Acts 17: 24 “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 man-made temples, 25 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. [1]
The Athenians had asked Paul to explain his “new to them” philosophy. The Athenians were a very religious people and had many idols. As we saw yesterday, they even had an altar to the unknown god just to make sure they weren’t missing anything. In their mindset, humans needed to manage the gods. They didn’t see them as all powerful, nor as all creating. Paul is setting out to give them a different point of view.
Paul begins by telling them that God is the creator of the world and everything in it; it is God who made each human being. Even today, this is a good way to begin to explain who God is. In the Athens of Paul’s time, creation was attributed to unpredictable, changeable gods. They thought that they must honor them to avoid their wrath and so built temples to them. Paul wanted to counter that thought and show them a God who made them and provided for them.
Today, evolution is taught as the basis for creation. This philosophy removes God from the equation and allows us to focus on what humans can do. Paul spoke about this same thing in a letter to the Romans 8: 5 Those who are motivated by the flesh only pursue what benefits themselves. But those who live by the impulses of the Holy Spirit are motivated to pursue spiritual realities. 6 For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set controlled by the Spirit finds life and peace. 7 In fact, the mind-set focused on the flesh fights God’s plan and refuses to submit to his direction, because it cannot![2]
Maybe an all-creating God sounds like a fairy tale to you. Or you may think that you need to “manage” God by doing certain religious acts and rituals. I invite you to take a look at a different view. What if God is the creator and wants a relationship with you? How awesome would that be! God sent Jesus to restore our relationship here on earth and for eternity. To find out how this is possible, click on the new believer tab above.
To hear more about Paul in Athens, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/series/mission-trip-two-radio-show/the-battle-for-souls
[1]Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.
[2] The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017 by BroadStreet Publishing® Group, LLC. thePassionTranslation.com