“But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).

(Note: This article contains excerpts from my book, Immanuel Labor – God’s Presence in our Profession. I have not summarized these concepts in other articles I have written on this subject.)

The Theology of Work Bible Commentary (vol. 5), discussing 2 Peter 3, asks “Does our earthly work matter to God?” They offer, “Darrell Cosden has given a rounding ‘yes’ to that question.”

Much of what you will read was taken from Darrell Cosden’s excellent book, The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work. It was one of the dozen references I read in my independent study on the theology of work in the spring of 2015. I met him in Dallas, Texas in 2016 at the Faith@Work Summit. I got him to sign my book and was able to give him some words of encouragement. I think you will appreciate his sound biblical observations on the eternal value of our labors.

Jesus’s Resurrection Body as a Prototype

The TOWBC summarizes Cosden’s ideas on the new creation:

Central to his argument is the bodily resurrection of Jesus, which (1) affirms the goodness of the material world, (2) demonstrates that there is continuity between the present world and the new creation, and (3) is a sign that new creation, while not fully realized, has been initiated. Our work is ultimately valuable because the fruits of our labor, having been redeemed and transformed, will have a home in heaven. 

The ideas that Cosden expands upon on the heavenly value of work might be difficult to grasp, but bear with me. His solid logical and theological approach fully supports his view that ordinary work will matter beyond this life. What he writes about the possibility of the value of our work for eternity is so relevant to my theme of God’s presence with us at work on earth now.

Cosden begins with this: “Most evangelicals are used to thinking about salvation in terms of souls, or the inner spiritual self. Fewer of us, even though technically we might believe in it, are used to thinking through the meaning and implications of believing in Christ’s, and thus our own, bodily resurrection. Fewer still have contemplated what this more physical understanding of salvation might mean for the material dimensions of our creation, including our work.”

He is saying we have focused on souls going to heaven, not bodies living on a new earth.

Regarding the resurrection of our bodies, R. Paul Stevens, in Work Matters explains:

The Word became flesh. This means that dualism, the prioritizing of spirit as ‘good’ and matter as ‘evil,’ is dead wrong. Christ’s first coming in the flesh demonstrates that our future is material as well as spiritual and points to what final redemption will look like. Similarly, his resurrection from the dead guarantees that we will survive in a greatly improved form. The most remarkable aspect of Jesus’ resurrected body was his scars – scars that, though now transfigured along with the rest of his physical body into some-thing truly beautiful, nonetheless bore historical continuity with his life in the flesh and the body that ascended to heaven. What a powerful evocative biblical symbol of the way this life is connected to the next life!

In the light of Jesus’s bodily resurrection, Cosden asks us to think about what it is that God will save in the end. “Will it only be souls, or will it be physical entities as well? Will it include the non-human creation? And if so, will our work, now a legitimate part of creation, be caught up in this redeeming and healing transformation to the new creation?” 

He continues, “If we read the central New Testament texts on the resurrection and new creation in particular carefully and theologically, we will see that human work is as much as and to the same degree an object of God’s salvation as the rest of the material creation of which it is a part.”  Cosden instructs, “If we want to understand how to interpret biblically the extent and object of salvation we need to look at Jesus himself. The salvation and transformation of Jesus’s body is the model for our salvation and also, as we will see, for the salvation of the cosmos.”

Next, Cosden asks us to turn to the resurrection account in Luke 24:2. Here, Luke “emphasizes that the stone has been rolled away. Why? Because it points out to us that the risen Son has not discarded his genuinely physical and material existence … His ‘soul’ is not what gets saved.” 

Cosden highlights Jesus’s appearance at the road to Emmaus and the discussion that followed among his disciples (Luke 24:13-43). Here, Jesus points out to them the continuity between his risen body and one they last saw, “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have” (vv. 38-39). He then ate a piece of fish that they offered him (v. 43). They saw and believed He had risen.

Cosden draws the point out further. He explains,

The risen and thus healed – and now immortal and incorruptible bodily Jesus—still bears the nail scars in his hands and feet. Jesus’s invitation to see and touch his hands and his feet makes it clear that the scars are the focus … Jesus, God the Son, does—and will for all eternity—have a physical human body that bears the marks received during his bodily existence in this life … And since this body, still containing those scars, is now ascended back into the Godhead, the results of at least this particular “human work” are guaranteed to carry over into God’s as well as our own future and eternal reality. For he will return in glory even as the Lamb slain.

Thus, Cosden can conclude that the NT writers “see in Jesus a pattern, a principle that through his body he is the prototype for the coming new creation. And they show that, in the same way as Jesus’ resurrection, God will ultimately transform evil, neutral, and good aspects of creation for his purposes. That this transformation includes our work on creation, just like it did our ‘work’ on Jesus, naturally follows.” After his detailed analysis, Cosden can safely arrive at the conclusion that New Jerusalem will “include what we have accomplished through work.” 

Challenging conclusion/practical application

The main idea I want my readers to take away from this deep dive into what the new earth might look like is that our ordinary work done here on earth now has the potential to be carried over into the new earth. This gives value to even the most mundane of tasks that we do every day.

Even if that business project we did, the house we built, the computer program we fixed, or that article we wrote isn’t carried over into eternity, the people whose needs we met by the work we did will live for eternity. This eternal perspective on our work can get us through the tough days.

And, like Jesus, those of us who follow Him will have resurrected physical bodies, living forever in a new earth. I imagine it will be a place where we will have plenty of work to do, all of it in God’s presence with no thorns or thistles or sin making it much harder than it needs to be.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

(Note: If you want to read additional articles I wrote on this topic, click here and here.)

Russell E. Gehrlein (Master Sergeant, U.S. Army, Retired) is a Christian, husband, grandfather, blogger, and author of Immanuel Labor – God’s Presence in our Profession. With degrees in mathematics and biblical studies, his career spans teaching, youth ministry, military service, and civilian work at Fort Leonard Wood. He writes to help others experience God’s presence and integrate faith at work. His articles appear in military journals and faith-based platforms including The Gospel Coalition, Made to Flourish, and the Center for Faith & Work.

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