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| Parthenon on Acropolis |
He is risen! He is risen indeed! As we celebrated Easter Sunday, we declared God's call to repentance through the Man (spoken about by Paul in Acts chapter 17) whom God raised from the dead!
Paul is in Athens, and he cannot help but be "provoked in spirit" by the more than 30,000 idols strewn throughout the city.
He finds opportunities in the markets and synagogues to converse with all who would listen with the message of "Jesus and the resurrection" (vs. 18). Paul finds himself in conversation with Jews, with God-fearing Gentiles and with the philosophers and "PhD's" of the day. To quote Paul...
"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; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His offspring.'" Acts 17:24-28
In this extended sentence, Paul describes God as...
He finds opportunities in the markets and synagogues to converse with all who would listen with the message of "Jesus and the resurrection" (vs. 18). Paul finds himself in conversation with Jews, with God-fearing Gentiles and with the philosophers and "PhD's" of the day. To quote Paul...
"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; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His offspring.'" Acts 17:24-28
In this extended sentence, Paul describes God as...
- Creator
- Controller
- Transcendent
- Sufficient
- Sovereign
- Knowable
- Paternal
- "Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer..." Acts 17:32a - It was the resurrection and Jesus Christ that caused this response of rejection - to reject is to ridicule.
- "...but others said, 'We shall hear you again concerning this.'" Acts 17:32b - The curious but uncommitted response was a response to wait... to wait is to have reservations (which is another form of rejection).
- "But some men joined him and believed..." Acts 17:34a - While others allowed the death and life of Jesus Christ to impact their lives - to believe is to be redeemed!
- If we respond in ridicule, we will experience a death greater than dying... a death that is eternal.
- If we are reserved in our commitment, if we are idle towards God, we are in danger of yielding to some other idol.
- If we respond in belief, we accept the resurrected Christ as our redeemer!
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