Acts 17:24-27a 24The God who made the world and everything in it, this one Lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made by hands, 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to everyone life and breath and everything. 26And he made from one man every nation of people to live on all the face of the earth, having determined the times and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27to seek God, and possibly feel their way toward him and might find him.
In the next section of his speech, Paul moved deeper into basic beliefs about God’s existence, character, and sovereignty in the world. Paul’s theology was expansive and exhaustive, which may have been a challenge for the polytheistic Greeks to accept. Everything he said was consistent with Old Testament theology. His argument revolved around God as creator. Many people believe in God in a broad and general sense. Their understanding is limited to an abstract idea of a Grand Mover or power source behind the universe. Paul began with this core and basic theology and challenged the narrow thinking of the many religious cults present in Athens. This “unknown god” of the Athenians was actually the creator of everything that exists. He was higher than any of the gods or goddesses in the pantheon.
Paul provided two premises about God that challenged the idolatry found in Athens. First, God cannot be confined to any temple made by people. First Kings 8:27 reminded Israel that God’s presence was beyond Solomon’s temple. Even the Greek philosophers like Plato believed in a reality beyond the material world. Second, this Creator God does not need humanity to serve him in any way. God is all self-sufficient. Paul’s reasoning for this idea is found at the end of verse 25: there is one direction for the gift of life and existence, and it comes from God to humanity, not the other way around. We exist because of God; God does not exist because of us (Psalm 50:7–15; Isaiah 42:5). There is nothing we can do to help God. Behind this sweeping statement stand God’s holiness and grace.
The next point Paul made focuses on God’s grace to his providential care of creation and sovereign control over creation. God is the ultimate authority over humanity and determines the rise and fall of nations and their boundaries. God began creation from one man, though Paul does not mention Adam by name. From this one man came all the people of the earth. Science has shown that all humans share a common DNA. This God was not just for Jews but for every nation and people group. The Athenians had access to the same God as the Jews. God controls history and moves it along according to his will and ultimate purposes. Human freewill cannot trump God’s sovereignty.
The human response to this all-powerful God should be to seek him out. Paul used two rare optative mood verbs, feel (psēlaphēseian) and find (heuroien), which show the futile efforts and limited ability of humans to understand or seek God. Humans have sought God with their various religions over the ages. They have been quite creative in trying to find God, but much of this has resulted in empty idolatry and human religion. We can find God only because God has first come to us in grace. If we can know anything about God, it is because of God’s revelation of himself to us.