The Image on Your Currency

I was recently touring a museum when I came across a coin from the Byzantine era, peering up at me from under the glass. One side pictured Jesus, holding the four Gospels, while on the other was the Greek inscription, “Jesus Christ, King of Kings.” The coin had been minted in Constantinople and survives as a remnant of the reigns of brothers Basil II and Constantine VIII, 976-1028 AD.

In another case, I noticed a piece of currency from Tyre, minted in 27 AD and likely in circulation during the ministry of Jesus. One scholar’s commentary on this coin remarked that, unlike others, it does not depict the head of a king but that of a god, with the inscription, “Of Tyre, holy and inviolable.”

Suddenly, it hit me. Your god is on your money. Those we venerate. Those we esteem. Those we honor, if not worship. In Jesus’ day, coins were graced by the likeness of Caesar. Who actually rules? Whose words are canonized and memorized? Who has supremacy and influence? Follow the money.

That which is valuable bears the image of the ruling entity, in many instances, the king. His image is valuable, as is that which bears it. So, what is the currency of God’s kingdom? What bears His image? You do.

In the words of Kenneth Boa, relationships are the currency of heaven. Peter exhorts us, “Make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:10-11). Of what will this rich welcome consist? People. Souls. Image-bearers of the King. As Rick Warren writes, “The way you store up treasure in Heaven is by investing in getting people there.” Invest, therefore, in that which bears the image of our God and serve the interests of the kingdom to come.

It is also blasphemy to deface that which bears the revered image. Remember the god of Tyre, “holy and inviolable.” Never to be profaned or attacked. That which graces the currency, because it is honored, ought not to be dishonored. What is sacred must not be profaned. What is set apart must not be degraded, for such is the image of the king.

Furthermore, on currency is not just the image of the one who is honored. It is also often of the one who has dominion. God as Creator has ultimate dominion, but He chooses to share that dominion with us. Consider Genesis 1:26: “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” We bear the image of God and represent His dominion.

As Christians, we experience this even more fully. In Daniel’s dream, the Son of Man is given authority, glory, and sovereign power, and all nations and peoples worship Him (Dan. 7). His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. In Matthew 28:18, we see that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him, and it is from this place of authority that He tells the disciples, “Go” (v. 19). It is according to His image that we are being conformed as we contemplate the glory of the Lord (Rom. 8:28, 2 Cor. 3:18), and we’ll bear the image of the heavenly man as we have borne the image of the earthly man (1 Cor. 15:49). In the first creation, we represented, and still do, the divine image and dominion we tragically mar and distort. Jesus is the beginning of a new creation and dominion and is molding us into a new image.

My final point is this: Our currency reflects our ruling entity, and our plans will be thwarted if we endeavor to exalt ourselves, usurp the ruling image, and replace it with our own. During the Civil War, in 1862, Spencer Clark was named National Currency Bureau superintendent. However, he soon started printing fractional currency (currency with the value of less than one dollar used as paper coins during and after the Civil War) with his face on the 5-cent note. When Congress discovered this, they retired the note and formed the rule that no living person could be depicted on currency.

Putting ourselves first is an empty endeavor, not to mention against the law, and will in the end prove a futile pursuit. There is only one foundation, and we must build wisely upon it (1 Cor. 3:11-13). There is but one image, and it is the God who died and rose again. We have been crucified in Him, and we no longer live; it is Christ who lives in us (Gal. 2:20). His image alone belongs on that which will be eternally valuable. No living people allowed.

We, the currency of the kingdom of heaven, have been minted with a unique, unchanging image that is also being perfected and prepared for the kingdom to come. The simple reality of this gives us dignity, regardless of whether we are chipped, broken, or torn. The question is not whether we retain our value; we do. The question is whether we will acknowledge as Ruler and King the One whose image we bear.