Loving God by Loving the World the Way God Loves It – Pt. 3

*Notice:  This is a continuation of the message given in the last two blog posts.  It is recommended that you read the first two before proceeding to this one.

Fifth, take notice of three important characteristics of Paul’s delivery of the Gospel in vs. 22-31.

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 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. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ 29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed 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.”

1)      Paul did not judge but instead related to his audience.

It is one thing to compromise Gospel truth by not telling people the Word of God completely and another thing to be clever with one’s choice of words so that an audience can relate to what is being shared without feeling judged.  It was obvious from the first verse that Paul was provoked by the idolatry that he saw in Athens, yet when he began to preach on Mars’ Hill, he did not condemn the people for the multiple gods that he saw them worship but used their religiosity and superstition to help them understand who the one true God was.  He used the “unknown god” that they had built an altar to (vs. 23) as a springboard to introduce the one true God Jesus Christ.  We must be careful to remember that our job as Christians should not be to judge unbelievers who are committing sin, for they will be judged in the last day but instead to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them and allow the Holy Spirit to convict them of sin and change them from the inside out.  Paul avoiding judgment but still proclaimed the truth, and we can do likewise.

2)      Paul focused on God throughout the message.  Nothing ever shifted from this focus.

It is important to remember that when you are sharing the Gospel, your one main focus is not to convert people to your opinion or even to save them but instead to allow them to see and hopefully to make a personal relationship with the one true God.  That means that the focus of any preaching, any message, any opportunity to share is Jesus Christ.  Throughout this message, Paul’s focus was all the time – God.  He mentions God as the Creator in vs. 24 (“The God who made the world and everything in it”), God as the Lord in vs. 24 (“being Lord of heaven and earth”), God as the Provider of all in vs. 25 (“nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”), God as the Director and Controller of every event in vs. 26 (“having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,”), God as being a merciful and loving God in vs. 27 (“that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,”), and God as the Father of all in vs. 28 (“for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’”).  No matter what throughout his sermon, he emphasized God and how God loved us.

3)      Paul emphasized the urgency for salvation.

Although Paul never forced his listeners to become Christians or condemned them to hell, he urged them to receive the salvation that could only be found in Jesus Christ.  He finished up his sermon by drilling the point that “now is the day of salvation, now is the time to commit your life to Him.”  He mentioned the upcoming judgment that has been withheld by God’s mercy (vs. 30-31) that will soon come at a time unexpected.  He knew that tomorrow was never guaranteed for his audience, so he urged them to give their lives to Christ that moment.  It was said that D.L. Moody, a famous evangelist, at one night in his ministry told his audience to go home and think about the message before receiving Christ.  That night the Great Chicago Fire took place, and many people lost their lives.  After that point, D.L. Moody never told a person to wait to receive Christ but urged them to do it that instant.  We need to remember that tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone, so we should take every opportunity to share the Gospel with anyone in our vicinity.  In addition, when we do, we must stress the need to do it now.

A Loving Heart Will Provide One with a Choice

Acts 17:32-34 – “32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.”

After Paul finished sharing the sermon on Mars’ Hill, he was met with mixed reviews.  Some people mocked and rejected the story of the Resurrection, some people considered the possibilities of this truth and wanted to hear the points again, and some fortunately believed.  Paul understood that what he had asked these people to do was to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  He could not force them to become Christians like the Crusaders did in the Middle Ages, for that would just be a façade of a relationship.  He could not further convince them like a salesman would continue to pitch a fake product.  He could not make anyone believe.  All he could do was share the simple Gospel message and allow them to choose for themselves whether or not they desired to have this one-on-one relationship with the Lord of all Creation and the God of the Universe.  He did not allow the mockery and rejection to discourage him, neither did he allow the acceptance of a few make him proud.  Vs. 33 testifies that Paul just “went out from their midst.”  He knew that a loving heart could not force anyone into a relationship but had to allow that person to come out of his own will.  For example, when a parent first adopts a child, he/she cannot expect the child to automatically blend into the family but must allow the child to instead develop that relationship out of his/her own accord.  There can never be any forcing, for that will only nip the relationship at its bud.  But if the parent allows time and unconditional love to work in that relationship, he/she will soon see that a new bond would be formed that cannot be easily broken.  God never forces us into a relationship with Him but would rather give us the choice to come to Him from our own free will.  So next time you share the Gospel, do not be discouraged if one does not accept the message right way.  Just allow the Holy Spirit to convict that person who may eventually come to know Him.

Simply put, loving the world the way Christ loves it can be summed up in one idea – desiring that the world come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  That is the desire of God and that should be our desire as well.  We must be driven to share His Word with everyone at all times, never forced or judgmentally but instead in love.  Let us begin to love the world the way Christ does.