The
Apostle Paul Concludes His Remarks at Athens
[Acts
chapter 17, verses 24-34]
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Last
week when we closed out part 2 of this 3 part series on Acts 17, Paul
had been sent ahead of Silas and Timothy to Athens to begin
organizing a church there. Upon his arrival, Paul was dismayed to
find a city with a god for everything you can think of. He even found
a statue with the inscription, “To an unknown god”, as it is
written: “....as
I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I
even found an altar with this inscription: to
an unknown god.
So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship – and this is
what I am going to proclaim to you.”
(Acts 17: 23) Beginning in verse 24, the starting point for this
week's lesson, the apostle Paul lays it out for them all, but he
leaves his message up to his audience as to its interpretation.
“24)
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven
and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25) And
he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he
himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26) From
one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole
earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the
boundaries of their lands. 27) God did this so that they would seek
him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far
from any one of us. 28) ‘For in him we live and move and have our
being.’ As some of your own
poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29)
Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that
the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by
human design and skill. 30) In the past God overlooked such
ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”
(Acts 17, verses 24-30)
The
God who made the heavens and the earth – the One true God –
doesn't live in temples. The same is still just as true today as it
was back then. Go into any brick-and-mortar church and what do we
see? Mainly brick and mortar, a bunch of church seats or pews, and a
smattering of musical instruments and pro audio equipment. God is
nowhere to be found. All one has to do is sit through one of their
quickie 45-minute Sunday services, and it's plain to see that the
Spirit of the Lord is conspicuously absent. All that there is are the
minds and hearts of men and women, erroneously supposing that their
very presence in that building counts towards their redemption in
Christ. Yet Paul hit the nail on the head when he wrote concerning
this: “... he
is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he
himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one
man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole
earth....”
Do you get it now? God doesn't need us to come to churches, he wants
us to come to Him!
“27)
God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for
him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28) ‘For
in him we live and move and have our being.....'”
God doesn't 'need' us like in the human sense, but he does want
us to be near to him. When I tell people God loves them more than any
of us could possibly imagine, I'm not trying to 'game' anybody, nor
do I feel a need to deceive people in order to convince them of God's
authenticity. God simply loves us as his one-of-a-kind creations.
Each of us is one out of 7 billion. Each of us are just that special,
yet a disturbing number of people refuse to believe it. Sometimes all
I can do is shake my head and pray for them.
“29)
Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that
the divine being is like gold or silver or stone — an image made by
human design and skill. 30) In the past God overlooked such
ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”
We are God's offspring – literally his adopted kids, whom he has
made in his image and likeness (see Genesis 1: 27-28). God is a
divine being made of Spirit, of a nature that is indiscernible to the
bulk of humanity. He cannot be imitated, even by the finest artisans
of the purest silver or of 24 karat gold. I mean, if we as God's
creations can't so much as hold a candle to God, then how much less
mere precious metals? At least they can be mined to replace that
which has been refined and resold, but human lives are irreplaceable.
Now you know why God loves each of us so much. Each of us is his own
custom model, one in 7 billion, like a trophy-winning custom car or
van at a rod and custom auto show – but one that walks and talks.
What
this also means is that God is not like structures of stone, as Paul
pointed out in verse 29. Obviously this would include
brick-and-mortar churches, which is why I have never joined any
Christian denominations and never will. I don't have a brick and
mortar church myself. This online ministry, which was inspired by
God, remains 100% online, and I have never drawn a salary from any of
my work. Although I never pass around a collection plate, anyone who
wants to may donate from this link.
Our
relationship with God doesn't depend on whether one attends church or
not – although it remains beneficial to do so – nor does it
depend on how much money we give. What does matter is whether or not
we know Him personally, often spending our days in a silent but
ongoing conversation with our Lord and Savior. I do this all the
time. What about you? Have you been doing any or all of these things?
If not, don't you think it's time to get that relationship started?
Repent of your old ways, all of you, and find a good place to make a
fresh start with your Creator. And now let's conclude this week's
study, starting from verse 31.
“31)
'For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by
the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by
raising him from the dead.' 32)
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them
sneered, but others said, 'We want to hear you again on this
subject.' 33) At that, Paul left the Council. 34) Some of the people
became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a
member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of
others.” As we can all
clearly see right here, some believed Paul's words of preaching and
persuasion while others scoffed at the very notion of a man risen
from the dead, even if he were God's Son. In 2,000 years, nothing has
changed except for the fact that some place their faith in Christ
while others do not. They think they stand alone, needing no one to
help them. I wonder how many thousands of people in California were
like that before the fires of this past season took everything they
had, including their very lives? Don't be like them. Place your faith
in Jesus and he will make you able to stand up to all the bitter
disappointments life has to offer. And next week we'll move on to
chapter 18 of the Book of Acts.
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