The God of Resurrection
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2017 · 7 May 2017
Paul was a man who brought to a great city exactly what that city needed. His message to Athens 2,000 years ago is relevant today for every city on the planet. First of all, he was a Jew. He was expert in the law and in tradition. He knew and observed very carefully the rituals of Judaism. He was a Pharisee, which meant that he took the matters of religion very seriously. And he was a teacher and a strong leader.
He was also a Roman citizen. He was skilled in secular matters, as he was skilled in religious ones. He was knowledgeable about politics, the military and even athletics. He was mentored by the greatest of Jewish scholars, a man named Gamaliel. He grew up in the Greek culture and philosophy in his hometown of Tarsus. And he possessed a brilliant intellect and a single-minded commitment to causes he believed in.
He had immense integrity. Had an amazing ability to write with clarity, and to speak in the same way. He demonstrated fearless courage, even in the face of death. He was well read and was well traveled. And he had been chosen, personally, by the resurrected Jesus Christ to be one of His official representatives to proclaim the Gospel of the cross and the resurrection.
He came one day to the most celebrated city in the ancient world, the city of Athens. At that time, it was the center of literature, art, and philosophy of the world. It was also the religious and political center of the world. It was the city of ideas. And, although in the first century Athens was under Roman rule, it was still intellectual independent.
And at the very heart of the city, was the focal point called the Acropolis. And there was a collection of sculptures of many deities and philosophers. It was the city of Socrates and Plato. It was the adopted home of Aristotle, Epicurus and Zeno. And some historians tell us that the literature and the sculpture of Athens never will be equaled in the world's history. It was in every sense, the epitome in the world of human achievement at that time.
And to that great city came Paul, alone, hated and pursued. He was on the run, from those who wanted to take his life. But the city had an immediate impact upon him, which led to his impact on the city. Let us continue in Acts 17. It records the story of the spread of the Gospel of the resurrection. The predominant figure in the first half of Acts is Peter. The predominant figure in the second half of Acts is Paul.
Both of them, eyewitnesses of the risen Christ who were given the responsibility to preach the resurrection. In his preaching, Paul finds himself in Athens. Verse 16, “Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.” Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy, to join him. Paul visits the city and what he sees are the souls of the people.
He wasn’t wowed by the marble and the gold. But the widespread religion of that city moved his emotions in a very negative way. Any man of God who looks at a city and sees the soul of that city given over to idols, sees the emptiness of false religion, and is grieved. Verse 17 says, “Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.” And we know that he always presented Christ.
The reaction would come rather quickly, in verse 18, “Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” "Idle babbler," means insignificant seed picker. They mocked and disdained him. He was like an uneducated seed picker trying to pass off cheap philosophical ideas, as if they were legitimate. That sounds like the typical reaction to preachers of the Gospel today by philosophers and university professors.
Some thought a little better of him. Verse 18 continues, "Others said, 'He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.'" Obviously, the Epicureans and the Stoics hated him, because he said, that God was who He was, and that God was incarnate in only one man. And he also at the end of verse 18, preached Jesus as God in human flesh and that He died and rose again.
And here Paul preached exactly the message that that city needed to hear. They needed to hear the message of the resurrection. They needed to know that eternal life comes only through Christ. They needed to understand that God became a man. And that man is Jesus Christ who lived a perfect life, and died a substitutionary death. He paid the penalty for your sins and mine. He rose from the dead that He provides for us eternal life.
Well, there was a process to follow if you want to announce a new deity and discuss a new philosophy. Verse 19, “And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?” The Areopagus is today called Mars Hill, not far from the great Parthenon where the supreme court of Athens convenes. The Epicureans and the Stoics also listened.
But there are others who are curious about what he is saying. And the reason for that is given in verse 21, “For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.” What they had experienced brought no satisfaction, and no ultimate answers. They had all these gods and all these religions and still empty hearts. And so they were open to new things.
So Paul was there with the elite of the city, the philosophers, the leaders, the judges, the authorities, and they all want to know what he believes. He basically gives them a three-point sermon. I am here to introduce you to the one true, living God. Point one: This God is knowable. The agony of an agnostic is that you will never know. Verse 22, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious.”
Then he says to them in verse 23, “for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you.” You worship in ignorance. “Let me introduce you to the one true God.”
Even Albert Einstein is quoted to have said, when he was asked if there is a Creator. "Of course there is a cosmic power. Not to believe that is foolish, but we can never know Him." But Einstein was wrong here. God is not the unknown god. God is knowable, and Paul says: I am going to introduce Him to you.
Second point, God is the Eternal Spirit. And Paul defines the character of God in verses 24 to 29, “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.”
Paul introduces the true God to them as the Creator. They believed that God was matter but Paul says, "Matter is not eternal, and you are not God. God is God, and He made everything that exists, including you. God is the God of Creation. God is the God of time and matter." God is not, as the Mormons say, a perfected man who was once a creature just like us and kept getting better until he finally became God. No, God is the Creator.
Secondly, he says, "God is the owner of everything He created. He is Lord of Heaven and earth. He is the Lord of everything." Thirdly, he says, "God, who is the Creator and is the owner of all His creation, does not dwell in temples made with human hands." That is, He is transcendent. He is beyond the bounds of the physical. He is that Eternal Spirit. God is not the God you made with human hands. God made you. He is the Creator.
That is why the Second Commandment in the Ten Commandment says, "Make no graven image." Do not diminish God and confine God to some form. Psalm 139 says God is everywhere, “7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.”
Paul says, "He is also the giver and sustainer of life. Neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things." He is the almighty sustainer. Romans 11:35-36 asks, “Who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?” 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.”
And then Paul says in verse 26, God is in charge of everything. He made from Adam every nation. Out of Adam came Eve. Out of that couple came all of humanity down to Noah and his family at the flood. And then out of them the rest of humanity. And it was God who determined their appointed times, and God who determined the boundaries of their habitation. It was God who decided their place in history and their place on the map.
And this hits right at the Athenians' pride, because they viewed themselves as self-made people. They viewed themselves as being unique, and they despised the uncultured and illiterate barbarians, as others were called. But they had not created themselves. They were what they were because of God. God had appointed them as a nation. God had appointed them at that place at that time of history. God is sovereign over history.
And then in verse 27 and 28, Paul said, "God is immanent." This doctrine means, "That all of these nations that God has identified, should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, because He is not far from each one of us." Yes, He is outside time and space, but, at the same time that He is also immanent. That is, He is not far from each one of us, you can know Him.
In fact, verse 28 says, "In Him we live and move and exist." He holds us together. The universe doesn't operate just at random. It operates on fixed laws because God is the operator. God is not far from each of us. So he is telling them, you have been looking all your lives for the God who satisfies your heart. The God you can know. And yet He is near to every one of us.
And then Paul adds in verse 28, "As some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His offspring.'" He is referring to Epimenides and Aradus, who had both written about the fact that there was a God who had created man, and that God would have to be known personally. So Paul says, "Some of you have looked at Creation and made the right conclusion.” There is a God who made it all, and we are in some small way like Him.
Then he makes his third point, God has spoken. The information in points one and two is enough to damn you, but not enough to save you. Natural revelation, is just enough to damn you. You need special, specific revelation to save you. Verse 30-31, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
God has been very patient throughout human history since the flood, when He destroyed the whole world. And here we are, 4500 years later, and He still hasn't destroyed the world since the flood. So he is says, “But God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent. It's time to repent from your sin and your idolatry. It's time to turn to the true God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ."
Why? Because, God has appointed a day. Hundred and twenty years before the flood, God came to Noah, and said, "I'm going to drown the whole world 120 years from now." And God appointed a day. One week before the flood came, He said, "Get in the boat. I'm going to shut the door, because in seven days the flood will come." Well, God has fixed another day. "He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world."
This time, by fire and judgment, He will judge it justly and rightly. He will judge sin as it should be judged. And He not only fixed a day, He has chosen a man whom He has appointed. Who is the judge? He chose a man, and He furnished proof to all men of that judgment by raising Him from the dead.
Do you understand God raised Jesus on the one hand to be our Savior, but also on the other hand to be our judge? It's amazing they didn't persecute him. What happened? Paul must have described the resurrection of the dead that will occur at the judgment, when all the dead of all the ages will be brought before God and Christ will judge them according to their deeds.
Verse 32, “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” The first group mocked while there were others who wanted to know more. Verse 33-34, “So Paul departed from among them. 34. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.”
So what is your response? Are you going to mock the resurrection? Maybe your reaction is to say, "I'd like to hear more about this some other time." Do you know that postponement is the same as rejection? And because only God knows what will happen tomorrow, God says the time is now to decide. We can only hope and pray that your reaction is to believe, to repent and to embrace Christ as your Savior, so He will not be your judge. Let us pray.