Welcome back everybody. Today we'll be going through a biblical understanding of money series.
Now there are many, many scriptures concerning money, and I'll be touching on seven different ones.
But to start, these are first off hot topics that many theologians have talked about.
Just so you guys know, I'm not a theologian. I'm a businessman.
And so I'm going to be coming from that perspective.
And so my perspective is one of practicality, but also one that I've learned through kind of growing up,
studying archaeology and Hebrew linguistics in college.
So to start, we're going to be moving to Genesis 1, the creation of the world and mankind.
So we're going to be going to verse 26, 31. That reads,
Then God said let us make human beings in our image to be like us.
They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock,
all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that will scurry along the ground.
So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God,
he created them. Male and female, he created them.
Then God blessed them and said be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it.
Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.
Then God said, look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth
and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals,
the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.
Everything that has life. And this is what happened.
Then God looked over all he had made and he saw that it was very good.
And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.
So the first major thing to notice here is God says that he created man in his own image.
We have attributes from him. Even though we aren't God,
we are created to be many versions of God-like character,
meaning that we have the characteristics of God.
One of the most foundational characteristics of God is to rule and reign.
The word used here is rada, meaning to rule and have dominion over.
This word is not used actually very often. The idea of dominion is a very unique concept.
The idea is that we are called to have dominion over creation, but not dominate creation.
We're called to tend, develop, bring order to the wilderness of creation.
We're called to do this to improve all forms of creation.
Creation was meant to be ruled by us.
If it's left to its own devices, creation becomes out of hand and wild to the point of chaos.
So God uniquely brought man into the world to be the head over all creation.
It is our responsibility to tend, grow, and develop creation for improvement and innovation.
We're supposed to be stewards of it. We'll be judged whether we steward creation well or not.
This goes to every part of what we do.
Everything we do, we're called to steward through ruling and reigning.
So our first point today is that we are called to rule and reign.
Point number two starts in Genesis 3, verse 17 through 19.
To Adam, he said, because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you,
you must not eat from it. Cursed is the ground because of you.
Through painful toil, you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you'll eat plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow, you'll eat your food until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken, and from dust you are, and to dust you will return.
So in this verse, point two, God curses the ground.
But really the curse is that it will be hard work that it'll take to pay off.
Becoming wealthy, getting things moving with your finances.
So how many times have we experienced this? How many times have we felt like it takes so much work to get ahead?
This is going back to that curse. God told Adam to work.
So working is not a bad thing. It's the thistles that's the bad thing.
Thistles or thorns are not from God.
God is a God of order. An unruly or chaotic earth is not from God.
We as humans are called to bring order.
So point number two is hard work is required now because of sin.
For this next point, we will turn now to the book of Psalms, chapter 112.
So 112 reads,
Praise the Lord. How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying his commands.
Their children will be successful everywhere. An entire generation of godly people will be blessed.
They themselves will be wealthy and their good deeds will last forever.
Light shines in the darkness for the godly.
Their generous.
compassionate and righteous. Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their
business fairly. Such people will not be overcome by evil. Those who are righteous will long be
remembered. They do not fear bad news. They confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly. They are free and give
generously to those in need. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. They will have influence
and honor. The wicked will see this and be infuriated. They will grind their teeth in anger.
They will slink away, their hopes thwarted. So this first chapter of this verse talks about
those who are following God and keep Him first. When we are walking with God and keeping Him in
the forefront of what we do, we are blessed in every single area of our lives. These areas include
finances, relationships, actions, etc. When a family decides to walk the narrow path of walking
with God, the blessing continues out from one generation to the next. Talk about multi-generational
wealth. The second part of this chapter goes into the frame of mind or the outlook of godly people.
There should be a level of confidence with people that are walking with God. We as believers are
going to reap what we sow in a good way. We know that our hard work, our devotion to God, our focus
in doing the right thing will create blessing to us and those around us. We can go out boldly knowing
that our future is bright and our impact is large. We can also be confident that the dark forces
today that resist us won't be able to stand before us. This is our world that God has given us to
steward and we are going to kick some serious booty. So point number three, those who keep God
first in their lives will have huge amounts of success. So next time guys, we're going to be
going into point number four. We're going to be going to the New Testament. So next time guys,
stay on with us and we'll be going through that together.