“He Is The God Who Made The World”

Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. He was very upset to see that the city was full of statues of gods. So he went to the synagogue. There he talked with Jews and with Greeks who worshiped God. Each day he spoke with anyone who happened to be in the market place.

A group of Epicurean and Stoic thinkers began to argue with him. Some of them asked, "What is this fellow chattering about?" Others said, "He seems to be telling us about gods we've never heard of." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus. He was telling them that Jesus had risen from the dead.

They took him to a meeting of the Areopagus. There they said to him, "What is this new teaching you're giving us? You have some strange ideas. We've never heard them before. We want to know what they mean."

All the people of Athens spent their time talking about and listening to the latest ideas. People from other lands who lived there did the same.

Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus. He said, "Men of Athens! I see that you are very religious in every way. As I walked around, I looked carefully at the things you worship. I even found an altar with ‘to an unknown god’ written on it. Now I am going to tell you about this 'unknown god' that you worship.

"He is the God who made the world. He also made everything in it. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn't live in temples built by hands. He is not served by human hands. He doesn't need anything. He himself gives life and breath to all people. He also gives them everything else they have. From one man he made all the people of the world. Now they live all over the earth. He decided exactly when they should live. And he decided exactly where they should live. God did this so that people would seek him. Then perhaps they would reach out for him and find him. They would find him even though he is not far from any of us. 'In him we live and move and exist.' As some of your own poets have also said, 'We are his children.'

 "Yes, we are God's children. So we shouldn't think that God is made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn't a statue planned and made by clever people. In the past, God didn't judge people for what they didn't know. But now he commands all people everywhere to turn away from their sins. He has set a day when he will judge the world fairly. He has appointed a man to be its judge. God has proved this to all people by raising that man from the dead."

Acts 17:16-31

Be careful and respectful in dealing with others whose faith is not the same as yours. Telling the story of Jesus and your belief in Him as your Savior is important, but it is all in the way the story is told that gains converts.

When a friend sees Christianity as foreign worship, we need to respect their heritage while sharing the gospel graciously and giving them time to explore Christianity. And then trust the Spirit to do His work.

God is the only true God.

Our Daily Bread – February 23, 2010