by doing the work that they are assigned to do.

The text that I have chosen for a starting point for this article is used by some to approve slavery. However, I am not using this text to approve or disapprove the institution of slavery. Rather, I am using this text as a statement of Paul that is given to all that believe in Christ Jesus. Paul writes to the Christians in the church at Ephesus so that they will come to understand their role in living in such a manner that it reflects to life and teaching of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. “Although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance of a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6-8, NASB). Jesus honors the Father by doing the work that God assigns Him to do.

In his letter to the Ephesians Paul is neither approving slavery nor disapproving slavery. Slavery already exists. Paul is giving instructions to the church that will enable the people to maintain unity in Christ. They must maintain unity so that their lives can serve as effective witnesses for Christ. They must maintain unity because their unity and witness will give them power and wisdom to resist the evil one.

Paul goes through various relationships. He wants to give the people a perspective on how they are to relate to each other in a way that is pleasing to God. In our text Paul is addressing the relationship between slaves and their masters. How can they relate to one another in a way that reflects the life and teaching of Jesus Christ? As we have seen in the Philippians text above Jesus is the bond-servant of His Father. There is no doubt that Jesus is not particularly fond of doing all the work that He is assigned to do. We know this because of the prayer that Jesus prays to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. “‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will’” (Matt. 26:39, NASB). The work that Jesus has to do is not enjoyable work, but Jesus is willing to submit to the will of the Father.

In the text Paul instructs the church to follow the example of Jesus. The word “submit” does not imply that a person is doing what he and she would prefer to do. Rather, submit means to forgo one’s own desires and wishes to achieve a greater good. “Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eye service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free” (Eph. 6:5-8, NASB).

Did you notice that all people; and especially those that call themselves Disciples of Christ are to honor God through their work? Our work is not to be done just to please ourselves or other people. We are not to place greater emphasis on pleasing men. Instead, our greater emphasis is to be placed on our work being the work for God. Let us now look at a few texts that hopefully will help us to understand how our work honors God.

First, Paul writes to the Ephesians that their new life in Christ means a new lifestyle with new practices. They are to avoid those things that will allow the evil one to control their behavior. One of the things that they need to change is their attitude toward work. “He who steals must steal no more; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need” (Eph. 4:28, NASB).

Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica. This church is concerned about the resurrection. What will happen to those persons that die before the resurrection? How should one behave while waiting on the resurrection? There are some in the church that are not working. Instead of supporting themselves by doing their own work they are busybodies going around meddling into other folks business and eating off of others. In 2 Thessalonians 3 Paul writes to the church to give instructions on how such persons are to be dealt with. Using himself as an example (v. 7), the apostle demonstrates that we honor God when we relate to other people appropriately. Everyone is to work to provide for themselves instead of depending on others. Paul writes, “For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread” (vv. 10-12, NASB).

While on the earth Jesus honors His Father by doing the work that He is given to do. Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath, and the Jews persecute Him. When they criticize Him and challenge Him about healing the man on the Sabbath, John writes: “But He answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working’” (Jn. 5:17, NASB). The Father is working and He shows the Son work to do. Jesus does the work that the Father gives Him to do. Jesus meets the needs of people demonstrating that God loves them and forgives their sins. Jesus submits Himself to death on a cross. The Father rewards Him. “God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which above every name” (Phil. 2:9, NASB).

Paul tells us to work for others with our mind set on working for God. Regardless of the work that we do, we honor God when we work with a thankful heart; and with gratitude to the Father. The work may be hard. We may not like our jobs. But, remember this one thing: When we work, we can honestly pray, give us this day our daily bread. Jesus says to us, go into the vineyard and work. At the end of the day Jesus will pay you what you deserve (Matt. 20:1-16). Will you be like the son in Matthew 21:28-32? He does not want to work in his father’s vineyard, but he submits himself to the will of his father and goes into the vineyard and works. When we work, we honor God.

I am a blessed man because my daddy had a strong work ethic that he instilled into me. My daddy worked hard as a sharecropper. He did not look for ways to avoid work. Daddy believed in doing an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. Yes, he was underpaid. As a sharecropper he worked in all types of weather. Daddy did not complain. He took pride in the quality of his work. He taught his five sons to do the same. I developed the same work ethic. Dad honored God with his work and the Lord blessed him. Even though he deserved more pay, dad honored the agreements that he made with his employers. When I was a little boy dad was paid $.75 a day. He made an agreement to work for his next employer for $2.00 a day. Then he worked for $4.00 a day. Finally, he worked for $5.00 a day. Yes, daddy was underpaid, but did you notice that every time that daddy made a new agreement he got a greater than 100% increase in pay. Dad worked hard and honored God through his work. The Lord blessed him, and from the Lord he received blessing after blessing.

As a man; a husband and a father my family and I have been able to maintain our standard of living during difficult periods. God has been good to us. We have made it by the grace of God. However, God’s grace has often come in the form of the work ethic that my father instilled in me. Whenever there have been financial clouds in our lives I have followed my daddy’s example. I have found extra work to do; and often I worked for minimal wages even though I have a few college degrees. I know that God is honored when I work. God created humankind to work. God gives us the ability to work. God gives us opportunities to work. Let us not shun work.