God, Man and the Day of Judgement

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. hath given...: Or, offered faith - Acts 17:24-31

    In these verses the apostle Paul describes the character of the only true and living God and the responsibility of men before him. Obviously, he does not tell us everything about God's character. The infinite God can never be fully known by finite man. But the apostle's purpose in this passage is to distinguish God from all the false gods worshipped by men. He does this by declaring seven things.

    1. The Lord our God is the sovereign Creator and Ruler of all things (17:24)

    He who created all things owns all things, rules all things and disposes of all things as he will (Matt. 20:15;Ps. 115:3; 135:6;Dan. 4:34-35; Rom. 11:36). Everything and everyone in the universe is absolutely governed by God for the accomplishment of his will (Eph. 1:11; Isa. 45:7; Prov. 16:4).

    2. The holy Lord God cannot be enshrined in temples or worshipped by physical acts or objects (17:24-25)

    God is Spirit. All who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24; Phil. 3:3). It is true, in the Old Testament, God did establish his worship in the tabernacle and later in the temple at Jerusalem. However, like the sacrifices, the priesthood and the laws of Israel, temple worship was a temporary, physical ordinance designed to portray what Christ would do for the redemption and salvation of his people. Now that he has finished his work, the physical ordinances have been abolished forever(Col. 2:8-23; Heb. 10:1-14). Any worship of God in 'holy places', the use of images, icons, or crosses is nothing less than idolatry (17:29). All true worship is spiritual worship.

    3. God Almighty, from eternity, determined all things regarding the lives of all people upon the earth (17: 26)

    Before the world was made he determined that all men would spring from one man, our father Adam. He 'hath made of one blood all nations of men'. All the races of men in the world have their origin in one man. In reality we are not many races, but one race with many distinguishing traits. This verse also declares that God determined the time and place of every person's birth, the length of his or her life, the space which each would occupy upon the earth and the time and means of their death (Job 7:1). While full acknowledgement is given to the responsibility of all men to take proper care of their health, it must be understood that the most careful will not extend his life beyond the appointed time and the most careless will not shorten his allotted span by so much as a fraction of a second. Our times are in God's hands!

    4. It is our responsibility to seek the Lord in the time he has allotted us (17:27)

    Every person has one life to live, one death to die, one judgement to face and one eternity to spend. If we hope to spend eternity in the bliss of God's eternal glory, we must seek him now, while we have both the opportunity and the ability to do so. 'Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near' (Isa. 5:6). 'The Lord is good ... to the soul that seeketh him' (Lam. 3:25).

    5. The Lord God is near every one of us (17:27-28)

    The Lord God is omnipresent, everywhere present at one time, in all the fulness of his glorious, triune being! God is the infinite Spirit. He has no limitations. He is near us all, believers and unbelievers, so near us that 'In him we live, and move, and have our being' (see Ps. 139:7-12). Augustine wrote, 'God is an infinite circle whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere!' Nothing is more serious and sobering than the realization that we are always in the presence of God! When our father Adam rebelled against God and died spiritually, we died in him, because we sinned in him (Rom. 5:12). This spiritual death is the separation of our souls from God. Because man is far off from God, he imagines that God is far off from him; but it is not so. The living God is 'not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being'. God is everywhere! He is so fully present in all places that he is especially near to every person on earth. God is as much with you as if there were no other persons in the universe but you and God! Yet his being near you does not make him far off from anyone else. God is so near to every person that he observes us with exactness. He clearly perceives the inmost, secret thoughts and intents of every heart. He feels for us. He thinks of us. He is near us in all the power of omnipotence, ready to intervene and help us. He is near us in all places and at all times. By day and by night he surrounds us. Let us take Paul's words to heart and apply them to our own lives. The contemplation of them should fill us with awe: 'He is not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being.'

    This is a matter of great assurance and peace to the believer. 'The Lord is at hand' (Phil. 4:5). He is near to preserve us in trial, to protect us from danger and to provide for our every need. He is near to hear our prayers and answer them, to commune with us and make himself known to us, and to renew and revive us with his grace. As the fish finds all it needs in the pond, so the believer finds all he needs in Christ, in whom we live and move and have our being. If the Lord is near, then all is well (2 Tim. 4:9-18).

    This is a matter of great encouragement to those who know their need of Christ and seek him. Paul's argument is that the Lord is near every one of us so that all who seek him may feel after him and find him (17:27-28). If the Lord is near and you seek him, you will surely find him (Rom. 10:6-10; Jer. 29:13). If you seek him, you may be assured of the fact that he is seeking you. Otherwise, you would never seek him. And when the sinner seeks God and God seeks the sinner, the two will soon come together! The Lord is near to save, to pardon and to justify all who seek him.

    This is a word of warning to every rebel: '. . . he be not far from every one of us'. All sin, all rebellion, all unbelief is committed in the immediate presence of the holy Lord God! It is impossible for any sinner to escape the wrath of God, who is near to every one of us, except by taking refuge in Christ, who is himself the omnipresent God.

    6. God commands all men everywhere to repent (17:30)

    When Paul says that God 'winked at' the ignorance, idolatry and unbelief of the Gentiles in ages past, he does not mean that God ignored it, or did not notice it, or excused it. He means that in those days God passed by the Gentile nations in judgement and revealed himself only to the children of Israel. But now, in this gospel age, God 'commandeth all men everywhere to repent'. Because it is the commandment of God, it is also the duty of all men to repent of their sins and trust the Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 3:23; Ezek. 36:31). All who obey the command of the gospel will be saved. All who refuse to obey will be damned (Prov. 1:22-33).

    7. At the appointed day God will judge all men in righteousness by the God-man Jesus Christ (John 5:28; 2 Cor. 5:10-11; Rev. 20:11-15)

    The Day of Judgement will be the day of settling. In that great day everyone will receive exactly what justice demands, exactly what he or she lawfully deserves. When the books are opened and each person is examined by the omniscient eye of strict justice, the unbelieving, standing before God without a substitute, will be re warded with everlasting wrath, in exact proportion to their measure of wickedness. The redeemed, being totally free from sin and perfectly righteous in Christ their substitute, will inherit all the fulness of heaven's glory, because justice declares they are worthy!