"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." Acts 17:22-23 (KJV)
Paul stood in the middle of Mars Hill ready to preach. He stood where so many of the world’s greatest philosophers had stood. Philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They had explained the great thoughts of their philosophies; now Paul was about to proclaim the great Truths of God.
Let us get the full picture here. The official court sat before him and a large crowd of interested philosophers and poets and citizens surrounded him. There they were: some stood, all heathens, completely unaware of any knowledge of the living and true God. The most momentous moment of their lives was about to take place. They were about to hear the most glorious news ever proclaimed to a human being. Paul is telling them that God had revealed Himself and made Himself known to man. He had sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to earth to save man from sin, death and judgment to come. God was very concerned with the welfare of man.
You must realize that this was a little different approach than normal for Paul. The Apostle Paul had an interesting style of ministry. Paul would travel to a city, get to know a few people, plant a church, then stay around as long as it took (usually a couple years) until the church was self-sufficient. Then he would pack up and move to a new city and start the process all over again.
But here he goes out of his comfort zone!
On one of Paul’s journey’s he arrived in the city of Athens. Athens was a great center of philosophy, architecture, art, and religion. We learn in Acts 17:16 that Paul became concerned at how many idols they had lying around the city. So Paul begins to reason with the people in that city about the One True God. In his opening statement to the group assembled at the Areopagus, Paul says, Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.¨ (Acts 17:22)
In Paul’s day, there was no shortage of religion. Not much different from our society today. We live in a culture where the supply of religion certainly meets the demand. But the truth that Paul knew in his day is the same truth we must know today: We do not need more religion, what we need is a relationship with Jesus Christ!
The message of the entire Bible could be summed up in saying that God is trying to establish a relationship with us. Jesus Himself said, These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.¨ (Matthew 15:8) God is not interested in lip service. God is interested in your heart. God wants a relationship with you, His Child.
Paul goes on to say you are very superstitious or very religious. When we humans are very religious and superstitious that reveals that we are searching for God. Men worship because they are seeking for God. Their hearts are restless, searching for peace and life with God. They are hungry, seeking to have God’s care and provision. They are fearful, seeking to have God’s protection. The good news is that God is not hidden and He is not unknown. As Paul walked through the great city of Athens, he had read many of the
inscriptions written on the monuments and idols. And as the verse states one in particular caught his attention: the altar “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD”. So the people were acknowledging that there was an unknown god, and they worshipped him. But they did not know Him. The restlessness, the hunger and the fear were still in their hearts and minds, especially in lonely moments. All they did was worship an unknown god, they knew nothing about him, yet they worshipped him.
Then what did Paul do?
He declared that he knew the unknown God. He personally knew Him, and it was He whom Paul was giving them the lesson about so they would know and get their questions answered.
Are we focusing more on our religion or on our relationship with Christ? That will let you know how far you are on your Christian journey. It is not about me BUT it is about HIM. As another year comes to an end let's take a moment to reflect on our relationship with JESUS! We pray that HE is not "UNKNOWN" to you nor you to HIM! If you haven't done so already, take this time to get your relationship with CHRIST right...then go out and share the good news of JESUS CHRIST to all whom GOD puts in your path. Be like Paul and tell others about the "UNKNOWN GOD"!
Paul stood in the middle of Mars Hill ready to preach. He stood where so many of the world’s greatest philosophers had stood. Philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They had explained the great thoughts of their philosophies; now Paul was about to proclaim the great Truths of God.
Let us get the full picture here. The official court sat before him and a large crowd of interested philosophers and poets and citizens surrounded him. There they were: some stood, all heathens, completely unaware of any knowledge of the living and true God. The most momentous moment of their lives was about to take place. They were about to hear the most glorious news ever proclaimed to a human being. Paul is telling them that God had revealed Himself and made Himself known to man. He had sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to earth to save man from sin, death and judgment to come. God was very concerned with the welfare of man.
You must realize that this was a little different approach than normal for Paul. The Apostle Paul had an interesting style of ministry. Paul would travel to a city, get to know a few people, plant a church, then stay around as long as it took (usually a couple years) until the church was self-sufficient. Then he would pack up and move to a new city and start the process all over again.
But here he goes out of his comfort zone!
On one of Paul’s journey’s he arrived in the city of Athens. Athens was a great center of philosophy, architecture, art, and religion. We learn in Acts 17:16 that Paul became concerned at how many idols they had lying around the city. So Paul begins to reason with the people in that city about the One True God. In his opening statement to the group assembled at the Areopagus, Paul says, Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.¨ (Acts 17:22)
In Paul’s day, there was no shortage of religion. Not much different from our society today. We live in a culture where the supply of religion certainly meets the demand. But the truth that Paul knew in his day is the same truth we must know today: We do not need more religion, what we need is a relationship with Jesus Christ!
The message of the entire Bible could be summed up in saying that God is trying to establish a relationship with us. Jesus Himself said, These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.¨ (Matthew 15:8) God is not interested in lip service. God is interested in your heart. God wants a relationship with you, His Child.
Paul goes on to say you are very superstitious or very religious. When we humans are very religious and superstitious that reveals that we are searching for God. Men worship because they are seeking for God. Their hearts are restless, searching for peace and life with God. They are hungry, seeking to have God’s care and provision. They are fearful, seeking to have God’s protection. The good news is that God is not hidden and He is not unknown. As Paul walked through the great city of Athens, he had read many of the
inscriptions written on the monuments and idols. And as the verse states one in particular caught his attention: the altar “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD”. So the people were acknowledging that there was an unknown god, and they worshipped him. But they did not know Him. The restlessness, the hunger and the fear were still in their hearts and minds, especially in lonely moments. All they did was worship an unknown god, they knew nothing about him, yet they worshipped him.
Then what did Paul do?
He declared that he knew the unknown God. He personally knew Him, and it was He whom Paul was giving them the lesson about so they would know and get their questions answered.
Are we focusing more on our religion or on our relationship with Christ? That will let you know how far you are on your Christian journey. It is not about me BUT it is about HIM. As another year comes to an end let's take a moment to reflect on our relationship with JESUS! We pray that HE is not "UNKNOWN" to you nor you to HIM! If you haven't done so already, take this time to get your relationship with CHRIST right...then go out and share the good news of JESUS CHRIST to all whom GOD puts in your path. Be like Paul and tell others about the "UNKNOWN GOD"!
RSS Feed