The God Who Made The World

Scripture: Acts 17:16-34

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. 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.’ (Acts 17:22-28)

This excerpt from Paul’s speech at the Areopagus in Athens really spoke to me this morning! He was speaking to the Greek residents of Athens and the tourists who came from all over the world to experience the culture of this great city. He had been stirred by the obvious spirituality of the Athenians and the great number of shrines for the pantheon of Greek gods. Paul spoke of the God they didn’t know, the Unknown God for whom they had a shrine, the creator of the universe and the giver of life.

Paul said that God made the world and everything in it. God created us humans and made the earth hospitable so we could flourish and prosper, and so we could seek after him and find him! He is waiting, not hiding, and is near, not far away.

God purposed us to seek him, to experimentally and experientially find him. But if we’re consumed with the desire to acquire, or the need to succeed, we can end up like the Athenians, with little shrines all over the place for the gods of career, ministry, sports, entertainment, possessions, achievement. And off in an obscure corner of our lives we can end up with a tiny little shrine for the God who created us, who loves us, who longs for us to seek him and find him. How’s your time and passion for seeking God?

Prayer:

Father, Thanks for a season of life with plenty of time and space for living, so I can seek you and find you in a new dimension of relationship. Thanks for waiting so patiently nearby while I have busied myself with the work of the Lord. May I find you more each day. May I share my great joy in knowing you as Abba, Father. Amen.