Acts 17: 22Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23For 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. 24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26And 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; 27That 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: 28For 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. 29Forasmuch 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. 30And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31Because 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.
“The Missing God” is a suitable title for this passage. Paul and those who traveled with him had gone to Athens, the center of the Grecians. The Greeks and Romans were very religious. They had many gods, some 12 chief gods and many lesser gods. Many of the stars and planets were thought as and named after their gods. Paul went to Mars Hill named after Mars, their god of war. They had a god for everything. Traveling down the streets were pieces of ground dedicated to their gods. There was space dedicated to a statue of the god and an altar that contained an inscription describing it. Paul marveled at it all. He came to a place that had no statue. It had an altar with an inscription to THE UNKNOWN GOD.
The people perceived there was a God beyond all the ones they could formulate or fabricate with their craftsmanship. Paul used this occasion to reveal to them just who this missing God is. This God wouldn’t have a statue along with the others. They could call upon this God, and he would actually hear them. He told them this God had revealed himself right to their doorstep in human form, not through wood or stone. He was missing from Mars Hill but could be found at the end of a prayer.
We tend to be like the Athenians in that we do the same to God that they did. We want to compress and compact God into nothing more than a statue of our own design to look at, a god of our imagination. The God Paul told the people about is far greater than the stars that rule the night or the sun that rules the day. He made them. He doesn’t have to be seen and won’t take a place of insult on our personal Mars Hill beside all the other gods we’ve placed there. That’s the place many want to put God. We want him to take his place in line.
God cannot be confined and molded into what we want. Lots of people choose to believe in a God of love but refuse to believe in hell much less a God that allows people to go there. Paul said that once God winked at the ignorance of man. Now he commands that all must repent and accept God in his fullness. We did not make God. He made the world. He made us. We are not responsible for our existence. In fact, our existence is by the permission and design of God. We have a design and purpose. When God breathed into Adam’s nostrils, he became a living soul. We now have that same identity.
Man’s nature is to compartmentalize God into our lives. We have a closet for everything and think we can just find a place for him and take him out when we want. No wonder prayers aren’t answered. No wonder the world is crazy and chaotic. When we treat God as a room in our life, he will eventually be ignored and become a missing God.
If it wasn’t for the statues, the children of the Athenians would not have known their gods. God wants us to trust him, repent, and acknowledge him as supreme. He will not be put in a closet or on the side of the road in our life. We’re not in charge of our lives. God is. He’s far bigger than we can imagine, and if we try to compress him we make a huge mistake. He’ll not take a place on Mars Hill.
There is no such thing as the goddess Venus or the god Apollo. There is a God who has power. We didn’t given it to him. We don’t give him life. He made us and gave us life. We are because he is. In him we move and have our being. He doesn’t need us to exist, but we do need him. We can be with this God in heaven. If we’re saved, we’re a work of regeneration. He’s God of the universe but won’t be God of our heart if we don’t let him.
If your heart has been a Mars Hill, let him clean out the statues. Let him in. He won’t be missing anymore. Let him be Lord and God of your life.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 