THE UNKNOWN GOD

[Margaret Wright]

THE UNKNOWN GOD

I’m reading from Acts 17: 22-31 “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill and said, ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein seeing... that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed any thing, seeing He giveth to all life, and breath and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him though He be not far from every one of us: For in Him we live, and move and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at: but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained: whereof He hath given assurance unto all men in that He hath raised Him from the dead.”
Paul, while waiting for Timothy and Silas at Athens, he was stirred in his spirit as he observed how superstitious and idolatrous the people were. He also noticed an altar with the inscription TO THE UNKNOWN GOD and so he preached Jesus Christ and His resurrection to them in the synagogue and the market place daily. When more people wanted to hear the Gospel, he stood on Mars’ hill and said to them, I noticed an inscription on your altar as, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD whom you ignorantly worship but I know Him. The God who created the heavens and the earth, has given life and breath to all things. God has also determined the times and seasons and set the boundaries for their habitation. He has made one blood of all nations and He does not live in temples made with hands. God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus Christ His Son to save sinners. All that are born into this world are born as sinners. No sinner could ever go to heaven for that is where God dwells. Heaven is a holy place where the streets are paved with gold and every one love and worship God. All the nations of the world have one blood. This great, big wonderful God who feeds all the birds and animals daily and maintains the whole universe that He created cannot dwell in temples made with men’s hands. Verses 20 and 21 say, “For as much then as we are the offering of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and men’s devices. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent”. In ignorance people bow down and worship the creatures that God has made instead of giving worship to God, the Creator. Worship is due only unto God for only He is worthy. You can know this God if you will seek Him with all your heart. Jesus Christ is alive.
God sent His Son, Jesus Christ in the form of man, born of a virgin Mary (born without sin) and lived without sin so that He could give His life as a sacrifice for sin and set man free from the bondage of sin. Sin is what separates man from God and sin must be punished. After sin entered, sickness and death followed and Jesus was manifested to restore to man all that was lost when he fell. While Jesus lived in the world He showed man what God was like and He healed all the sick people who came to Him. By many signs and wonders He proved that He is the Son of God. Then wicked men, falsely accused and brought Him before Pilate to be tried and Pilate delivered Jesus to the Jews to be crucified. Jesus was then mocked and a crown of thorns was placed upon His head and they spat on Him. They put a blind fold over His eyes and then slapped Him and asked Him to prophesy who did it. They plucked His beard and bowed before Him mockingly, calling Him king. The back of Jesus was scourged 39 times with a whip that drew flesh and blood. His face was marred more than any man and in this condition He was compelled to carry a heavy wooden cross down the road to the place called Calvary where He was to be crucified. Before the crowd His Hands and Feet were nailed to the cruel cross and the cross then dropped into the pit to be lifted up between heaven and earth. All during the painful suffering and accusations the Lord Jesus Christ did not open His mouth in defence for He knew why He had to endured all this – it was for me and you and even for those who were inflicting all this pain on Him. Jesus was not a victim of circumstances that He had no control of, no, no – He was carrying out the will of His Father. He is the Lamb of God bearing the sin of the world, the curse and the sicknesses and facing death -–the penalty for sin. He is God manifested in the flesh to save mankind from eternal punishment in hell. Who can understand this kind of love? I do thank God for loving me and dying for me. In those days the capital punishment for criminals was to be crucified, and here was our precious Jesus, the guiltless One being crucified for guilty sinners. He was God and so death could not touch Him but He willing laid His life down to save us. They gave Him vinegar to drink when He said He was thirsty. When he committed His soul to His Father, He died and then a soldier threw a spear and pierced His side and at once blood and water gushed out. They took Him down from the cross and they placed Him in a borrowed tomb and sealed the tomb and set soldiers to watch in case His dead body was stolen by His disciples. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and so on the third day, like it was prophesied of Him earlier, He arose from the dead. Glory to God. Death could not keep Him nor the grave hold Him. He is risen and He has conquered death. This is the price of our redemption – this is the display of great love in the highest form. Because He was God’s sinless Lamb sacrificed for the sins of the whole world, He is the Saviour of the world. The only way man could get rid of his sins is by coming to this Saviour and asking for forgiveness and having his sins washed away with this Holy blood which was shed for us. Oh, what a Saviour! Although we are freely forgiven when we truly repent and turn from our sins, yet the cost to Him was shame, pain and suffering and His life.
My friend, are you worshipping at the altar of an UNKNOWN God? or do you know the One true and living God and His Son Jesus Christ? Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father but by Me.” Johnn14:6 For a few years I too worshipped in a ceremonial way a God whom I did not know personally. I went to Church regularly and went through the forms of worship and thought I was a good Christian girl and thought I was ready for heaven. How deceived I was. I had never read the Bible or known that I was born a sinner and the only way to get rid of my sin was by coming to Jesus in true repentance and willing to forsake my sin and be washed in His precious, holy blood. Many, many fall into this category of being deceived that we know God because we have a form of religion and we are good people. The Bible says, “all have sinned ..” and so that word “all” excludes none. Every sinner needs a Saviour to save him. You may celebrate the Christian festivals and know the story of Jesus but is He real to you? He did not come to give us festivals but He came to give us eternal life and hope. Have you any time come to Him and confessed and forsaken your sins? Do you have His peace and know that if you should die now, you know you will go to heaven? Do not worship any longer at the altar of the UNKNOWN GOD for you have just heard the love story of God and what He did for sinful man. You can know God through Jesus Christ, His Son and you can know that your sins are forgiven. He loves you and is reaching out to you now with this story of God’s love for you – will you respond to Him now? Maybe you have heard this story many times but you did not respond or maybe you never heard this story till now. God is giving you an opportunity to receive Him and let Him be Lord of your life and bring you love and peace and joy and a glorious hope for the future.
One day many years ago I heard the blessed story of God’s love for me and how the blood of His Son can cleanse me from all sin. I repented and came to Him with my sin and asked Him to wash me and come into my heart. The Lord forgave me my sins and made me clean on the inside and since that day He lives in me and is very real to me. He is my Savior and my Lord and He fully satisfies me. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever and He can not only save you but He can heal you too if you ask Him believing that He took your sins and your sicknesses to set you free. Reach out to Him in faith and you could have a miracle. God bless you richly.
Margaret Wright