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Altars To The Unknown God
Altars To The Unknown God
Acts 17:22-31 – So Paul, standing in the center of the Areopagus [Mars Hill meeting place], said: Men of Athens, I perceive in every way [on every hand and with every turn I make] that you are most religious or very reverent to demons. For as I passed along and carefully observed your objects of worship, I came also upon an altar with this inscription, To the unknown god. Now what you are already worshiping as unknown, this I set forth to you. The God Who produced and formed the world and all things in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in handmade shrines. Neither is He served by human hands, as though He lacked anything, for it is He Himself Who gives life and breath and all things to all [people]. And He made from one [common origin, one source, one blood] all nations of men to settle on the face of the earth, having definitely determined [their] allotted periods of time and the fixed boundaries of their habitation (their settlements, lands, and abodes), so that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him, although He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being; as even some of your [own] poets have said, For we are also His offspring. Since then we are God’s offspring, we ought not to suppose that Deity (the Godhead) is like gold or silver or stone, [of the nature of] a representation by human art and imagination, or anything constructed or invented. Such [former] ages of ignorance God, it is true, ignored and allowed to pass unnoticed; but now He charges all people everywhere to repent (to change their minds for the better and heartily to amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins), because He has fixed a day when He will judge the world righteously (justly) by a Man Whom He has destined and appointed for that task, and He has made this credible and given conviction and assurance and evidence to everyone by raising Him from the dead.
In his travels, Paul came upon some very religious people. As he observed their instruments of worship, he noticed they built an altar to “The Unknown God.” Although these people recognized and gave tribute to God, they really did not know Him. Paul knew it was not enough to build altars of sacrifice unto God. One had to truly know God. Listen to your Bible! In 2 Thessalonians 1:8, the Bible reads, “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” With this in mind, Paul proceeded to educate these Athenians concerning the truth of Jehovah.
People are still building altars today to “The Unknown God.” We demonstrate this in the manner in which we worship. God is unknown in the sense we have not taken the time to see what He wants from us. We need to analyze Paul’s sermon, in an effort to discover who God is and what He desires from us.
Paul Made The Unknown Known (Acts 17:23-24)
God is the Creator. The Bible makes this clear from the very beginning. Listen to your Bible! In Genesis 1:1, the Bible reads, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” According to the scriptures, the creation makes God known to all men (Psalms 19:1 & Romans 1:19-20).
Paul Made Known God Is Spirit (Acts 17:24)
He cannot be contained in, nor limited to physical structures (1 Kings 8:27 & Acts 7:48-49). These structures simply represented God’s presence. They speak to God’s omnipresence according to Psalms 139:7-12. God is not a material being. There is nothing material in His nature. Listen to your Bible! In John 4:24, the Bible reads, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” For anyone to think acceptable worship is dependent upon a particular geographical location or man-made structure is to have the wrong view of God’s nature.
Paul Made Known God Serves Mankind (Acts 17:25)
The word translated “worshipped” in this passage would mean to wait upon or serve. Jesus came not to be served by, but to serve man. Listen to your Bible! In Mark 10:45, the Bible reads, “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” We serve God when we serve others according to Matthew 25:34-46. Too many of us see God as someone who needs our help and are thus inclined to give Him whatever we think could assist Him. However, we need to be reminded of what Psalms 50:8-12 teaches.
Paul Made Known God Is The Giver Of All Life (Acts 17:25)
God is responsible for the life of man. Listen to your Bible! In Isaiah 42:5, the Bible reads, “Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein.” God holds man’s life within His hands. Listen to your Bible! In Deuteronomy 30:20, the Bible reads, “That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
Paul Made Known God Is Responsible For The Brotherhood Of Man (Acts 17:26)
Though each person is different, we all have something in common. We all bleed red. We all need oxygen. We all need food, clothing, and shelter. We all need the Lord who is responsible for those provisions. This knowledge and understanding should eliminate the –isms and schisms that exist among men.
Paul Made Known God Laid Everything Out In Such A Way, Man Would Seek Him (Acts 17:27)
God is not the God over one nation, but has an interest and control over all nations. Listen to your Bible! In Psalms 86:9, the Bible reads, “All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.” Also, in Zechariah 14:9, the Bible reads, “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.” Men grope after God because they sense the presence of something greater and beyond themselves who is responsible for their existence. He is always within reach because He is right there making sure we have everything we need to sustain life.
Paul Made Known That We Are The Offspring Of God (Acts 17:28-29)
Man is created in the image of God. Listen to your Bible! In Genesis 1:27, the Bible reads, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Paul used a quote several Greek stoic poets used in reference to Zeus to indicate the folly of worshipping the objects of man’s own devising. I cannot imagine why men would think they owe their lives to some inanimate, lifeless object. Men must repent of such ignorance. God will judge the world and men must prepare themselves.
People today are still building altars to THE UNKNOWN GOD. He is unknown because oftentimes we do not know what He wants and what is necessary to please Him. We view Him as some helpless being, which needs whatever we are willing to sacrifice. Many more worship other gods—the works of man’s devising. Of this men must repent and turn to the one true God.
