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1.
God's creation is good.
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Gen 1:1-31
(NIV)
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the
deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the
darkness.
5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there
was evening, and there was morning-- the first day.
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate
water from water."
7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the
water above it. And it was so.
8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was
morning-- the second day.
9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and
let dry ground appear." And it was so.
10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called
"seas." And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and
trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their
various kinds." And it was so.
12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their
kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And
God saw that it was good.
13 And there was evening, and there was morning-- the third day.
14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate
the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days
and years,
15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the
earth." And it was so.
16 God made two great lights-- the greater light to govern the day and the
lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,
18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And
God saw that it was good.
19 And there was evening, and there was morning-- the fourth day.
20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds
fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."
21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving
thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged
bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill
the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."
23 And there was evening, and there was morning-- the fifth day.
24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their
kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals,
each according to its kind." And it was so.
25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock
according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground
according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let
them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the
livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along
the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of
the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the
whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be
yours for food.
30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all
the creatures that move on the ground-- everything that has the breath of
life in it-- I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was
evening, and there was morning-- the sixth day.
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The Creation is valuable and God
created its value. |
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2. Expressed intention of God was for mankind to take ownership of and cultivate
the garden (created world) and for mankind to flourish and to create value.
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Gen 1:27-29
(NIV)
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of
the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the
whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be
yours for food.
Gen 2:15 (NIV)
15 The LORD God
took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of
it. |
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A purpose of man is to protect
value. |
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3.
Mankind is to use raw
products and effort provided by God to create value by expressing sovereignty
over the world |
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Gen 3:17-19
(NIV)
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground
because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your
life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants
of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the
ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will
return."
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A purpose of man is to create
value. |
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4.
Sin has corrupted mankind
and creation--sin works against creating value.
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Gen 3:17-24
(NIV)
17 To Adam he
said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I
commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of
you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants
of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the
ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will
return."
20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the
living.
21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed
them.
22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing
good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also
from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."
23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground
from which he had been taken.
24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of
Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way
to the tree of life. |
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Sin degrades value. |
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5. Private ownership of property was
designed and stipulated by God.
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Num 27:1-11 (NIV)
1 The daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of
Makir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph.
The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.
They approached
2 the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and stood before Moses, Eleazar the
priest, the leaders and the whole assembly, and said,
3 "Our father died in the desert. He was not among Korah's followers, who
banded together against the LORD, but he died for his own sin and left no
sons.
4 Why should our father's name disappear from his clan because he had no
son? Give us property among our father's relatives."
5 So Moses brought their case before the LORD
6 and the LORD said to him,
7 "What Zelophehad's daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give
them property as an inheritance among their father's relatives and turn
their father's inheritance over to them.
8 "Say to the Israelites, 'If a man dies and leaves no son, turn his
inheritance over to his daughter.
9 If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers.
10 If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father's brothers.
11 If his father had no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest
relative in his clan, that he may possess it. This is to be a legal
requirement for the Israelites, as the LORD commanded Moses.'"
Num 36:1-13 (NIV)
1 The family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Makir, the son of Manasseh,
who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph, came and spoke before
Moses and the leaders, the heads of the Israelite families.
2 They said, "When the LORD commanded my lord to give the land as an
inheritance to the Israelites by lot, he ordered you to give the inheritance
of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.
3 Now suppose they marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their
inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to that
of the tribe they marry into. And so part of the inheritance allotted to us
will be taken away.
4 When the Year of Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will
be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their property will
be taken from the tribal inheritance of our forefathers."
5 Then at the LORD's command Moses gave this order to the Israelites: "What
the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right.
6 This is what the LORD commands for Zelophehad's daughters: They may marry
anyone they please as long as they marry within the tribal clan of their
father.
7 No inheritance in Israel is to pass from tribe to tribe, for every
Israelite shall keep the tribal land inherited from his forefathers.
8 Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone
in her father's tribal clan, so that every Israelite will possess the
inheritance of his fathers.
9 No inheritance may pass from tribe to tribe, for each Israelite tribe is
to keep the land it inherits."
10 So Zelophehad's daughters did as the LORD commanded Moses.
11 Zelophehad's daughters-- Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah--
married their cousins on their father's side.
12 They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of
Joseph, and their inheritance remained in their father's clan and tribe.
13 These are the commands and regulations the LORD gave through Moses to the
Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
God gave
private property to the Children of Israel with the stipulation that the
property could not be sold or given away—God’s view of private property
(land) is that it was held as value for future generations. Many other
examples in the Old Testament and Talmud reflect God's view of private
property. |
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Ownership of private property is
a basis for value. |
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