…therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. (Genesis 3:23 ESV)
Work
Just a few verses before, God intimated that a savior would be punished for Adam and Eve’s sinful rebellion, instead of them. And now, God kicks them out of the garden.
While the hardness of leaving Eden’s perfections might make this expulsion seem like punishment, it most certainly is not. God is just. He does not punish sinners twice.
Instead, God was showing His love of His rebellious children by trusting them with an important task, a necessary role in God’s plan, an actual job to do.
Loved employees are given more responsibility. Loved children are given more responsibility. Loved friends are given more responsibility. And God loves us.
So He has given us something to do!
For Adam and Eve it was farming, but this is not the only dominion that God assigns.
Your career, your job, your responsibility are all intended for you to do the same thing Adam and Eve did… to restore the broken creation to Godly order.
And God loves you so much that He wants you to do His work.