The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1962-10-12
God

God? Even to ask the question
is absurd. The Bible is so filled
with truth about God that a life
time of study could not draw
from the Scripture all that is
there to be found. Because there
is such an Embarrassment Of
riches" we have to make some
selection here. We mention only
a few great truths about God,
all found in the 18th chapter of
Acts. The passage, Acts 17:22-
q, is part Of a sermon Paul
preached to a pagan audience in
the city of Athens. If you had a
chance to speak to educated non
Christians about God how would
you start? What would you say
first?
Creator and Lord J..
Paul begins by reminding the
Athenians that they were not
atheists. Their trouble was that
they believed in too many gods.
They were so anxious not to ne
elect any god that they had
actually put up an altar to IAN
Unknown God" Whoever was
responsible for that altar must
have felt there was some other
God out of sight. Paul brings
the word that this unknown
god' is after all, the true one.
He is 1.-The God"-the only one
No part of this earth is outside
his realm only that is say
ing too little: in this space
minded age Paul might well
have said that God made the
Universe and everything in it.
He is the God Of every star and
every planet, no matter how
many light-years away. AS Gre
ator, he does more than make
worlds without number. He peo-
pies them with inhabitants with
out number. He makes life pos
sible here~on this earth. Wher-
ever in this vast universe life
exists = if it does - there it is
God who is both Creator and
Preserver, and therefore Lord of
heaven and earth. and of all
their inhabitants.
1--WE are His offspring"
Further, God as Creator is
Father of all. Paul shows his
knowledge 1--WE did not say,
shows off his knowledge) by
quoting from a Greek poet
Aratus - or another one, Clean
thes, who said the same thing.
I'VE are His offspring" In plain
English, we are children of God.
Children, that is, in the sense
that we are His creatures, we
owe our existence to Him. There
are three levels $50 to speak
of the fatherhood of God. First
He is the Father Of our Lord
Jesus Christ; this is unique, no
other is in the class with Christ.
Second, He is Father of believ-
ers. Father of those who love
Him and desire to live as His
children. Third He is Father Of
all men, though most men do
not know this nor care, but are
Self-made orphans.
God is Spirit -.
Jesus had said long before
this, God is Spirit" Paul does
not use this word but he speaks
of what God is not. He does not
live in shrines made by hand;
He is not served by human
hands; in Him we live and move
and are; 1.-THE Deity is not like
gold, or silver. or stone, a rep
Sentation by the art and i'm
agination of man." If we are
Gods offspring, then human
being is more nearly like God
than anything else in the uni
verse; SO true is this, that when
God set out to make his special
and supreme revelation of Him.
self, He did this through the
man Christ Jesus. So Paul gent
ly but plainly condemns all
idols.
THAT they might seek after
Him.
A little boy said: II like God.
He hides and we have to find
Him." There is truth in that.
God is not obvious, we can go
through life denying that He ex-
lists but He is there all the
time. Rather, He is here, here
wherever We may be. He is not
f. from each one Of us land
remember, Paul was speaking
to non-Christians) yet neverthe-
less the Bible often speaks of
mans seeking God. The point
here is that God made man and
has taken care of him, for one
main purpose. namely: that men
might seek God in hope. God is
not a silent God, He is not aloof
and remote, deaf to mans cries.
God wants to be wanted. He
wants His chadren-by creation to
become His children-by-grace
But God will not force His way
into any heart. He would rather
be sought freely and eagerly