Acts 17:23 – For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
Since Athens had over three thousand idols in their city, these great scholars were not, for the most part, atheists. They believed in a god, they just did not know who truly was God. They even, just to make sure they were covered, put up a statue, possibly statues, to the “unknown god.” Just in case they missed one, or more, gods. Paul told them that they were ignorant of the very thing they worship, or sought to worship. So he proclaimed who the one true God is.
It is easy to look back and smirk at these Athenians. Yet they could, if possible, have looked forward to us and thought the same thing. After all contemporary non-believers, and unfortunately too often believers, have idols too. One very popular contemporary idol became a popular rallying cry in the 60’s and 70’s. It was “peace.” People sought peace without knowing how to find it. Peace became an idol to pursue. Too many wanted peace without God making the common error that true peace could be found without God. That cannot happen. Because even if one lives peacefully with another, if one has many like-minded friends, or if one lives in nature among flora and fauna, all this is fleeting and conditional. A life partner may leave or die, friends can turn against one very unexpectedly and certainly they cannot be with us twenty-four hours a day. And certainly a fire can come and ravage the flora and fauna, a drought can dry up a stream or waterfall. Even the peace one gets from “nature” is tenuous. A peace sign of dubious origin was made. Everyone knew it and most, if not all, still know the “peace sign.” Many people made up tee-shirts to show their quest and worship of peace. There are untold thousands of peace sign statues in houses. Oh, I know that some now have them in remembrance of their youth, but we must remember that these statues were for the most part, statues of people who wanted peace in the world without peace with God. At the same time that they cried out for peace they shouted their appeal for what they thought would make a better world. They shouted and made tee-shirts, posters and bumper stickers proclaiming “Make love, not war!” For all those who lived during this times, we know the truth, this more accurately should have been “Have sex, not war!” It was a call for promiscuity and the result of it was rampant sexual disease that ruined or harmed people’s lives. Along with the promiscuity came their supposed need for abortion. So the call for peace for many was a call for peace by man without God and the call to make love not war was just a call to promiscuously sin. The list goes on. It is no different now than then or then than now. They made idols for everything and had false gods they worshiped for whatever perversion they desired. They had temples for prostitution, or fun by alcohol or drugs, or any sinful perversion that burned within them. No, they and our modern society are not so different.
However when Paul preached the Gospel some came to find peace through Jesus, but many rejected the Prince of Peace. In the 60’s and 70’s many came to Jesus and became known as the Jesus People or, as Jesus Freaks. We know that there can never be full and complete peace without peace with God. Peace with God only comes through Jesus who was foretold as the “Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) Jesus wants us to have not the temporary or incomplete peace of the world, but the complete and eternal peace that he brings (John 14:27). The Word says in John 3:18 “ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” True, pure, complete and eternal peace only comes as peace is made with God through Jesus the Savior.
Family and Friends, look around us, the idols of the world are all around us. They are on TV, the movie screens, the internet, the smartphones, magazines, billboards and much more. We should know that there is evil behind these things that fight to not be exposed. The evil behind every lie that opposes the Gospel seeks to keep us from Jesus and so to keep us from eternal peace with God. Let’s pray for each other, and encourage each other to know and walk with Jesus. It is the only release from the bondage of idols and in being released by Jesus, that the chains that bind us to evil are broken we become truly free to walk with God. It starts with Jesus. Jesus said “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36 Only through Jesus are we free from idol worship and the silliness of thinking true peace can be found without God or that being promiscuous is the answer. Call out to Jesus and we will find that Jesus has been calling out to us. He wants to set us free. He wants us to see the world with different eyes. He wants us to walk in his peace through the love of God. Praise God who loves us so! Praise God! To all in Christ…peace!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”