The God You Don’t Know Yet

Good News – June 2023 – Grace & Truth Magazine

The God You Don’t Know Yet

In the 1st century, a preacher named Paul visited Athens, a famous city in Greece. It was a busy place! Many people came and went in the marketplace, describing things they had seen or heard in their travels.

Paul planned to meet some friends who were also traveling to Athens. As he waited for them, he had time to walk around, listening to conversations and seeing the sights. One thing that really got his attention was the number of idols and temples he saw. They seemed to be everywhere! In fact, he even saw an altar dedicated “To the Unknown God” (Acts 17:23 NKJV). Apparently the people of Athens did not want to leave any god out, so they made sacrifices on that altar just in case there was some deity they had not learned about yet.

Our world today is very similar to Athens, isn’t it? Many people have many different beliefs about God. Who is He? What is He like? What does He want from us? Since there are so many ideas about Him, does it even matter what we believe? Maybe you have asked some of the same questions. Perhaps your family believes in one specific God, or perhaps they believe in many different gods. Or maybe your family believes that there is no God at all.

For Paul, these questions about God created an excellent opportunity. He began to tell the people of Athens about his faith in the God they didn’t know yet. He is the great God who made everything – the one true God, revealed to us in the Bible. (This event in Paul’s life is recorded in the Bible, too, in Acts 9, 22, 26.)

Paul explained that the true God possesses all power and all knowledge. Not only did He make the earth, but He also knew the exact times and places we would live. Even more amazing is the fact that He wants to have a relationship with us. “He is not far from each one of us,” Paul said, and if we reach out for Him then He will surely be found (17:27).

Most importantly, Paul added, God is known through Jesus Christ. Our sins and wrongs keep us far from God, but Jesus died, shedding His blood, as the holy payment for those sins. And then God raised Him from the dead! This proves that His payment was accepted; and, if we believe in Him as our Savior, we can be forgiven. The resurrection of Jesus als0.o makes Him qualified to be the judge of the whole world one day. If we do not confess our sins and trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior now, He will have to judge us for our sins then.

When the people of Athens heard Paul’s message, some laughed, and others said they would think about it. But some believed, and the God they didn’t know became their God! Will you do the same? The God you don’t know yet is the great God, the only true God. He knows you, loves you, and calls you to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved from your sins. We can tell you more.