The Unknown God: Knowing the God You Worship
Athens was filled with religion. The city had altars, temples, idols, and countless ideas about the divine. Yet in the middle of all that worship, the people still did not know the true God.
Paul even discovered an altar dedicated “To the unknown god.”
“What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” Acts 17:23, ESV
Paul did not present the gospel as one more belief to add beside everything else. He declared that the God they did not know was the Creator of heaven and earth. He does not live in temples made by human hands, and He does not depend upon people to sustain Him. He is the One who gives life, breath, and everything else.
The Athenians were deeply spiritual, but sincerity alone could not save them. Their religious activity did not replace the need to know God as He has revealed Himself. The same danger remains today. A person can believe in “something,” attend church, speak about spirituality, and still never truly know the Lord.
God is not hiding from humanity. Paul said that He created people to seek Him, yet He is “actually not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27). The unknown God has made Himself known through Jesus Christ.
Paul’s message also demanded a response. God now commands all people everywhere to repent because judgment is coming through the Man He raised from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is not merely an inspiring story. It is God’s declaration that Christ is Lord.
The full message above explores Acts 17:22-30 and Paul’s message in Athens, confronting empty religion and calling us to know, worship, and respond to the one true God.
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