6.26.9 "This God"

"This God"

2 Kings 9:15b-10:31
Acts 17:1-34
Psalm 144:1-15
Proverbs 17:27-28

"It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas." (Acts 17:21) Doesn't that sound like the way things are today? Everyone's got an opinion, and so many are searching for answers and meaning just through their own ideas.

This morning I was blessed by Paul's message to the men of Athens in Acts 17:22-31. It's a great gospel message.

"Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines." Notice Paul did not start off with "you people are MESSED UP!" He used a point of connection that affirmed their quest for truth. Even though the direction they went with their search was way off, it was a God-given need they were seeking to fill. Paul went past the surface, identified the core need, and used that as a point of connection.

"And one of your altars had this inscription on it: 'To an Unknown God.' This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I'm telling you about. He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't live in manmade temples, and human hands can't serve his needs - for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need."

This is a profound statement: "human hands can't serve his needs - for he has no needs." Think about that. God doesn't NEED us to serve him. He doesn't NEED us to be obedient. It's for OUR benefit that we are obedient. It's to complete his purpose in us and through us.

"From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him -though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' And since this is true, we shouldn't think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone."

"God overlooked people's ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead."

We don't serve an unknown god. We serve "This God". He is our creator. He has done all this to bring the nations to him. We must repent and turn to him.

What a privilege to love "This God."

Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

P Greg


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