²⁴ “God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; ²⁵nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; ²⁶and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, ²⁷that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; ²⁸for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’”

Paul takes free reign in following up on his opening salvo about a God that the Athenian philosophers do not know. Here we find a concise list of how he characterizes God:

• He is Lord over all that exists—“heaven and earth” (Gen. 1:1).
• He is not confined to human-made structures (1 Kings 8:27; Isa. 66:1; Jer. 23:24).
• He does not need anything from humans (Ps. 50:10–12).
• He is the giver of all life (Gen. 2:7; John 1:1–4).
• He is the source of all things (James 1:17).
• He created the first human (Gen. 5; 1 Chron. 1).
• He is sovereign in limiting human movement (Job 12:23).
• He sovereignly guides people to seek Him (Jer. 29:13; Rom. 1:18–20).
• He is not a distant God, but near (Ps. 73:28, 34:18; Isa. 55:6).
• He is life, and we live because He lives (John 1:4, 11:25, 14:6).
• He is our ultimate Father, for we are all his children, as Paul quotes from popular Athenian lore.

While Paul doesn’t say it in this context, he would later write to the believers in Rome that the problem is not one of ignorance of the true God, but rejection of what they already know of Him (Rom. 1:18–22). There, he says of this God who was “unknown” to the Athenians:

• God is angry with their rejection of Him.
• The problem is not the unknowability of God, but human unrighteousness.
• False religious beliefs are a conscious suppression of the truth.
• The knowledge of the true God is evident within everyone.
• No one has a valid excuse for not believing in the Creator God.

Lord, thank You for making Yourself known to me. I believe in You only!