26 “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us. 28 for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’” (Acts 17:26-28).
In the Apostle Paul’s message at the Areopagus, he first told the Athenians that God was the true creator of the universe. Secondly, God not only created the universe but also sustains it. Thirdly, God not only created and sustains the universe, He also governs it.
The purpose for God having created the world, sustaining it and governing it is so that His creation should, and would, seek Him. God’s intention is that creation would, as it were, feel their way toward Him and find Him. Unfortunately, that is not what the ancient Greeks did, nor is it what fallen man ever does. Fallen man needs God’s divine initiative, which regenerates the sinner by the power of the Holy Spirit and through the preaching of the Gospel (John 3:1-8; Romans 10:5-17).
For God is not only the source of physical life, He is also the only source for spiritual and eternal life. The Apostle Paul’s predominantly Greek audience knew little of the Old Testament Scriptures. However, they knew well their own Grecian poets.
Therefore, Paul decides to quote two Greek poets. First, he quoted Epimenides (7th – 6th century B.C.) who wrote, “In him we live and move and have our being.” Then, Paul quoted from Aratus (315-240 B.C.) who wrote, “For we are indeed his offspring.”
What these two Greek poets wrote concerning the Greek god Zeus, Paul applied to Yahweh, the one, true God of the Bible. It is Yahweh who is truly near mankind.
Dr. R. C. Sproul writes, “Paul says that God brought all people into being and they only exist by His providence. In the ancient world, the three great mysteries of philosophy and science were the questions of life, motion and being.”
When he referred to the Greeks in particular, and all mankind in general, as God’s offspring (quoting from the Greek Poet Aratus), the Apostle Paul was not teaching the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. Rather, he taught that all mankind are a result of God’s creation (Genesis 1-2). Every human being, whether converted or unconverted, is dependent upon the sovereign and biblical God in whom mankind lives, moves and has its existence.
This understanding of God being the creator should prompt humans to no longer view God from a human point of view, but rather from a divine and biblical perspective. In other words, God should not be fashioned into an image of gold, silver or stone (Romans 1:18-23). The Athenians had done so, as others before, at an unprecedented level. It was time to stop. See Exodus 20:1-6.
In his classic work Knowing God, Dr. J.I. Packer writes, “The realization that images and pictures of God affect our thoughts of God points to a further realm in which the prohibition of the second commandment applies. Just as it forbids us to manufacture molten images of God, so it forbids us to dream up mental images of him. Imagining God in our heads can be just as real a breach of the second commandment as imagining him by the work of our hands.”
Dr. John MacArthur writes, “If man is the offspring of God, as the Greek poet suggested, it is foolish to think that God could be nothing more than a man-made idol. Such reasoning points out the absurdity of idolatry (cf. Isa. 44:9–20).”
Take the time today to worship the Lord in your thoughts, emotions and will and also do so according to inherent Word (John 4:24). For it is solely in Him that we live, move and exist. Have a blessed day.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 