THE NATION WHICH REACHES OUT FOR GOD

“THE NATION WHICH REACHES OUT FOR GOD”

Independence Day message

Acts 17:16-34

Rev. Grady Davidson 070311

On this occasion of celebrating the 235th birthday of our nation, it’s a great chance to step back, and as best we can from God’s Word, to get His perspective on what it means to be a nation. So this morning, I want to begin with just one question: What is God’s purpose in establishing the nations? Have you ever paused to consider that question? Is the birth and rise and fall of the nations a purely random and meaningless event? Or is something bigger and grander and more dramatic actually at stake as we consider the birth and the rise of this great nation?

So: what is God’s purpose for establishing the nations?

From all of scripture this passage speaks especially clearly to that very question. Today’s scripture text is the Apostle Paul preaching to a gathering of sophisticated intellectuals in that ancient city of Athens, Greece. He’s preaching at the Areopagus, a place the Greeks had named for Ares, their god of war; but it was more importantly a place they used for public debate. If there was something about religion or philosophy or international affairs or domestic affairs for which you had strong ideas, you would go to the Areopagus, stand on your soapbox and start talking. These Greek intellectuals would gather around and debate the merits of what you had to say.

One thing that you have to understand about these Greek “men of Athens” is that they were a very racist, very nationalistic folk. According to their philosophy, they (the Greeks) were the real humanity. They had sprung up from the rocky soil of the Greek islands; but everybody else in the world were at best barbarians, and less-than human. The other thing you have to know about the Athenians is that they were extremely idolatrous. (Review v. 16). The city was full of idols to their many, many gods. So Paul, who loves people and wants to meet them right where they are begins with their idolatry (22-23). “You have lots and lots of gods here; just to be on the safe side you even have an altar to an Unknown God, just in case you missed one! Let me tell you about that Unknown God, to whom you built an altar.”

Then, what does he tell them about this unknown God, whom you and I worship as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?

(v. 24) – This Creator God is not confined to a temple. Men of Athens, your beautiful city is full of temples. But God the Creator who deserves our worship and praise is bigger and grander than any temple you could possibly build.

(v. 25) – This Creator God of whom I’m speaking is the One who gives YOU your life. You Greeks think that as you make bloody sacrifices at the altars of your many gods, that you are empowering them and making them stronger. Get real! You don’t give life to God; rather, God gives life to you!

So the Apostle establishes a link with them; the next thing he has to do in order to reach them with the gospel of Jesus Christ is to address their racism. (v. 26) “From one man, he made every nation of men.” Listen carefully to God’s Word: we are a single human race, birthed from one pair of human parents who are named in the Bible as Adam and Eve. Sometimes we mistakenly speak of racial classifications – white, black, Latino, Native American; and while there are marked differences in skin, hair and eye color and facial features, yet we are biologically united. The study of human DNA shows exactly what the Bible states -- that all 7 billion of us descend from the same mother. As long as the Athenians held to the idea that they were biologically different, indeed biologically superior to the surrounding nations, 1) they saw no need for a human Savior, Jesus Christ 2) they would never be able to accept that Savior, that Son of God, was born in faraway Judea.

To make application for us, one of the great strengths of the United States of America is that we rather self-consciously think of ourselves as a “melting pot” of nations. In our better moments, we remember that we’re a mongrel bunch who have come to this great land from all over the world. And that’s a tremendous strength which we should celebrate.

We go back to our text (26) – “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth.” If you read through our primeval history in the book of Genesis, you find out that God took humanity and divided us by languages to form the many nations at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). Sinful, fallen man was set upon exerting God-like power by all living in one place, under one human government, and building a tower to heaven to challenge the very reign and rule of God himself. God said, “I don’t want that. I want you to do what I told you to do in the beginning, and to be fruitful and multiply and fill the whole earth.”

Man wanted to be united in one place and one culture and overthrow God for the glory of mankind;

God wanted man to be scattered and fill the whole earth with His glory. It’s an entirely different frame of reference. Going back to Acts 17:26, God broke mankind apart into smaller groups by means of the division of languages for the purpose that mankind should inhabit the whole earth, claiming the entire world for God’s great glory. In theology we call it the “cultural mandate.” God broke us apart into nations, so that in those places where He establishes us we will establish the rule of our King, Jesus Christ – through the preaching of the Word and the evangelization of the nations.

(v. 26 cont’d): And He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.

That’s an amazing statement and it teaches at least two huge truths that are of huge importance as we celebrate our country’s 235th birthday. (1) That God has set the times of the nations. Working through the events of human history, on occasions like the signing of our Declaration of Independence, and through even difficult times as in the aftermath of wars, God establishes the birth, the rise, the lifespan, and the fall, of the nations. To me that’s an incredibly humbling thought. I’m sure those words struck deep into the heart of the nationalism of the Greeks when Paul spoke those words. It should hit us hard too. God establishes the times of the nations.

(2) He establishes the places where the nations live. God is the author of international boundaries. International borders are in God’s plan. What God’s Word teaches at this point isn’t politically correct as some would endorse political correctness; but the Bible teaches that the nations have the right to defend their own borders. Romans 13:1-7 teaches that civil government is entrusted with military and policing authority to defend and protect the innocent and to punish the guilty.

But why would God do that? Doesn’t He know that governments invariably turn corrupt and that the government is full of scoundrels whom we shouldn’t trust? And wouldn’t it be best if we all just erased those imaginary lines in the sand which separate Honduras from Guatemala, and Guatemala from Mexico, and Mexico from the United States, and United States from Canada? I mean surely it would be better if we could do away with all this stuff about separate countries, and everybody get along? (Uh uh.)

God says, No, no, there’s a grand and glorious purpose and design in My plan for the times and boundaries of the nations.

(v. 27) – God did this (establish the times and exact places of the nations) so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. It’s an amazing verse of scripture. In short, God establishes the nations, even through the chaotic and often sinful actions of human beings, for the purposes of worship and evangelism. (You say, huh?)

Consider the alternative. If the earth was inhabited by wandering, shiftless, disconnected families, then our every waking moment would be intent on finding food for the day, drinkable water for the day, and shelter for the coming night. But what would happen when I get my bucket full of clean water and my satchel full of apples and berries, and I huddle with my family in the dark of a cave for the night to come? Along will come somebody else, with an eye to my food and my water and my cave, and it’s his club and his spear against my club and my spear. That’s all that human existence could amount to – daily grappling with one another for survival. Under those barbaric conditions, mankind would have no time to think about God, and no time to reflect upon our own souls, and no time to think about eternity to come. In those barbaric conditions (the only alternative to the absence of human government), nobody is going to reach out and find God. (cf 1 Timothy 2:1-8 -- We pray for the civil magistrate BECAUSE a community in which we are able to live peaceful and quiet lives is conducive to evangelism; for God desires all men to be saved.)

God said, I don’t want you all huddled together under one government (Genesis 11); nor do I want you in the anarchy of no human government and no independent nations. As an act of mercy and kindness to us, God establishes the nations (both their time and place), to give mankind a place to stand; a place to set our feet in relative peace and in relative security… and from that blessed posture of living under the security of your nation, you might just give God a second thought…. And you might just look up and seek after Him and find Him! (v. 27) Why did God give birth to the United States through the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence? At least in part, so that YOU, my dear friend, might enjoy the liberty and the security that creates a garden (if you will) in which you can seek after God, and find Him, and worship Him. Go all the way back to 1620 and the Pilgrims signing the Mayflower Compact. They knew that was what it was all about. They were fleeing religious tyranny and oppression and seeking a new nation in a new world, to which they came for “the glorie of God & the advancement of the Christian faith.”

There’s one more thing to be said about God’s purpose for the nations. As we get to know God as He’s revealed in Scripture, we come to realize that He delights in both unity and in diversity. He is bringing all the nations together under the reign of Jesus Christ (that’s the unity). There is One people of God, and we are growing into all the nations of the world through the preaching of the gospel. And yet, even in the age to come, we will still be identifiable by the nation and people group from which we came in this age (Rev. 13:7 et al). Isn’t that an awesome thought? God’s plan for the world is the salvation of a remnant from every nation, so that in the New Heavens and New Earth of the Age to Come, we’ll be praising Christ for He has saved… Burundians… and Scots… and Chinese…and Malay… and Laotians… and Ukrainians and Romanians. And even some citizens of the good old USA.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Spirit. Amen.