KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
So what do we know?
Man does not live on bread alone, BUT on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
We tend to hear that verse and think of the setting in Matthew 4 where Jesus is being tempted. The reference, however, hearkens back to Deuteronomy 8 where Moses is reminding the people that God allowed them to hunger and then provided manna from heaven, so that they would recognize He is what ultimately satisfies their longing.
The passage we began with in the Introduction—Paul’s message to the people of Athens from Acts 17—demonstrates that the people were, already, before Paul engaged them, a religious people. He noted their religious zeal in that they had erected temples and idols to every deity imaginable, including one to ‘An Unknown God.’ The intention was that, when they made rounds bowing to every god, if they left an offering for the Unknown, they’d have covered all bases. There wouldn’t be some unnamed deity out there to feel slighted and take vengeance. He offered, “Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.”
What caused these people to be religiously leaning? The big but above, whether you view it in Deuteronomy or Matthew’s setting, lends insight. We human beings were created with a void for the Divine. There is an internal longing for more than the things of this world. Temporal things offer satisfaction that is fleeting. It all points to a deeper hunger and thirst for the eternal. Our souls cry out.
Theologians have spoken of General Revelation—things that testify to every soul that there is a God. Paul spoke of this, too, when he addressed the Athenians, as he mentioned their lives, their settings, and the times that they found themselves in. Look around, in other words—none of this is by accident.
As you read through Genesis 1 you noted that, at each turn in the creation story, God declared things to be good. There was intention and design in creation. The picture was coming together just as planned. As you read Psalm 19, especially the first 6 verses, you noted how this coming together of creation testified to the existence of God—or at the very least, an intelligent being setting it all in place. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
These things speak of outward General Revelation—what we observe of the systems and the order of creation, all around us, that witnesses of God. The Apostle Paul spoke to people in Romans 1 about this, saying, “What may be known about God is plain, because God made it plain. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
You saw this observation of creation in the Athenian’s religious fervor—they had made temples and idols representing various ‘gods’, the god of the harvest, the god of fertility, the god of the sea, and so on. They saw the systems and order and attributed it all to higher beings. Then they wanted to be sure to bow to all of those supposed beings so as to stay in their good graces. In other words, they were compelled to live in response to deity. General Revelation—internal and external—that appetite within that longed to connect with something ‘other’ and the testimony of all that is seen that something ‘other’ exists that is the master of it all, work hand in hand to lead us into a pursuit to acquire a knowledge of God.
So we embark on an expedition. Give Genesis 2 and Romans 1:18-32 a read for next time. Pay particular attention to the buts you come across.
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