May 6 - An Excellent Explanation of Who God Is
By Audrey Bauman
Acts 17: 16 - 34 NLT
“Paul Preaches in Athens
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. 17 He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.
18 He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.”
Charles Swindoll describes Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in his commentary, Living Insights: Acts. "Epicureans ... believed that the universe consisted of atoms and that all of reality is essentially material, including the so-called spirit realm. Life begins when atoms come together and ends when they break apart; therefore, no afterlife exists. Because life is a random, orderless, chaotic collision of atoms, humans must use their free will to shape the world to suit themselves.... The Stoics also believed the universe consisted of atoms, but they didn't think this constituted all of reality. Like Plato, they pointed to the reality of love, logic, truth and beauty to show that some things could exist apart from atoms and, in fact, transcend the material realm. ... there was a cosmic, supernatural, nonpersonal mind that caused the universe to operate according to predictable laws. ... Death reunited an individual's mind with the cosmic mind." (page 346)
Paul also mentions that "he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city". Do you remember taking Greek mythology in high school English class? In Athens (Greece) they did have a sort of spiritual notion that there were many gods, but those gods were more like super humans. Remember Zeus, the highest of those gods and Hera his wife? Athena, the goddess of wisdom, Eros, the god of love, Ares, the god of war, etc.? When Paul begins to speak with these people, he has quite the group of thinkers - people who believed in mythology and people who had what they considered a more scientific and philosophical mindset.
19 Then they took him to the high council of the city. (the Areopagus) “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. 20 “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” 21 (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.)
22 So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. 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.
Paul is going to start telling them about faith in Jesus - a new and strange idea to these people. Notice how he started. He starts with a statement that indicates he understands their life and culture. He noticed they were "religious in every way". He understands they have several approaches to philosophy and religion. He then mentions the shrine to the "Unknown God". That begins his explanation of who God really is. When we get an opportunity to share our faith with someone, we can take Paul's start as good advice. Don't start by talking about our differences. Start by letting them know you understand their point of view.
Notice what he now tells them. Read slowly and list the key points of who God is and what God is doing.
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. 26 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.
27 “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. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
30 “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. 31 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.”
32 When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” 33 That ended Paul’s discussion with them, 34 but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.”
Athens was a tough place to witness. Philosophy was of great interest to those Greeks. They liked to hear new ideas, but they were hard to convince. Paul had their attention as he used their ideas to talk about this new God – the creator of heaven and earth, and the creator of men who are like him (“we are his offspring”). But when he mentioned resurrection, they laughed. That was an idea that was completely foreign to them. When you died, that was it – or some believed you might come back in another form. Despite the fact that Paul’s opportunity to speak at the Areopagus ended, he did have the chance to tell the Good News. Some believed and many turned away.
Paul’s example is a good one for us. He connected with what they believed and would accept. We can learn to do that too when we talk with non-believers. When we understand where they are coming from, we can show them that we get their point of view. But eventually we do have to speak our differences. Not everyone will accept, but they did listen first because there was some rapport between them. They may have said ‘no’ then, but we don’t know if that might have influenced them later. And that’s what we have to remember today – share in a non-critical way, and let God’s Spirit do His work in their lives.
Our song for today is Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong United.
