No Free Lunch: Economics for a Fallen World: Third Edition, Revised

Chapter One: Introduction to Economics 10 God’s Attributes God’s Image-Bearer Attributes He makes and executes complex plans; plans that never need a backup We make complex plans and execute them, but in our finitude, we revise and adapt He blesses, “be fruitful and multiply” To the extent we are good stewards, we are a blessing to others He exercises sovereign responsibilities, “Then God said…” We exercise delegated sovereign responsibili-ties as we steward our lives, our church and creation. Table 1 GENESIS 2 GENESIS 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. God does not tire nor grow weary , unlike finite human beings, yet God rested on the seventh day, which provides at least two lessons. First, the Sabbath is testimony that man must walk in faith in God. There will always be tasks to do; things we think can’t wait—yet God says “wait.” Can we trust that God will redeem the time “lost” on a Sabbath where we rest and rejoice in Him? God says that six days per week is sufficient to accomplish our stewardship responsibilities. Though many of us value independence and the ability to do things without help, God says we must walk in complete dependence on Him. Second, finite beings need rest. Just as the nightly need to sleep is a reminder that we must depend on God, so too is the weekly reminder a time when our bodies and minds can relax. Indeed, the Sabbath is not merely “resting” but rather renewing, as we spend more of that time reflecting on God and His word. We will be more productive if we actually work fewer hours than physically possible. GENESIS 2: 7-9, 15-17 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…. Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God