Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends on this Thursday,
Have you ever been MESMERIZED by something happening right before your eyes? May a rocket launch or the birth of a newborn baby? Or maybe you’ve been mesmerized by a speech someone was giving that simply grabbed your soul and moved you to action? Join me again in that experience.
The apostle Paul is in Athens, Greece in about the year 50 ad. Paul is meeting with a gathering of some of the most intellectual and intelligent men of the first century, in a place called ‘The Areopagus’. It is a small, natural rock amphitheater on the side of Mars Hill. If you’ve ever visited Athens, you probably have been taken to that amazing place overlooking the great city of Athens.
Paul had actually been INVITED by these intellectuals to explain to them the new ideas he was proclaiming in Athens. So, without any notes in his hand Paul rose to his feet and started by complimenting the Athenians, because Paul had seen so many great sculptures in the city and even altars. But one in particular amazed him because it had the inscription: “To An Unknown God”. Clearly these Athenians were religious and inquisitive people. So, Paul started there with this amazing, bold statement: “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and He does not live in temples built by human hands!” (Acts 17:24) Perhaps as Paul made that declaration he was pointing to one of the greatest temples of all time, the Acropolis towering over the city of Athens. Athenians were very proud of their city and strongly believed it was a city blessed and visited by supernatural beings they called ‘gods’. So, Paul’s statement about the supreme God would have shaken them to their core!
Paul likely didn’t wait for questions from these stunned intellectuals, but knowing he had their full attention, Paul continued… “God is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything. Rather He Himself gives everyone LIFE and BREATH and everything else.” (Acts 17:25) Pause. Do you agree with that outrageous statement? But you understand that it is totally contrary to what is taught in most Universities around the world in the 21st century, right? Is God the designer and author of human LIFE? Is God actually involved in the conception and development, in the womb, of EVERY human being?
Paul was echoing the declaration King David had made 1000 years before, when David wrote Psalm 139 which says: “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” (Ps. 139:13-16) Those Greek PHD’s were awestruck. No one had ever claimed they actually KNEW the God who was the author of life! Now what about you, my friends? What are the implications for you and your family and everyone in our world IF Paul’s statement is TRUE about God being the author and sustainer of all life; and the false claims of University PHD’s are nothing but foolishness?
Again, Paul did not wait for questions but kept plowing forward, carefully selecting every word: “From one man God made ALL the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and God marked their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 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 of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being…” (Acts 17:26,27) Now I think Paul paused, giving these wise men a moment to breathe and think deeply. So, let’s do the same. What specific things had the apostle Paul claimed thus far, that day?
First… that there is a supreme being, God, who created the entire universe and our planet earth, from nothing. (Ex Nihilo)
God put the universe in order so that stars, suns, planets, moons and everything else He created all function according to His design, in their orbits and rotations and gravitational pulls.
Second… This same God DESIGNED LIFE, and He creates and sustains EVERY living thing on planet earth.
From conception, till we breathe our last breath, Almighty God is actively involved in sustaining every human life!
Third… God has designed this planet earth to sustain human life by providing everything needed for life.
God has designed human procreation and thus the multiplication of humanity by families, in relationships. But God has also designed diversity and now with a population over 8 billion people. our world has clusters of God created people, living in affinity groups by language and culture, scattered all over our planet. Isn’t that exciting? And maybe this summer you’ve traveled to some places and seen wonderful people with skin color and language and food and customs very different from yours!
Fourth… This God is knowable, understandable, and lives accessible to humanity whom He has created in His image.
In fact, God desires humans to seek God, reach out to God and God will respond, offering to every person a relationship with the God who created them!
Now, those might seem like basic truth concepts that even children should understand but for these Greek intellectuals, they were flabbergasted at Paul’s claims! Very sadly I declare to you, my ‘Walking with Jesus‘ friends around the world, that these same four basic truths are not only disputed but wholesale rejected in our day! Rejected by the PHD’s and university elite; but also rejected by the entertainment industry; and even health care professionals around the world. Do you see that?
As a result, the children and young people of 2026 are growing up in a world very, very similar to Athens, Greece in 50ad, where God’s fundamental truth is rejected and foolishness is embraced. Now it’s important we pause right here and ponder that statement! How is it possible? How did this happen to our world?
Paul wrote the explanation to the Christians in Rome about 7 years after he was meeting with the Areopagus in Athens. Paul wrote: “Although they knew God, they neither glorified Him nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools…” (Romans 1:21,22) Over the past three or four generations in particular, humanity has turned away from God and children have been born and raised in a spiritual vacuum, and foolishness has filled the truth void!
Now we need to pause here for reflection with the ‘lessons learned’ notes at the link below. Then a wonderful worship song combining a familiar worship tune with wonderful photography of God’s creation. And let’s be sure to come back here to meet with Paul again tomorrow!
Today’s Scripture: Acts 17:19-28.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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