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

Chapter One: Introduction to Economics 7 God is not just everywhere, He is active and controlling all things: “in Him all things hold together,” and He “upholds all things by the word of His Power.” We can imagine God actively sustaining His creation at the subatomic level (or any level below that which might be there!) by providing the strong nuclear force needed. Creation needs sustaining and our dependent nature requires the superintendence of a providential God. While He is infinite, we His created beings are finite, i.e., we are limited in actions and knowledge and can only seek after God’s knowledge of His creation. As it says in Proverbs, “it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search it out.” We will explore more in a moment the implications for humanity, but for now, know that all creation is below an omnipotent, omniscient God who sustains all things. This demands humility on what we are able to do and accomplish. GENESIS 1:2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. God increasingly brought chaos into order throughout the first day. While the Bible never uses the word “Trinity,” it nevertheless describes God as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three parts of the Trinity together were actively involved in creating this order. God the Son created everything according to the plan of God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit shaped and formed this order to the glory of God the Father and God the Son. God’s trinitarian nature is social, containing both diversity and unity, since the different functions of the Godhead are one in essence. And as God’s nature is social, and so too will be His image bearers. GENESIS 1:3 Then God said, “Let there be light” and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. When a sovereign, omnipotent God speaks, His will is accomplished. He spoke and what was in His mind became reality—for six days in a row. And everything that God created was good , according to the only standard to assess reality—Himself. When something is according to God’s plan, it is good . When it deviates from what God prescribes, it is not just bad, it is evil . God makes moral assessments, and before the Fall, everything was consistent with His perfect will. GENESIS 1:11-12 11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation, plants yielding seed and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them” and it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.