Live, Move And Have Our Being

HoHum:

When I have a day off my wife asks me, “What is your plan for today?” I say, “I plan to live, move and have my being.” What I am saying is that I plan living today, enjoying the abundant and full life. I plan on moving, probably just moving from the couch to the refrigerator to see what kind of snacks we have and then going back to the couch to either watch TV or take a nap. I will have my being. I will simply exist and enjoy being me. Sounds like a great day off

WBTU:

Acts 17:28 is in Paul’s sermon to the Areopagus on Mars Hill in Athens. Athens in that day had the intellectuals. “All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.” Acts 17:21, NIV. Not only were they the think tanks of the day but they also were very religious. That might seem strange to us, in our day many of the cultural elites want to deny God. In that day, the ideas about God centered on the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. While Paul was touring the city of Athens he found an altar with this inscription: To an Unknown God. Paul started there and told the Athenians about the one true God. Wonderful apologetic sermon that seeks to correct many misconceptions about God. Interesting that Paul never once mentions the name of Jesus Christ- the whole sermon is to get them to understand the one true God. Paul does say in vs. 31 that God will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. Then Paul talks about how this man was resurrected from the dead (referring to Jesus Christ). At this point the sermon is ended because the Areopagus does not want to hear anymore from Paul. 2 things:

1. Our life belongs to God. In God, we live, move and have our being. What does this mean? Well, in that statement is our past, present and future. We live (came into being), our past; we move (power to move now), our present; have our being (continue to live on and on), our future. This one God is the source and sustainer of all life. This is contrary to the malicious and impersonal gods of the Greeks. This poem by Russell Kelfer sums it up so well: You are who are for a reason. You’re part of an intricate plan. You’re a precious and perfect unique design, called God’s special woman or man. You look like you look for a reason. Our God made no mistake. He knit you together within the womb, You’re just what he wanted to make. The parents you had were the ones he chose, and no matter how you may feel, they were custom designed with God’s plan in mind, and they bear the Master’s seal. No, that trauma you faced was not easy. And God wept that it hurt you so; But it was allowed to shape your heart so that into his likeness you’d grow. You are who you are for a reason, You’ve been formed by the Master’s rod. You are who are, beloved, because there is a God.”

2. The Fatherhood of God. No, Paul did not use that term Fatherhood but we see it mentioned toward the end of Acts 17:28. Paul is using a quote from the Athenian poets of Aratus and Cleanthes. Paul was using cultural terms to describe the true God. Many of the philosophers recognized that all of mankind is alike and must come from one source. We are much more than the animals. We are made in God’s image and as such are sons and daughters of God. On the 6th day, “God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness...” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:26, 27, NIV. Children resemble their parents. I resemble my father. One time there was a new preacher who came to town. A young man was interested in the new preacher so he attended the preacher’s first sermon. This young man was an illegitimate child and never knew his father. The young man was impressed and went through the line to shake the preacher’s hand after the service. The preacher, wanting to get to know the people there, asked the young man, “Now, who is your father?” A gasp went up from the people. The boy, shaken by the question, did not know how to respond. The preacher sensed the young man’s apprehension and said, “Well, after looking you over, I now know who your father is. I can see the family resemblance. God is your father. Now go and claim your inheritance.” That young man went away happy and even more impressed.