I can remember when I began asking questions that I had no answers for. I didn’t even have any sort of grid for answering them. The questions seemed to be so far away that I couldn’t even begin to formulate an answer for them. It was when my Great-Grandmother passed away. Her name was Juanita Johnson and she was no ordinary Great-Grandmother.

Her husband had died when I was pretty young and so she was living by herself. She moved into a smaller house in town before my brother and I began spending much time with her. And somehow, I have no idea how; she had picked up a new hobby. She was playing video games.

My brother and I would go over to her house and play Super Mario World and Donkey King Country for hours with her. She played enough that she knew all the secrets and it helped that she would purchase the book for the different games as well. We would sometimes spend the night with her and play video games with her until she told us it was bed time. My brother and I had a lot of fun with her.

One of the reasons that she left her bigger house in the country to live in a small house within city limits was her health. Her health got worse and worse. She had begun smoking later in life because her second husband was a smoker. It didn’t take long for smoking to cause her major problems and this just kept progressing until she passed away.

That was the first time that anyone that I was this close to had died and I thought about it. My Great Grandfather had passed away previous to this but there was so much in family drama surrounding his death that I hadn’t really given much thought to it. Death was not a concept that I had thought through with any significance. It also caused me to think through life as well. God used her death to cause me to look at some of the very big and very important questions that we have to wrestle with.

If God really exists, which I and most people throughout history have believed, then my relationship to Him is of utmost importance. If there is a Creator who owns this Universe and does with it as He pleases then I need to understand my place in it in relation to Him.

For clarity’s sake I must say that I do not believe that people trust in Christ because of the answering of questions, as if answering every question would lead to faith. Even when people know all the answers they still despise God by nature and do not turn to Him. But it is also important to state that this is the removing of at least one barrier to faith in Christ and we pray that the Holy Spirit would do the rest.

Background Info

Paul was taken to Athens and found the city “full of idols” (Acts 17:16). Then he began to reason with the people. I find this whole thing rather interesting. Paul was acting like a good missionary and apologist. He was preaching, teaching, and reasoning with everyone he came in contact with in this city that he found to be “full of idols”. Apparently he began conversing with philosophers in the city who began calling him a “babbler” (Acts 17:18). There were other people who said that he was “a preacher of foreign divinities” (Acts 17:8). When Luke describes here what Paul was doing he says that Paul was “preaching Jesus and the Resurrection” (Acts 17:18).

Paul was telling them about Jesus. He was reasoning with them in ways that they could understand about God becoming flesh, dwelling among us, living a perfect life, dying on a cross as our substitute, and His resurrection from the dead. I am sure that he was reasoning with them about their own sinfulness and need for a Savior because that takes up a good portion of his writing throughout the New Testament. He probably moved on to discussing Jesus’ birth, because this would stand in stark contrast to any gods that they had in Greek culture. Rather than being far off, God made Himself near. And then the Coup de Taut would be the crucifixion and resurrection. God dying on a cross for people would be astounding. It was unthinkable for the Greeks that God would take on human flesh; it was even more unthinkable that He would die. Then He told them about the resurrection of Christ. We know that from verse 18.

The Aeropagus is a court named for the hill on which it once met. It is also called the “hill of Ares”. Paul was now here by the request of the philosophers. The reason they wanted to hear from him because, in their own words “you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.”  The Aeropagus was a court that had long had authority over the civil and religious life of Athens. By the time we reach this time period the Aeropagus had jurisdiction over matters of religion and morality (ESV Study Bible Notes on Acts 17:19). So Paul is standing in the midst of learned Greek philosophers telling them about Jesus and the Resurrection. He was proclaiming and defending the Good News before these epicurean and stoic philosophers.

If God really exists, which I and most people throughout history have believed, then my relationship to Him is of utmost importance. If there is a Creator who owns this Universe and does with it as He pleases then I need to understand my place in it in relation to Him.

You Are Religious, But Do You Worship Rightly? (Acts 17:22-29)

Paul, observed his surroundings as he headed to the Aeropagus. He noticed something about these people. They were indeed, very religious. He is standing on a hill named after the “god of war” and had walked by many of their objects of worship (Acts 17:23). But he noticed something peculiar. With all of these “gods” that they were worshipping, they were also worshipping one that they called “unknown”. Amidst the altars smattered on his path there was one inscribed “To the unknown god” (Acts 17:23).

Paul’s day is not unlike our own. We live in a pluralistic society. Our time period in the modern world is peculiar. Modernity rolled in like a freight train. Science was supposed to give the answers to all of our questions and it ushered in some incredible things. This time period was roughly the 1500’s to the 1800’s. Cultural, Social, and Scientific Progress was primary in the time period. And it’s no wonder that many of the world’s greatest inventions occurred in this time period. But it was found that progress could not give us what we most desired. With all of the progress that was made in these areas it was all found wanting. At one point in Modernity Friedrich Nietzsche was declaring that God was dead. Then Modernity passed away as people began realizing that there must be more to life than what Modernity was promising. Postmodernism was a reaction against the scientific certainty that seemed to rule this time period. It began to be more evident in the 1990’s. But its roots were long before that. It was a complete distrust of any grand narrative. There is no big story that helps us to understand everything. Science does not explain the big questions of life. There is something else out there. It is very Agnostic. And, in turn belief in anything and everything is acceptable and anyone that tells you there is absolute truth is thought to be an absolute moron. Postmodern thought is depressing. There is a distrust of everything and an explanation of nothing. The world is moving out of this phase and into another. But, it seems to me that it hasn’t really solidified yet.

I give you this rabbit trail to bring you to a point. Our culture is one in which it is proposed that there are many paths to God, not just one. The Muslim, the Jew, and the Christian worship the same God according to this thought. Oh, and let’s just throw in every other religion as well for good measure. And, if you contest this thought process then you are a religious extremist who wants to tear the whole world apart. Our culture is filled with people who worship, and find it acceptable to worship, other gods. We now live in a “pluralistic society”, meaning that there are multiple gods being worshipped.

Paul stood in the middle of this society proclaiming Jesus. It is a society that believes that worshipping any “god” is acceptable. It is a society that prides itself on acceptance of other beliefs and we know this because it was their habit to “spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new”. So, how will Paul respond?

The Unknown God Is The One True God

Paul references the “unknown god” and declares to them that what they do not know, he knows. He proclaims to them that they desperately need to know the “unknown god”.

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ 29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.”—Acts 17:22-29 ESV

The God You Don’t Know  Created All Things

Paul looks at these philosophers and says, you know the unknown god that you’ve been worshiping is the Creator of all things. This is particularly interesting to think about in our day. There are many people out there today that believe that believing in anything is totally acceptable and at the same time have no answers for why things are the way that they are. There is a rather large growing number of people who believe in a god, but don’t know and don’t care to know much about him.

Both of these groups have massive similarities to the people Paul is speaking with. They are content not knowing who this “unknown god” is and worship many other “gods”. And what Paul does is he declares to these people that this “unknown god” is truly the only one that matters. He is the One True God who created all things. I don’t believe it to be important for us to argue about a 7 Day Creation vs Evolution. I do, however, believe that it is important for us to discuss how things got to where they are. God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

The God You Don’t Know Doesn’t Need You…You Need Him

Not only is this “unknown god” the Creator of all things but He exists completely without us…without any need of us. He is completely self-sufficient in Himself, lacking nothing. On the other hand, we desperately need God. He is the one who provides for us provision for life and without God we nor anything else would exist.

He looks at their places of worship and says to them that God does not need them. This “unknown god” who I know is much greater than anything man could build, He doesn’t need any of it. On the other hand, there is a lot that you need from Him. He sustains your very life. This applies to your individual lives as well. He is the one who planned where you and your family would live, how long they would live, and what they would have. You need Him.

This understandably, comes with its own list of questions. If God is Creator and in control of all things then the circumstances in my life and everyone else’s life are the way they are because He either allowed them to be the way they are. We will discuss this at a later date, toward the end of our look at questions like this one. But you should know that you have a home and a family today because God has designed that you should live in the place that you do.

The God You Don’t Know Is Not Far From Us

Here is likely the thing that rubbed the Greek people so weirdly. Paul believed, as we do, that God is both transcendent and immanent. God is both above and beyond us, we cannot comprehend His thoughts and ways. He stands above us as our Judge. But at the same time God is near us. He is not removed from the Universe He has Created. He is near us. He is involved in holding all things together. And the most incredible thing is that God came to us as man. The man was Jesus Christ. God has placed them where they are as they are hoping to “feel their way toward him and find him”. This is a task which they will never successfully accomplish on their own even though God is very near to them.

This is totally contrary to anything that the Greeks believed. It is also totally contrary to any other religion in our day. God became man and dwelt among us is absolutely incredible. The Incarnation (God the Son becoming man) would have been totally peculiar. Gods would never take on human flesh. And there is absolutely no way that a god would die. And, let’s face it…no one rises from the dead. These things that Paul was describing to them were incredibly contrary to anything that they had ever hear. God sent His Son, who was God, to take on human flesh and dwell among those that He had created. This same God took upon Himself the sin of mankind and died as our substitute. And three days later He rose from the dead. The story is amazing.

We are creatures who are completely dependent upon our Creator. We rebelled against God, even though we are dependent upon Him. The problem for us is that He doesn’t need us at all for anything whatsoever. In a move that is beyond comprehension this God who does not need us has been sustaining us even while we have rebelled against Him. We earned His justice and wrath and He gave us grace and mercy even keeping us alive. And not only this, but He sent His Son to become like us, live a perfect life, and die on a cross as our substitute. The Resurrection was God’s stamp of approval on the Sacrifice that was made. It was enough.

How do we respond to this?

Repent Of Your Religious Activity And Trust In The One True God (Acts 17:29-30)

“29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,”—Acts 17:29-30 ESV

Paul does not say to them that it will be okay for them to live the way they are living. He does not say to them that the important thing is that they worship something. He does not say to them that it is unimportant. He does not say any of this apologetically.

He tells them that, to this point, God has overlooked their ignorance but now is the time for repentance.

Your way is not acceptable to God. We do not have the option of picking and choosing the way that we should go. Here is the right response: repent and trust the Savior. We have rebelled against the All-Powerful God of the Universe. He is the One who gets to decide how it is that we come to Him. And He has stated that there is only one way. He is the One who provided a way for us through the death and resurrection of His Son. And our response to this is that we turn from our way and trust in Christ.

At the end of a war, especially in times past, the losing side had to agree to certain terms in order to be allowed to live. Otherwise, they would be utterly destroyed. Our destruction is immanent. There is no escaping God’s justice for our rebellion. Terms were oftentimes the loss of land, the taking of goods, both, loss of portions of land, essentially whatever the conquering King declared the terms of surrender to be. Our terms of surrender are simple, we turn from ruling our own lives and trust in Christ. And we receive life, eternal life. Our terms of surrender are awesome. We don’t lose anything in comparison to what we receive. We lose our lives and gain an eternity with God. We don’t lose at all. In the most extraordinary turn of events, we are given eternal life.

There Is A Fixed Amount of Time For You to Turn to God (V. 31)

God has fixed a day in which His justice will fall upon the Earth. We do not know when it will come. The point is that we simply do not have an unlimited amount of time to turn to Christ.

“because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”—Acts 17:31 ESV

There may be no tomorrow. We have not been promised that God’s ending to this period of history will last any longer than it already has. It could all end in the next moment. A hymn writer asked the question, “What if it were today?”. What if Christ returned today? Paul says here that God has “fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness”. We do not know when that will happen. “What if it were today?”

Might I add the rather obvious. You may not be here tomorrow. We have not been promised one more moment on this Earth. You could drop dead in your chair in the next moment. If so, have you surrendered to God, or are you still living in rebellion against Him?

God will judge the world in righteousness through Christ. There is coming a day when this will occur. We don’t know when this while existence as we know it will be over and God will draw this period of time to a close and His Judgment will be cast for eternity.

The obvious question to ask is this: are you ready for these things to occur?

Time is short, the judgment of God is coming, and there is only one right response to God. The One whom God raised from the dead is the One who will judge, but also the One who has brought salvation to us. God sent His Son to Earth, who then took upon Himself the punishment for sin and rose from the dead. The person who accomplished our salvation is going to be the Great Judge of all the Earth.

Concluding Thoughts

On a few occasions I have spoken with people who wanted to get the life straightened out someday, but just not now. I have seen a lot of this type of response in my own family and others. Sadly, I can’t think of anyone who responded this way that has actually turned to Christ. In fact, they have grown more hardened against Him as time has passed by.

Don’t let an opportunity to come to Christ pass you by. Trust in Him.

If you are reading this and have not trusted in Christ as your Savior, then I would ask and plead with you to come to Him.

If you are reading this and have not followed the Lord in baptism, then I would ask you to come and be obedient to the one you call Lord and take what is supposed to be the first step of obedience.

If you are reading this and are a believer, then I have a challenge for you. We do not know the day or the time when those you go to school with will face Jesus at the Judgment. Share Jesus with them. Talk with them about the Savior.

We are going to attempt to do something like this on Wednesdays after Valentine’s Day. We want to challenge people intellectually, help them to see the reasonableness of Christianity and their need for Christ. Invite your friends to come and be a part of this as well.

 

R. Dwain Minor