April 27, 2008                                 Acts 17:22-31

 

          22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

          24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 `For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, `We are his offspring.'

          29 "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone -- an image made by man's design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." (NIV)

 

Where in the World is God? 

 

          In my mind there have been several momentous occasions in the last ten years that have caused people to seriously ask, “where is God?”  One occurred when the Twin Towers fell.  The other happened at the Tsunami where far more people died at the sudden surge of water from the ocean.  These things made people wonder if there really is a God; and if there is, why He would let such things happen.

          Other stories in the news make people think that there definitely must be a God however.  The coincidences are too great to think otherwise.  Consider the most recent story. 

 

Lisa Harrell, a 14-year veteran of the Postal Service, was delivering mail to a home late Monday morning when she noticed a baby in a window above the front door.   "I noticed the upstairs window open halfway," Harrell told the Albany Times Union. "The baby fell right into my arms. Everything happened so quick."

 

No charges are being filed against Morales, who says she had placed her daughter on a bed that was up against the window. Morales says her back was turned when her daughter crawled out the open window.

 

The stunning part about Harrell’s ordeal is that she was not on her normal route on Monday. On any other day, she would not have been on those steps at that time. Harrell arrived at the Morales' home to deliver an Express Mail package.  For Harrell, it was just a lucky coincidence that she was able to save Niales.  "I was in the right place at the right time," Harrell told the Times Union. "God was there for me and the baby."

 

I.  It is a question that is natural to ask

 

          As Christians we all know there is a God.  It is not even up for debate in our minds.  Yet the question is a good one for people to ask - at least those who have not been taught about God.  This is what God wants.  That’s what Paul says in today’s text.  From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him.  Think about what Paul is saying.  God directs affects the affairs of this world so that people will naturally look and wonder “where is God?”, and then also try to find Him. 

          Notice how specific Paul is, saying that God determines both the times and the EXACT places they should even live. In a world that stresses how we are supposed to have a “free will,” this runs completely contrary to what we think.  But think about how in the Bible God forced men to spread out through the Tower of Babel as he confused their languages. God allowed Joseph to be sold into slavery so he could save the Israelites from a coming famine. Caesar Augustus issued a census and God directed it that way so that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. No matter what anyone thinks, God is not millions of miles away from us and letting us do our own thing.  Paul says, he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. . . he is not far from each one of us. in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, `We are his offspring.' The Psalmist reflects the same thing when speaking of the Holy Spirit - Psalm 139:7-8 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  God is everywhere.  He designs every person’s life in a way that they will be shown evidence that He exists.  There’s no way you should miss the fact that there is a God because His power is everywhere - even in the breath you breathe.

          Yet we live in a world which denies the existence of God.  The leading scholars in the area of science are doing their best to prove that this beautiful green and blue earth got here by an accidental explosion millions of years ago.  We live in a world where man likes to think that he is the master of his own destiny - that he has freedom to do whatever he wants to - that as Nietzche said back in 1891, “God is dead.”

          Even our own reason has a hard time believing that God could be everywhere.  If God exists everywhere, it means that God gives evil the power to exist - the power to murder and cheat and steal.  Some like to explain this by saying that gas makes a car run, but gas doesn’t steer the car.  This is a decent explanation, but gas doesn’t have intellect and free choice.  God does.  If God is indeed everywhere, then God still chooses to give Satan the power to do what he does.  Religion of today would like to deny this - as if God was somehow caught off guard by the Tsunami - as if He was sleeping when it happened or preoccupied on the far side of the universe - that He let the devil get away with a sucker punch on His creation.  This is not true.  God’s Word calls Him ALL powerful.  This means He has power through and over all things.

 

II.  It has an answer that cannot be built (in minds or temples)

 

          Who could conceive of such a God or decide to make up such a Being?  It is beyond comprehension.  When men try to figure out who God is - they don’t think so big.  Instead, they build altars and idols and try to construct a place where God could actually live on earth.   They argue about how many gods there are.  They limit the existence of their gods to only certain elements or places - but none of them occupy all places and all things - especially not evil. 

          After being chased from Thessalonica and Berea, Paul was left in Athens to wait for Timothy and Silas.  It was while he was waiting for them that he couldn’t help but notice their version of “religion.”

"Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.

If you remember your history, the Greeks invented all kinds of gods - a God of thunder, sex, wind, sun, you name it.  These gods were limited to certain elements - and these gods were not perfect by any sense of the word.  In order to honor these gods, they built all kinds of altars and even made an altar to an “unknown god” in case they missed one.   Paul said that they were all wrong.  The actual God was bigger than that. 

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; . . . 29 "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone -- an image made by man's design and skill.

God made every nation of men from one man.  This shows us how God usually works - in a hidden way through the laws of nature.  He could have instantly created every nation of men.  Instead, He decided to do it eventually through the offspring of Adam and Eve and their children.  God works invisibly behind the scenes through “natural” reproductive abilities of a man and woman.   Yet He still works and gives life yet today in a more invisible way.

          When Paul put God in the breath that every creature breathes he was explaining to the Athenians that God is much greater than a sun or a lightning bolt.  He works in and through everything.  He gives everything the ability to exist.  God makes us and forms us and lives in us.  The people of Athens were completely reversing the situation.  We can’t form Him and make Him and provide a place for Him to live in.  He is too big and powerful for that.

 

III.  When you find it, it is time to repent

 

          But at least the Athenians were trying, right?  Don’t they get some credit for at least talking about it?  The men of our day will talk about sports, politics, news, the latest electronic gadgets; basically anything but God.  Even though they were wrong, at least the Athenians were talking about gods, right?  Paul says to the Athenians, “No.  Not really.”  In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

          God used to “overlook such ignorance”, but no more.  What does this mean?  How does God “overlook” it?  Does that mean He doesn’t care?  Perhaps you might think of Rebekah - who stole Laban’s household gods - but God didn’t put her to death for it.  Perhaps you might think of the Israelites - like Aaron - who were allowed to live after building the golden calf.  In context it would seem to simply refer to the fact that God didn’t come down in wrath at the Athenians or the Ephesians for trying to minimize him into a piece of wood or gold.  He “overlooked” it in the sense of not immediately condemning them for not recognizing who He really was.

          But NOW God was making it clear WHERE the true God could be found.  The true God - the eternal God of the Jews - chose to step out from the physical temple or the clouds and the wind or fire; to come out of hiding and to put Himself into the flesh a human being.  He walked and talked among us in the temple of a human body.  This God in the flesh seemed weak.  He was crucified on a cross and put to death as the sacrificial victim for the world’s sins.  Yet His life didn’t end there.  God RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD - proving to the Jews and the WORLD who Jesus really was - true God!  Now this God-man is ruling in the universe.  He lives throughout it.  He is coming again to judge the universe of men in righteousness.  That was why Paul was sent to Athens - to expose to them who the true God is. 

          Do you notice how Paul then changed the focus?  It was time for the Athenians to stop talking about who God was, and bow before the God man.  The question was no longer to be, “where is God?”  The question now would be, “where will I be?”  If the Athenians didn’t recognize and bow to this God-man and believe in this Jesus as is clear from His resurrection from the dead, they would be judged to an eternity of hell.  It was time to repent.

          It is still time to repent.  A strange and thing is happening within American Christianity.  The Lord Jesus who has clearly been declared to be Lord and Savior through His death and resurrection and revealed Himself in the flesh; this clear God-man is being turned into a vague deity once again.  No longer do churches have “confessions of faith” or things known as “dull doctrine.”  It’s great to ask questions - but to actually offer clear answers from  God’s Word, well - that is just called arrogant.  Instead, it is much more “humble” just to talk about what we think and how we envision God.  The clear God who reveals Himself in Christ is being turned into a more vague and bland person - not even a He or a she - who doesn’t really condemn anything - whom some call God but others might call Allah.  It all depends on your “interpretation.”  This is the religion of the universities, liberal mainly Christianity and Oprah - which is trying to limit God to the temples of their brains and trying to “rediscover God” through their own conjectures.  In the end this is nothing more than a denial of Jesus - the God who revealed Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

          God has already revealed where He is.  He is found in the man - Jesus Christ.   The message is clear.  God is clear.  The resurrection of Jesus shows us that God is not invisible.  He is not hiding in the closet.  He has appeared to our world and declared to the world who He is.  God is Jesus.  Jesus died and rose from the dead.  The whole world has heard this message.  God has come in the person of Christ and is coming again to judge the world.   Those sinners who believe in Jesus and are baptized will be saved.  Those who do not believe will be condemned to an eternity of burning fire in hell. 

          When the angels were trying to get Lot out of Sodom and Gomorrah, they didn’t stop to discuss how big or hot they thought the fireballs would be.  They got out of town.  Time for talk is over.  You need to see where God is.  Paul said to the Philippians 3:8-9 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  This is the attitude and faith of the Christian.  Jesus is their focus, because they know that only in Jesus’ holiness and blood will they be saved from God’s wrath.

 

          Where in the world is God?  People still ask the question in today’s society.  You have the answer.  Don’t be afraid to give it.  Paul did.  God is in Christ - who came, lived, died, rose from the dead and is ruling in the heavens - waiting to judge the world.  What more is there to discuss?  Either get on your knees and say Jesus is Lord - find your righteousness in HIM - or be prepared to face His anger on Judgment Day. Amen.