It may or may not have occurred to you to ask the question, "Why?" concerning dollars, but the fact that a rectangular shred of paper painted well (or else poorly) can carry the value of one hundred pennies -- which is far more than the paper and ink are worth in and of themselves -- should seem passing strange.
This unit of currency says on its obverse, "In God We Trust." And well it should. For only the existence of the God of the Bible can explain WHY this processed tree limb can exchange for 1/3 a gallon of gasoline, or all the other goods and services it might secure at the owner's whim.
Although it lacks intrinsic value (the paper itself is nearly worthless), yet it commands by way of convention far greater economic ability. Why? Money has value because God has value, and because He creates from His own intrinsic value, that which is good. Originally, the newborn creation was "very good," but sin marred both its appointed rulers and their tri-fold domain -- the heavens above, the earth beneath and the waters "under the earth." The inhabitants of each domain -- birds, beasts of the field and trees, and the fish and water-bound mammals -- fell under their domain.
But the Bible yet names the creation "good" even after the fall. Thus the Pslamist (cf. Psalms 103:5) speaks of God as One "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." And speaking of the food fathers give their children, the Lord Jesus said, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:11).
So the goodness of God continues its display in the world as an important aspect of general revelation, which gives rise -- as we shall see momentarily -- to progressively higher standards of living among those who submit to it. Though humans, once good have become evil (apart from God's regenerative grace, which makes the evil man good, albeit progressively, and restrains even the evil men who remain evil), the rest of the creation has fallen only from "very good" to merely "good." For gold and bread, etc do not sin. The lower creation simply does not function in as integrated a fashion to produce it original benefits to man to and to the lower creation (increased entropy and a loss of synergy resulted from sin in the lower creation -- if you must have it in technical terms). But ants did not sin originally, and they do not sin now. Though the red ones might need to be squished, if they get too spunky.
But what is God's goodness? It has two important aspects, which we might investigate, first in their abstract forms, and then in the particular tangible ways we encounter them in our daily lives.
First, God's goodness shows up in the way He created originally, and in the manner in which He now governs, the natural order. The Bible calls these the doctrines of creation and providence. God by his common kindness to all men sees to it that the rain falls on crops in all societies, depending on that degree to which they submit to nature's light. So first we might say that God's goodness PROVIDES the basic preconditions we need to survive. This shows the origin of the word "providence."
Second, God is good in that He staunchly hates and actively resists -- evil among men. The primary object of his disaffection -- more than the others -- remains the violation of the second commandment. In other words, all sin is an abomination to God, but especially that which destroys human souls most aggressively -- idolatry being the worst part of it. And murder is not far behind. These are two sides of the same ugly coin.
Thus do we see that in societies where these sins are most prominent that they habitually lack rain and the basics for survival, especially if they have done so for centuries or even millenia. God witholds rain from them, and goods and services which other societies have, because the have-not socieities grossly trangress his goodness. God cannot bless evil, since He is good. He must by nature resist it, and punish the wicked for it. Romans 1 elaborates on these themes.
Now to the tangible expressions of each. God calls food "good things" repeatedly in the word, and the fruit of trees and vegetation of the earth God originally gave to men (and the beasts) for food. Only after the Noahic Flood, when the Adamic curse came to full expression (in a second and more mighty curse of God upon the evil world), did beef (and the meat of other animals) enter the menu. Vegetation after the fall could not by itself sustain the food chain at the upper levels. This means that every time you see a Burger King, this actually shows that God is good (He provides) and men are evil. If it were otherwise, the sign would have read "Wheat King."
The goodness of God then, shows up in all the things in nature which God created for the benefit of humans and the lower creatures. Goodness in the Bible has to do with providing benefits. It remains synonymous with "profitable," and the Greek word "agathos" shows this in the many contexts in which we find it both in the Septuagint and the New Testament. It can mean, "fruitful," "profitable," or even occasionally "morally good" or "sound." Typically, the ordinary word for "morally good" is simply "kalos."
The provisionary aspect of God's goodness shows up when you eat fresh fruit, and other foods that you enjoy. The Bible takes this literally, and urges us to "taste and see that the Lord is good." The chief expression of God's goodness show up in the sweet things we enjoy, especially honeycomb (or naturally ocurring honey) which the Bible (and esp. the Proverbs) repeatedly uses as a symbol or type for the gospel of Christ.
It also does this with beautiful and precious things, like silver, gold and rubies -- which are surpassed in goodness only by Wisdom. High-quality products, which yield great benefits (sweetness to the taste, healing to the body, or pleasant to the eyes) or which provide very desirable services are called "good merchandise," in the Bible, as opposed to lower quality goods and services.
Examples are found in Proverbs 31, where the virtuous woman can be found producing all manner of "good merchandise" -- which today we might call "high-end goods and services," or perhaps "luxury items." By way of contrast, Solomon gave 20 cities to Hiram, king of Tyre for his assistance in aiding the building of the Temple (in addition to other wages), and Hiram, upon inspecting them, complained of their low quality. This seems to have been a trading strategy, for he later paid a handsome sum for them ("It's no good, It's no good," says the buyer, and then off he goes to boast of his fine purchase").
Thus, the goodness of God shows up in the marketplace in two ways -- we call these goods and services, the first of which comes from the lower creation, and the second from humans (the higher creation). Angels also provide services, but these are not part of the economy in a measurable fashion, so the I.R.S. cannot tax them. If they thought they could, you know they would try. This is one of the reasons -- angels protecting and defending the Church, which keeps the society salty and profitable -- why the Church is to remain tax exempt. It provides the preconditions (by the grace of God) for the flourishing economy - or to whatever extent the economy flourishes.
In another respect, the appointing of officers in the different branches of government (to a greater or lesser degree), God resists evil according to His goodness, in the human resistance to that which ruins economies -- theft, perjury, murder, larceny and the like.
So God's provisionary mercies -- the fertile ground, cooperative weather, etc --and his resisting of evil (mercy and justice) work together to portray His goodness through the light of nature, both through the lower creation in the case of mercy (kind providence), and through the higher creation, in the case of justice. Thus, does the Pslamist (101) sing of God's mercy and justice, while the standard biblical summary for the whole Psalter links divine mercy to God's goodness -- "praise the Lord, for he is good; His mercy endures forever."
It is the benefits which goods and services carry (as we have seen earlier) which gives rise to money in the marketplace. We need a way (quite literally perhaps) to compare apples with oranges - and other goods and services -- in the same unit of measurement (dollars, pounds, yen, or what not). But the value of the money is measured either in silver or gold (in more obedient and sound economies) or else it is measured in the goodness of God found in the other good and services sold on the market. Dollars derive their value, not from themselves, but from the goodness of God -- benefits dervied from -- apples and oranges and cars, or whatever else he has provided men with the skill and strength to come up with.
Thus, we can end this brief lesson in God's goodness -- in blessing and producing what is good, and in cursing (resisting) what is evil -- as the source from which money gets its derived value -- so that economic value ultimately originates with the goodness of God. This also forms the basis for why the Bible interchanges "good servants" with "profitable servants." Those who strive to obey his law, and to compel (by lawful means only) others so to do, promote not only the welfare of men's souls -- as with the preaching of the gospel -- but also by praising and promoting his Law to bless the righteous and curse the wicked, such actually promote both the most favorable preconditions for a flourishing economy, but also that God might bless all the things whatsoever men in that society put their hands to in the effort of labor.
"Those who forsake the law praise the wicked; but those who keep the law contend with them." To obey the law of the Lord, then, is to promote what is profitable to all. This is what the Bible means by "profitable servants," those who acquire greater assets (and especially other persons by way of evangelism as prescribed in the word) for the growth and glory of Christ's kingdom.
The tongue of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. But what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his very life? ["Life" and "soul" both form ample translations of the Greek word "Psuche," for the Bible understands these interchangeably].
But the goodness of God has the final Word in the resurrection of the saints, which comes not by general revelation only, but by the Word of God written and preached. Thus, do the Psalms offer the refrain:
Praise the Lord, for He is good; His mercy endures forever.
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