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Scripture Reading: Acts 17:16-34
In this message we shall study Paul’s preaching on the Areopagus. The Areopagus was Mars’ Hill, the seat of the ancient and venerable Athenian court, which judged the most solemn problems of religion.
Acts 17:22 says, “And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, Men, Athenians, I observe how in everything you are very religious.” The Greek word rendered “very religious” literally means to fear a demon, a supernatural spirit, hence, given up to demon worship, very religious. The same word is used in noun form in Acts 25:19 for religion. The Athenians were very religious not in relation to the true God but with respect to the worshipping of idols. We have seen that in verse 16 Paul’s spirit “was provoked in him as he beheld that the city was full of idols.”
In verse 23 Paul continued, “For while I was passing through and carefully observing objects of your worship, I found also an altar on which was inscribed, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I announce to you.” Here Paul seemed to be saying, “I announce to you the One you worship as the unknown God. He may be unknown to you, but He is known by me.”
In verses 24 and 25 Paul says, “The God who made the world and all things in it, this One, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, neither is He served by human hands as though He needs anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things.” The apostle’s word in these verses was a very strong inoculation to both the atheistic Epicureans, who did not recognize the Creator and His providence over the world, and the pantheistic Stoics, who submitted themselves to the will of many gods concerning their fate (see v. 18). In verse 24 Paul speaks of the God who made the world and all things in it. This word was directed mainly against the Epicureans, who, as atheists, did not believe in God. They believed neither in the Creator nor in the divine provision. Therefore, continuing to speak against the Epicureans, Paul went on to say that God is the Lord of heaven and earth. This One was absolutely ignored by the Epicureans. Furthermore, Paul pointed out that God Himself gives to all life and breath and all things. These are the divine provisions. God provides all things so that man may live. The Epicureans did not believe in the Creator, the Lord of heaven and earth who provides all the necessities of life for human beings.
Paul’s preaching in Acts 17 is very good. When he was reasoning with the Jews in the synagogues, he used the Scriptures. But when he was preaching to the philosophical Epicureans, he referred to the creation.
What Paul did in 17:2 and 17:24 and 25 is similar to what he did in chapters thirteen and fourteen. In chapter thirteen he used the Jewish Scriptures as the basis for preaching the resurrected Christ. But in chapter fourteen his preaching to the heathen was based on God’s creation. However, there is a difference in Paul’s use of the creation in his preaching in chapters fourteen and seventeen; his utterance in these chapters is somewhat different. In chapter fourteen he told the heathen that the “living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all the things in them...did not leave Himself without witness, doing good, giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness” (14:15, 17). There his word was not very philosophical. By contrast, Paul’s word to counter the false teachings of the Epicureans in chapter seventeen is quite philosophical. Here Paul declares that there is a Creator, the Lord of heaven and earth, and that He provides life, breath, and everything necessary for man’s living on earth.
In 17:26 Paul goes on to say, “And He made from one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, determining their appointed seasons and the boundaries of their dwelling.” The “one” here is Adam. God made from Adam every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth.
In verse 26 Paul points out that God has determined the appointed seasons and the boundaries of dwelling of all nations. Here we see God’s sovereign authority. God is sovereign over the entire earth. Not only did He create all nations out of one, Adam, but He determined the times and places of the nations. The migrations to America in its times and boundaries is a strong proof of this word and also of the first part of verse 27. Apparently Columbus opened the way from Europe to America; actually it was God who opened the way, for He determined the seasons for the discovery of the new land. Furthermore, it is He who draws the boundaries of all nations.
Paul’s preaching here in chapter seventeen is very philosophical. From the creation of the heavens and the earth and God’s provision for all of mankind, Paul goes on to speak of the existence of mankind. We need to learn of Paul in preaching the gospel. We may begin with creation, but we should not remain there. Rather, we should go on from creation to speak concerning man’s life. When we do this, we touch the very point of man’s need. In 17:26 Paul in his preaching came to man’s life on earth.
According to verse 27, God formed the nations, determining their appointed seasons and the boundaries of their dwellings, “that they might seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is surely not far from each one of us.” Because God is the omnipresent Spirit, He is not far from each one of us. This involves the Trinity. The divine Spirit is triune. Do you think that this Spirit is only the Spirit and not the Father and the Son as well? The God who is not far from us is surely the omnipresent Spirit, and this Spirit is the Triune God. The Spirit is the entire God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
In the first part of verse 28 Paul explains, “For in Him we live and move and are.” This indicates that man’s life and existence and even his actions are of God. This does not mean that man has God’s life and lives, exists, and acts in God as do the believers in Christ, who are born of God, possess His divine life and nature, and live, exist, and act in God’s Person. Rather, here Paul is pointing out that all human beings, including the Epicureans and all other unbelievers, live, move, and exist in God.
In verse 28 Paul also says, “As even some poets among you have said, For we also are His offspring.” These poets were probably Aratus (about 270 B.C.) and Cleanthes (about 300 B.C.) both of whom uttered the same words in their poems to Zeus (Jupiter), whom they considered the supreme God. In the writings of these two poets “His” refers to Zeus as the supreme God.
According to the poets to whom Paul refers in verse 28, we are God’s offspring. Mankind is God’s offspring just as Adam was supposed to be the son of God (Luke 3:38). To say that Adam was a son of God does not mean that he was born of God and possessed the life of God. Adam was created by God (Gen. 5:1-2), and God was his origin. Based upon this, he was supposed to be the son of God, even as the heathen poets considered all mankind to be the offspring of God. They were only created by God, not regenerated of Him. This is absolutely and intrinsically different from the believers in Christ being the sons of God. The believers have been born, regenerated, of God and possess God’s life and nature (John 1:12-13; 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:4). Since God is the Creator, the source, of all men, He is the Father of them all (Mal. 2:10) in a natural sense, not in the spiritual sense as He is the Father of all the believers (Gal. 4:6), who are regenerated by Him in their spirit (1 Pet. 1:3; John 3:5-6).
We need to consider in detail what it means to say that all of mankind are God’s offspring. Some theologians have taught that every human being is a son of God. They have taken as a basis for their teaching the word in Luke 3:38 concerning “Adam, the son of God.” Then they reasoned that since Adam, the first of mankind, was a son of God, then all his descendants must also be sons of God. This concept, they believe, is strengthened by Paul’s word in Acts 17 concerning all of mankind being God’s offspring. However, if we study the Bible carefully, we shall see that this concept is incorrect.
According to the Bible, God created man. As the Creator, God is the source of man. Genesis 2:7 says, “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” First God used the dust to form man’s physical body, and then He breathed into that body the breath of life, which caused the body to become alive. As a result, man became a living soul. Here in Genesis 2:7 there is the strong indication that human life came from God. In this sense man was not only created by God but also produced by God. We are not told in the Scriptures that God breathed the breath of life into animals. Only in creating man did He breathe into man the breath of life. Proverbs 20:27 uses for “spirit” the same Hebrew word rendered “breath” in Genesis 2:7. This reveals that the breath of life breathed into man by God is the element of man’s spirit. Actually, this breath of life became man’s spirit. The point we are emphasizing here is that the Bible indicates clearly that man was produced by God. We do not say that in creation man was born of God, but we do say confidently that man was produced by Him. God formed man’s body, breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a living soul. In this way man was produced by God, and in this sense man is God’s offspring.
The Bible also reveals that when we repent and believe in the Lord Jesus, we are born of God. To be produced of God is one thing; to be born of God is another thing. All human beings are the offspring of God in the sense of having been produced of God. But the believers are the sons of God in the sense of having been born of Him. There is no indication in the Bible that the offspring of God, the human beings produced of God, have the divine life with the divine nature. But the New Testament says that the believers, who have been born of God, have the divine life and are partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Therefore, we must differentiate between the offspring of God and the sons of God. All human beings are the offspring of God produced of Him, but the believers are the sons of God born of Him through regeneration. This is clearly emphasized in John 1:12 and 13: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
In Acts 17:28 and 29 Paul says that as the offspring of God we live, move, and exist in Him. In what sense do all humans live, move, and have their being in God? This is true in the sense that their human life was produced of God from the breath breathed into the first of mankind. Because we have such a human life, all humans live, move, and have their being in God. But the believers, who have been born of God, who have God’s life, and who have the divine nature, live, move, and have their being in God not only in the sense of having the breath breathed into man by God, but also in the sense of acting in the divine Person.
We need to be impressed with the fact that all humans are the offspring of God in the sense of having the breath of life from God. Therefore, they live, move, and have their being in God in this sense. But the believers have been born of God and have God Himself within as their life and nature. Thus, we live, move, and have our being in God not only in the sense of having the breath of life from God, but also in the sense of acting in God’s Person. All human beings are the offspring produced of God, but we who believe in Christ are the sons of God regenerated by Him. We all need to be very clear concerning this distinction between the offspring of God and the sons of God.
In 17:29 Paul continues, “Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to suppose that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an engraved work of art and thought of man.” The Greek word rendered “Divine Being” here is theion (cf. theiotes, divinity, in Rom. 1:20), meaning that which is divine, a vaguer, more abstract, and less personal word than theotes,which is translated “Godhead” in Colossians 2:9. In 17:29 theion indicates that man may know God’s divinity from His works but not God Himself. God Himself can be known only from the revelation of His eternal Word, Christ incarnate, the very embodiment of the Godhead.
In verse 29 Paul told the Athenians that they should not “suppose that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an engraved work of art and thought of man.” Here “thought” also means imagination or device. Idols are the works of the art and thought of man.
In 17:30 and 31 Paul goes on to say, “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now charges all men everywhere to repent, because He has set a day in which He is about to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a Man whom He has designated, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from among the dead.” The day set by God for the judgment of the inhabited earth will be the day when Christ will judge the living from the throne of His glory before the millennium (Matt. 25:31-36), probably not including the day when He will judge the dead at the great white throne after the millennium (Rev. 20:11-15). According to Acts 10:42, Christ has been designated by God “to be the Judge of the living and the dead.” He will be the Judge of the dead after the millennium at the great white throne. Second Timothy 4:1 and 1 Peter 4:5 also say that Christ will judge both the living and the dead. The day in Acts 17:31 refers particularly to the day Christ will judge the living, because on this day He will judge “the inhabited earth,” which should refer only to living men. This day of Christ’s judgment on earth will be brought in by His coming back. He has been designated by God to execute this judgment, and God’s raising Him from among the dead is strong proof of this. In their preaching to the Gentiles, both Peter in 10:42 and Paul here and in 24:25 stressed the coming judgment of God.
The Greek word rendered “proof” in verse 31 may also be translated faith, assurance, guarantee. The resurrection of Christ is proof and assurance of His coming back to judge all the inhabitants of the earth. This is guaranteed so that we may have faith in it and that it may lead us to repent (v. 30).
Paul’s word regarding Christ as the Man designated by God and regarding His resurrection indicates that Paul was fully constituted of this One and of His resurrection. Paul was led, guided, and directed absolutely by the Spirit of Jesus. Because he was constituted of the Spirit of Jesus, his goal, no matter what the subject in speaking, was to preach Christ and His resurrection.
Acts 17:32-34 say, “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; others said, We will hear you yet again concerning this. So Paul went out from their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.” From these verses we see that Paul gained not only certain leading ones from among the Jews but also a number of prominent ones among the Greeks. Although the New Testament does not mention a church in Athens, nevertheless Paul did a prevailing work in that city.
Paul’s preaching in Acts 17 surely fit the situation of the Greeks in Athens. Much of what Paul said was directed at the Epicureans and also at the Stoics. We have seen that the Epicureans did not recognize the Creator and His providence over the world, but sought sensuous pleasures, especially in eating and drinking. The Stoics were pantheists who believed that everything was governed by fate and that all happenings were the result of the divine will. In his preaching on the Areopagus Paul first referred to God as the Creator in an objective way as the One outside of us and with whom we do not have a direct relationship. Then from the Creator Paul proceeded to point out that all humans are the offspring of God and that we have our living and our being in Him. Following this, Paul went on to speak of the day when Christ will judge the living. All these points were aimed at the Epicureans.
The Epicureans say that there is no Creator or Provider. They also claim that we should pursue sensuous pleasures without regard for the future. It is likely that Paul had the Epicureans in mind when he said, “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, fur tomorrow we die” (1 Cor. 15:32). This appears to be a quote of a saying of that day, a maxim by the Epicureans. If there is no resurrection, we the believers shall have no hope in the future and become the most miserable of all men (1 Cor. 15:19). If so, we had better enjoy our life today, forgetting the future, like the Epicureans.
In his preaching in Acts 17 Paul seemed to be saying to the Epicureans, “There is a Creator, and He is the Provider who gives to all life, breath, and all things. You are God’s offspring, for you were produced of Him and derive your human life from Him. Because you have a human life, you live, move, and have your being in Him. You also need to know that there will be a judgment in the future. This future judgment is related to the resurrection of the Man Jesus. God has designated Jesus to be the One to judge everyone, and He has furnished proof of this by raising Him from among the dead. In the past God allowed you to go your own way. But He has sent me here to tell you that you now need to repent.” Paul’s word must also have been unveiling to the pantheistic Stoics. How marvelous was Paul’s preaching to the Athenians!
In Acts 17 we see that Paul’s preaching was full of the proper knowledge, for he was a person knowledgeable of both Hebrew culture and Greek culture. This enabled him to carry out a ministry in which he faced the situation among both Jews and Greeks. When Paul was facing the Jews, he used their Scriptures to preach Christ, pointing out where He is revealed throughout the Scriptures. He preached Christ not only as the Messiah, but also as the One who was God incarnate, who possessed humanity, who lived a human life on earth for thirty three and a half years, who died an all-inclusive death in order to solve the problems between man and God, who was resurrected in order to propagate the divine life by imparting it into His believers, and who ascended to the heavens where He was made Lord and Christ. Paul faced the situation among the Jews by using their Scriptures in this way. Not only was he knowledgeable in the black and white letters of the Old Testament; he also had the revelation and the insight to see into the depths of the Old Testament concerning Christ in His dual status as God and man concerning His human living, His all-inclusive death, His resurrection for propagation, and His headship as the ascended One.
When Paul faced the situation among the Greeks, he did so according to Greek culture. His preaching was based upon God’s creation. According to Acts 17, Paul pointed out that God created the heavens and the earth, that He provides life and all the necessities for its maintenance, that He produced mankind as His offspring, and that all humans live, move, and have their being in God. He told the Greeks of their need of God and that this God is Jesus Christ.
Paul’s way of preaching indicates that he was a learned vessel. In his ministry he could face the situation of the Jews according to the Scriptures and the situation among the philosophical Greeks according to God’s creation of the universe and man. I do not think that a Galilean fisherman such as Peter could bear this responsibility. Only one like Saul of Tarsus could fulfill this responsibility, for he was trained in the Jewish religion, educated in Greek philosophical culture, and lived in an environment of Roman politics. Therefore, he was fully qualified to bear the kind of ministry recorded in Acts.
Although Paul was educated according to Hebrew, Greek, and Roman culture, his main qualification was not his education; it was his spiritual constitution. Paul had been constituted of the Holy Spirit and of the Spirit of Jesus. For this reason, Paul did not preach Hebrew religion or Greek philosophy. Paul preached the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ. No matter how highly educated he was, he did not preach his education. He preached the all-inclusive Christ realized as the all-inclusive Spirit.
