For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
Acts 17:23
As I consider the phrase “the unknown God”, I can’t help but think of American religion. Certainly we have religions which deny Christ–or at least deny Him as God the Son, the only access to the Father (Joh 14:6)–but sadly there are many involved in Christianity who would not fully accept the things which Paul taught in this powerful message to the Athenians. Paul acknowledged to the men of Athens that they were “in all things…very religious” (v. 22), but as he continued to teach, it was clear that being religious and knowing the one true God were not necessarily the same thing. Let’s see what was so unique about this God Who Paul declared.
1) This God made all things
God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. (Act 17:24-25)
We know this God as the Creator! This truth alone would cause some to stumble today. We have let the doctrines of men infiltrate the church as we have tried to marry biblical concepts with secular concepts concerning the origin of man. In doing so, we have exalted the teaching of men above the teaching of God. God made man uniquely in His image (Gen 1:27). We generated from Him or, as Paul affirms in Act 17:28, we are all “His offspring”. We recently went to the museum of natural history in Washington DC. It was filled with many amazing facts about the wondrous creatures God has made, but I was grieved in my heart to not see one–not even one–mention of the God who made it all! Instead of God our Father being exalted by the things He made, “mother nature” was the one put on a pedestal. Instead of thanking God that we existed, homage was paid to the sea, from which they claim all life generated. I saw one diagram which taught how the great whales started as fish, turned into smaller amphibians, and then became even smaller rodents before finally evolving into 100 ft whales! I thought of Rom 1:22, “Professing to be wise, they became fools…” Man is desperately trying to kill God out when it comes to creation. Why? Because Rom 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse”. The creation screams there is a God! And just as Paul preached, He is a God Who needs nothing from us, but we need Him for everything. If you’d like to read further about how biblical truth contradicts many evolutionary principles, I’d highly recommend checking out https://answersingenesis.org/evolution/.
2) This God is absolutely sovereign
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; (Act 17:26-27)
God not only knows all things but He sovereignly works to ensure all things progress according to His eternal purpose and will. Paul told the Ephesian believers that “we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will…” (Eph 1:11) This God didn’t create the world and step back from it to see how things might progress. He is active in His creation, even working with eternal goals in mind before He created the earth. Earlier in this same chapter of Ephesians, we read of believers that “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love…” (v. 4) How comforting to the children of God to know that we weren’t an afterthought, but rather we were on the mind of our eternal Father before He even said “Let there be…” in Gen 1! There is a glorious truth set forth in Act 17 regarding the sovereign work of God. We weren’t born when and where we were by chance. Our Lord is so much in control that for all people He “has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings” for one singular purpose—“that they should seek the Lord”. No one will stand before God claiming others had an unfair advantage in knowing Him. God has put each individual in the best time and place to seek His face.
3) This God will judge all men one day so all men need to repent
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Act 17:30-31)
I have said often that repentance is the missing message in many pulpits today. It’s just too uncomfortable a topic for some to breach, but it’s exactly what men need to hear! Why? Because as Paul wrote in 2Co 5:10, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” Judgment is certain, but we’re born with the odds stacked against us. We enter this world condemned for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23) We all need to repent because we all need forgiveness. The good news is that forgiveness is possible through Jesus Christ! This message was the point that Paul was always pressing towards. His message to the Athenians sounds very different from what he preached to the Jews a few chapters earlier in Act 13..that is until you get to the end of each where you find his goal all along. Paul pointed men to Christ! “through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things…” (Act 13:38-39)
Jamie
I wish all men wanted to hear this.