To The Unknown God

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 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.

Acts 17:22-23 

Paul preached Christ regardless of the cultural milieu in which he found himself. Our text derives from the narrative that describes Paul’s encounters in Athens. This was a culture dramatically opposite from Judaism, ‘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.’ These were the days of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. They were the children of the culture of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They were the products of what occurs when humanity reasons under the sun. When Paul encountered them they described him as a ‘seed-picker’ or ‘babbler’ as some translations put it. He seized the opportunity to preach Christ to them. He employed the inscription of one of their statues proclaiming, ‘TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.’ As much as the gospel is fundamentally different than all other religions, he was correct. Christ is the God Who was unknown to them. Paul took the opportunity to take them somewhere they had never been before. The gospel does that, because it removes from us all hope of self-salvation. When we realize that we cannot redeem ourselves, that human philosophy is vain, that all attempts at self-reformation will fail, and that Christ has done all that is necessary to make us just with God, we enter into totally new territory. We look to Christ, rest by faith upon Him, and stand upon redemption ground. In our hands no price we bring, simply to His cross we cling. Jesus paid it all. Jesus never fails.  

Great God of Wonders,
we rejoice that You are the God we can know.
We praise You that You have shown us Yourself
most gloriously in Christ.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning