God Commands Man!

The Apostle Paul in his address on “Mars Hill” in Athens, contending with some resident philosophers, presented a case for the Athenians to come to know personally “The Unknown God” whom they worshipped ignorantly.

After presenting various proofs for God and making the case for the fact “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28), Paul logically states that “. . .since we are the offspring of God we ought not think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising” (Acts 17:29).  Essentially, Paul says you worshipped such gods out of ignorance, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:28).

Here we see God is not making a suggestion, He is issuing a command.

Why are we to “repent”, i.e., turn from our own ways and turn to following God’s ways?  Paul answers, “. . . because He (God) has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man (Christ Jesus) whom He has ordained.  He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

This fearful prospect puts the heavy responsibility and privilege on the Church to "get the 'word' out", to make Christ Jesus known, that He died for  the sins of the whole world (John 3:16), that people might repent and embrace Him as their Savior, Lord and King.

In another place the Apostle Peter jumps into this discussion saying, “. . . that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?  For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (I Peter 3:3&4).

Peter continues that these scoffers willfully forget that God once judged the earth with water in which everyone, save Noah and his family perished, choosing not to believe that God will judge the world again.

Peter further says, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (I Peter 3:19).

There it is again—a sweeping call to repentance.

Then follows this awesome word:  “But the day of the Lord will come” (I Peter 3:10a).

Count on it!