Bible Study: Acts 17:22-27

There exists a theologically rich passage in Acts 17 that lays out several important truths which affect every single person who ever existed, or will exist. The Apostle Paul, while engaged in his traveling ministry of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, entered a city in Greece where there was a group of philosophers who apparently spent their time in deep thought about the things of life. Paul entered this intellectual atmosphere and proceeded to introduce them to some deep theological truths they, and everyone else, needed to hear. This is one of the clearest overviews of the theology of God and salvation in the Bible.

            “22 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very  religious in all respects. 23 For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship,  I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in  ignorance, this I proclaim to you.”

Each of us has within us the knowledge that there is something more. Ecclesiastes tells us that God has set eternity in our hearts (Eccles. 3:11). This means that each of us has a conscience that tells us that there is a universal standard that we are not fulfilling. We each have a longing in our hearts for something that only God can provide. The Greeks to whom Paul spoke were interested in spiritual and religious things; they just had not been introduced to the true God. Paul proceeded to tell them about the God they did not know.

            “24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not  dwell in temples made with hands;”

These Greeks believed, much the same as the Jewish community believed that God inhabited certain sites, buildings, and/or areas exclusively. They thought that, if you wanted to find God, you had to be at a certain place…or IN a certain place. Paul’s comment was meant to dispel that conception. Paul says that God is able to inhabit the universe and is not confined to a specific place, such as a temple.

            “25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all  people life and breath and all things;”

This verse points out that an omnipotent Creator does not need help from anyone or anything. He is outside of time and space; He is untouched by any limitations we might imagine. Isaiah 42:5 “Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it” (Isaiah 42:5).

            “26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having  determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if  perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”

This verse contains several ideas. First, it tells us that God created all of humanity from one man. This is one more verification that the Genesis creation account is true and accurate. It does not say that mankind evolved from a monkey or any such scenario. Secondly, this verse tells us that God determined when, and where, each of us would live. I believe this is another example of God’s great love for humanity. He has orchestrated each of our lives in such a way that we will, at some point in our lives, be confronted with the choice each of us must make concerning whether or not to be God-worshipers. In other words, God left nothing to chance as He pursues us with His undying love and grace. If any of us end up spending eternity separated from Him, we will only have ourselves to blame…God gave us every opportunity.

Conclusion

This passage tells us that God created the universe and, more specifically, each one of us. We were created with an overarching purpose; that purpose is to “love the Lord with all [our] heart, soul, mind, body, and strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:12, 11:13, 13:3, 30:6; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). Only when we live in this way are we fulfilling the purpose for which we were created. God has given us a choice; we can worship Him and receive eternal life (defined as a life lived for the glory of God more than merely describing the length of one’s life) or we can reject His lordship and be doomed to an eternity of misery, separated from Him.

He has done everything necessary to make eternal life possible for each of us; but He has left it up to us to choose whether or not to participate in that life. What will you choose?

NOTE: All Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible

Article by Robert Driskell