The Gospel of John is closely related to work everywhere. This book begins with the work of the Messiah—God’s channel through which the world was created. The work of Christ began before the fall of mankind, before He became flesh in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, and before He performed the work of salvation. God sent Jesus into the world to be the Savior precisely because He was also the co-creator of the world. His work of redemption is not a completely new work, but to restore the world to its original direction. This is the fulfillment of the promises of creation.

Human labor is also part of the creative process that fulfills its purpose (Genesis 2:5). But human work is corrupted, so the redemption of work is part of the Messianic salvation of the world. As He worked on earth, we see Jesus’ work on behalf of the Father as part of the love between the Father and the Son. “The words I speak to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who lives in me works his own works” (John 14:10). This sets an example for the work of the saved, nourishing our love for one another as we work together in the wonderful world God has created. In addition to setting an example of good work, Jesus taught about workplace issues such as calling, relationships, creativity, productivity, ethics, honesty and deception, leadership, service, dedication, suffering, and worker self-respect.

The apostle John’s main purpose is to remind readers not to take Jesus’ words and deeds lightly. Those who have been following Him will find that His simple metaphors open up a whole new way of looking at the world. The same goes for work. The Greek word for "work" ( ergon ) occurs twenty-five times in the Gospels, but the more common word "to do" ( poieo ) occurs hundreds of times. Most often, these terms are used to refer to Jesus’ work for the Father; however, it also demonstrates God’s promise to work for ordinary people. The key to understanding this material is to strive to understand the meaning of "work" in John's Gospel. The meaning of work is often very profound and cannot be understood by just looking at it. So we’re going to delve into a small group of scriptures to see what they say about work, workers, and the workplace. We will skip passages that are less relevant to the topic.