We live in a self-important society. We take personality tests. We use social media to broadcast what is on our mind. We hear slogans that tell us we’re due something or we deserve a reward. But, in order to live in such a way that God is most glorified, we must pursue a greater knowledge of Him. To really be who God made us to be, we must make it a priority to know Him over knowing ourselves. Who God is will transform our own lives, our relationships, and our own sense of identity.
One way I will give a biblical lens today through which you can more closely examine God, is to study Him as Creator. When we can emphasize God as our Creator as much as we do our Savior, this provides a stronger basis for worship.
This understanding should change our outlook on our lives, days, body and money. God, as Savior, is such a glorious role. But He has a prior claim as the Creator. Namely, OUR Creator! So, how does this understanding change the way we live? I think it feeds our worship. We realize just how great God is and that’s what informs our worship. We’re not relying on our feelings toward Him, but leaning on a deeper understanding of Who He is and what makes Him Who He is.
The more we love and understand Him, the more we see that He’s better than we could have ever possibly imagined! And we gain a deeper appreciation of Who He is by studying His Names. Not only can we know God deeper through understanding His Names and his Attributes, but we can better understand ourselves.
God’s position as Creator, explains our call to create. We are called to a sense of purpose. And that purpose involves a mission. A mission in life. We are to be people who create. The problem is passivity. We’re not creating as God calls us to create. Fathers are leaving children instead of creating families. Instead of creating work or business, people are waiting for handouts. Instead of sharing our faith to create brother/Sister relationships in Christ, we often sit these opportunities out, afraid to do so.
Another name we will examine today is, “God the Merciful.” We like to receive mercy, but we’re often slow to give it. My goal is to help people become more merciful and teach you about the God of mercy. We’ll look at the well-known passage in Micah that tells us to love mercy, act justly, and to walk humbly with God. We’re called to love, and out of that love we are to give mercy to others.
Once we gain an understanding of God’s Names and attributes, like Creator and Merciful, we'll get more than just knowledge: we are called to action! We’re not learning just to gain information; we’re learning so we can change. Knowing Who God is affects how we treat others. When we lack mercy, we have poisoned relationships because we’re holding on to things like past hurts. Also, when we can understand Who God is, for example, as Creator, it changes the way we worship. We’re not just worshipping when the music is catchy or the hymns sound majestic, but we’re worshipping in spirit and in truth.
Acts 17: 22-34, "Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Do you really know God? During Paul’s second missionary journey; after passing through Amphipolos and Apollonia he arrives in Thessalonica and reasons with the Jews in the synagogue three Sabbath days over the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some believed and the Jews that didn’t believe were moved with envy and caused a lot of trouble for Paul and Silas, saying that these men have turned the world upside down. They were forced to leave, and the brethren sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. He preached there and many of them believed. But, the Jews in Thessalonica heard that the word of God was being preached by Paul in Berea. So, they came there also and caused even more trouble for Paul. Again, Paul leaves and is brought to Athens. Silas and Timothy stay behind in Berea. Those who escorted and brought Paul to Athens were given a command for Silas and Timothy to come to Athens as soon as possible.
While waiting in the city for them, he spent some time sightseeing. He noticed that the people of Athens have put up statues of all the gods, and even to the unknown gods. Paul described Athens as a city “wholly given to idolatry”.
During his visit, Paul met “certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and the Stoicks” and preached to them about Jesus. This led them to bring him before the court of Areopagus. This court met up on a hill call Mars Hill. Members of the court were curious about Paul’s proclamation of the god they worshipped without knowing.
Now, Paul is standing before the court of Areopagus and begins to say; "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, “To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
Verses 24-26, God IS Creator of the world and is sovereign in all the activities that go on in the world.
Someone wrote, “Look around and see how big God is”. It's important for all of us to look around and notice and thank God for His handy work. The Bible says in Isaiah 42, "Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it."
We as human beings, are very special to God because we have been made in the image and after the likeness of God. We are spirit beings that have a soul and live in a body. If men and women want to have a relationship with God, we must be born again so we can worship Him in spirit and truth.
God IS sovereign. God has absolute rule over creation as King and total control and determination over all that happens. The Bible says in Daniel 4: 34-35, "His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the people and things of the earth are accounted as nothing, and He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the people and things of the earth, and none can stay His hand or say to Him, “what have you done?”
In response to Moses' question, "What is your name?", God said to Moses, “I AM THE GREAT I AM” (YAHWEH – LORD).
God IS independent. God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation can glorify and bring joy to Him. God does not dependent on us, but we depend on Him. He is our Shephard and we shall not want. He supplies our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Verses 27 – 30, Seeking God and a call to repent. People are searching for God with the hope they might find Him. There is something that we should know. Every person that’s not born again is still walking in darkness. Therefore, it doesn’t matter how much or even how far they search, they will never get to know God without submitting to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; being taken out of darkness and brought into His marvelous light, to be declared righteous, holy and to have peace with God.
The Bible says in Romans 5: 1, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
God is calling all men to repentance. The word repent means to change one mind. In order to understand it completely it must be accompanied with faith. The Bible says, "Repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." It also says, "Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ."
Verse 31, "Because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed, and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead."
Verses 32–34; There are three responses to the message.
1. Some mocked him.
2. Some were undecided.
3. Some believed.
Do you really know God?
