“ Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said,
‘Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, —- dwelleth not in temples made with hands; —— Neither is worshipped with men's hands, —— as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the —-times before appointed, —- and —-the bounds of their habitation;——
That they should “seek the Lord,” if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:For in him we live, and move, and have our being;
as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Because he —hath appointed a day— , in the which he will judge the world in righteousness —-by that man whom he hath ordained; ——
whereof
he hath given —-assurance—- unto all men, in that he hath —-raised him from the dead.——“
And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, ‘We will hear thee again of this matter.’
So Paul departed from among them.
Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.”
- Acts 17:22-34 ( KJV )
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The Man with 2 Names - The Greek life - 2
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Paul is addressing the intelligentsia of Athens on Mars Hill, and we are picking up in the middle of his address. For the latecomers, a quick recap.... ( read last weeks post for the full detail )
He has just made two large statements... declaring to the Athenians, a God new to their pagan conception...
A. A God, who is the omnipresent life giver to everything. We see him all the time in —every single expression of life—- around us. A glow in everything living, invisible to the naked eye!
You want to see God?... look out your window at trees or people or birds or insects... He powers everything, including our ability to see, hear, move, breathe, think, feel, act!!
“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth —-to all life, and breath, and all things;”
B. This God created Man in His Image, so that Man could get to know and serve Him.... because He is Righteous, and True, and Worthy ... way way beyond our ability to understand, worship or praise!
That is our ( a universal one-blood ) mankinds universal purpose in this life, and beyond!
God “ ..... hath made —-of one blood—- all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the —-times before appointed, —- and —-the bounds of their habitation;——
That they should —-seek the Lord,—- if haply they might feel after him, and find him, ....though he be not far {!!} from every one of us... “
God is as close as the air you breathe, and the ground you walk on! He is always there friends, though you may not always feel worthy to be in His presence!
This week we will look at some additional truth...
C. The Universal ignorance of Mankind
Paul started his sermon promising to address the Athenians ignorance.... he dives properly into it now...
A God that powers all life, who is omnipresent, who does not require human worship, has created Man as the highest expression of creation... an Image of Himself!
This you may say... is a leap of faith... how do you go from having this Creator/Designer God concept, to assuming Man is made in His Image... seems a little arrogant...?
Last week, armed with 20th century insight... and from very basic observations on Life, as revealed to us through biology... we came to the very empirical conclusion .... that all Life, essentially shares the same attributes and is clearly and essentially distinct from non-living things.... and combined with Man’s position on top of the food chain.... is like a flashing neon arrow with light-up-letters that is pointing God-ward.
But in -Gods- image??!!?..... here is the difference between God’s truth and Man’s ignorance....
Man invents a God in various forms... demigods like Hercules, “Gods” like Zeus, Apollo... superHuman type beings..., to worshipping forces of Nature like the earth, sun, moon, stars....
——Only Israel had revelation from Moses that humans were made in God’s image—-
.... this was obviously known to Paul some 1500 years later.. ... a trained rabbi... but Paul’s knowledge of greek culture enables him to even cite a -greek- reference to this concept ... showing it not to be a radically new concept...
but radical it is... when you compare it with most Pagan worldviews.
The core pantheistic worldviews of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism “get” the One Creator God concept. Jains revere life so much , traditional jains will wear a face mask during their waking hours to —avoid injuring organisms that may enter their mouth— and are strictly vegetarian... ? Look it up.... Yet most Hindus and Buddhists will pray to images or ancestors, as the greeks were doing in Paul’s day, and which is what stirred his spirit up!
So near, yet so far!!!
D. Gods Provision for Ignorance... prior to Jesus.
Romans 1:20 “ For since the creation of the world His -invisible- attributes, His —eternal power— and —divine nature,— have been clearly seen, —being understood through what has been made—-, so that they are without excuse.”
We have discussed this at length by now... what we —can see—- things that are created—- .... informs us of the INVISIBLE things... His power ( Life/Creation) and nature (Emotions/Will).
We used this information ( creation ) as data for our empirical conclusions last week...The greeks, and modern man, and all pagans, stand condemned by the exact same body of facts, and evidence!!!... Life and creation around them!
These “Times of Ignorance” in the face of this GENERAL REVELATION God “OVERLOOKED” (“winked at” in our text is not the best translation).
God telling us, through Paul and the Spirit, that He is not going to hold the gentiles accountable for their past millenia of idol worship... because of their ignorance!!!
In the book of Jonah God kindly compares this ignorance to.... Jonah 4:11 : “persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand”. God has given humans a pass on idolatry for MILLENNIA! ... even such a hated one as idolatry... because of ignorance!
Conversely,....... and in stark contrast is His attitude to Willful idolatry in Israel—- this was the sin that provoked Him to righteously judge His own people... who were given the light of His Word and a commandment to NOT do this, .. but went ahead and worshipped other gods anyway....
Think about it for a while and you will realize God covers the sins of mankind with more LOVE than we will ever know ... Hallelujah!!
E. The Commandment and Evidence post-Christ, and its reason
“....but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he —hath appointed a day— , in the which he will judge the world in righteousness —-by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given —-assurance—- unto all men, in that he hath —-raised him from the dead.——“
—-... but NOW... ...NOW .... in 44-48 AD , and in 2020 .... God is COMMANDING the World to turn from this foolishness!!!
His patience will not last forever, and there is a day coming, when everyone will have to give an account of their actions in the light of their knowledge of God.
And so, ......the Giver of all Life, .......is giving mankind one HUGE NEON FLASHING GLOWING sign... He will resurrect a dead man to a new form of LIFE!!!!!!
This resurrection will be attested to by these evidences:
a. It will be predicted in advance... by the Bible and Christ.
b. It will prevail against attempts to stop it. The Stone, the Roman Seal, the acts of the priests in making SURE, that it was Jesus in the tomb... paled in comparison to the Sun that emerged from it!
c. It will be attested to by eyewitnesses of all kinds, by the blood of the martyrs who gave their lives and freedom at Pauls hands rather than recant, and through personal human experiences over all these years!
This is our hope... and GOD has made it SURE!!
That is the essence of it. Christ crucified for us, and Resurrected for us! That is the point on which everything hangs, and there is an immediate reaction from the audience... some mock, some defer judgment, and some.... believe!!!
There is a popular saying..., “ Do you know Jesus as Savior but do you know Jesus as Lord?” Its a good and pious question... but “knowing” God /Jesus in any way is much more profound than that....
Its seeing, smelling, tasting, feeling, hearing the wonderful in all things, in all people... it’s beginning to appreciate the Person who enables it all. It’s understanding His familiar Heart for us... the heart of a Dad, Mom, Daughter, Son, Wife, Friend.....Its understanding his physical Laws, his Moral law, and our place in this world.
Finally, His Word by which He created and upholds all things. Which Word became flesh, taking our form, speaking oh-so-clearly about what He considered important! Who took upon Himself to fulfil that which He prophesied in His Word, and through that Word .... even today.... —-He indwells—— our heart,mind and Spirit.
If His Words abide in you, you will hear His voice guiding you through every situation and to all truth!
Finally, as you obey His Word in your life, you will see that it is for your benefit, and not to satisfy His ego. He is a humble God who hides Himself! You will see the world and people through His eyes, becoming His embodiment ... His salt and light... His body...legs, arms, hands, mouth... to a world that desperately needs Love!!
Jesus knew you as Savior before you were born, and everyone will know Him as Lord... but if you get to know Him, you will Love Him... with all your Mind, Heart, and Soul, and you will truly keep His commandments by loving on others!!!!
Hallelujah!!