The Unknown God

By Steven Carter

There is a very interesting account found in Acts 17:22-23 in which the Apostle Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. While he waited, he was provoked within his spirit when he found the city was given over to idols. Paul addressed the men of Athens by saying, 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. It is startling to know that the men of Athens were religious, they had objects of worship, and they had an altar; yet they didn't even know the God of their worship! We know altars to be a place of sacrifice, prayer, and religion; but the question arises, How do you worship whom you don't even know? Even Jesus gives us a glimpse into the importance of knowing Him intimately in Matthew 7:22-23: Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew [my emphasis] you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (NKJV) Note that Jesus's emphasis was not on rituals but, rather, on relationship. We must ask ourselves today, are we any different from the men of Athens? I'm afraid that week after week, we fill edifices with people who don't even know God. Sure, we have objects of worship. We have buildings, instruments, podiums, microphones, lighting, etc., but do we know the God of our worship? With the help of the Holy Spirit, I will declare as the great apostle did to the men of Athens, The Unknown God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781644685068

Steven Carter

A graduate of the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi, Steven Carter currently teaches at Georgetown College in Kentucky. I Was Howard Hughes is his first novel.

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The Unknown God

Steven Carter

Copyright © 2020 Steven Carter

All rights reserved

First Edition

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Contents

Preface 5

To the Unknown God 9

The Origin of Idolatry 16

The Light of the Body of Christ 24

A Strange God 35

Ignorant Worship 40

Priest of God 48

The Place of Faith in Relation to God 54

Accept the Spirit of God 67

Preface

Who is God? I guess that would probably be the most famous question in the world if it was actually believed that it could be answered. In today’s society, it seems that as time goes on, man drifts farther and farther away from the mere possibility that a solid explanation of God exists. As a result, men and women are rapidly learning to live independent of God, believing that whether or not there is a God, the ability to know Him either doesn’t exist or is contingent upon their own individual efforts to know Him.

Since there seems to be no sure answer to the question of who God is, mankind has taken liberty to create for themselves a god, much like the children of Israel when Moses was in the mountain meeting with the One True God. We read in Exodus 32:1–4,

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. Aaron obliged them by instructing them to "Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." So, all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.

Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!"

In the absence of their leader, they had lost sight of the miraculous things that their eyes had previously witnessed. They saw God deliver them from slavery with a mighty hand yet abruptly abandoned Him after a moment of solitary confinement. We see through Aaron that there is always someone to offer the wonderer an opinion, a theology, a religion, and even a golden calf, if necessary, in order to gain a following.

Amid the many varieties of religious opinions, it would almost seem justifiable that one would put his or her faith in his or her own logic concerning God rather than join a particular group, but the sad truth is that chaos in the world’s melting pot of religious beliefs does not release mankind from the responsibility of seeking to know this Unknown God. Regardless of one’s background or disgust at a particular religious group, each one of us is accountable for our time spent on this side of eternity. We all will stand before God individually and be held accountable. It would be in our best interest to at least investigate the claims of those who say there is a God.

The Apostle Paul proclaimed unto the people of Athens the identity of the God that their altars declared to be unknown. He said the Lord desired that men would seek after Him in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him, although He is not far from each one of us (Acts 17:27 AMP). This is great news that the only True and Living God doesn’t have to remain a mystery to mankind, but rather, He is able to be felt after and found and that He is not far from each one of us! No matter how detestable your life has been, the Creator of the universe is ever waiting for His most prized creation to desire to know Him that He may reveal Himself.

Those of us who have been introduced to God have a great responsibility, even as Moses and Aaron had. We have a choice—either we can go into the mountain until God gives us clear instruction or we can oblige people by giving them what they request concerning God. Either way, if you are a Christ follower, you have a responsibility to mankind.

Scripture in the book of Ezekiel points out that God is seeking for a man who would make a wall and stand in the gap before Him on behalf of the land, that He should not destroy it. Sadly, the verse concludes, But He found no one (Ezek. 22:30). It has seemed to be one of God’s greatest challenges to find a vessel fit in which to reveal His Glory. As Christians, we must understand that in this dispensation of time—all that God is going to do—will be done through the body of Christ. I think an awakening to this fact will cause Christians everywhere to accept the mandate God has given us as personal representatives of Christ.

The objective of this book will not be an attempt to prove to its readers that the Christian God is the Creator of all things (incarnate in Jesus and revealed through the Christian faith) but, rather, an attempt to show that God is well able to prove Himself to mankind. I believe before God can begin to reveal the reality of His existence to individuals, the walls of misconceived religious views must be broken down. If we will thoroughly search the Word of God, we will find that God Himself has and will fulfill every promise that He has made.

God fulfilled the law through Christ and will complete what He has begun through Christ in us the hope of Glory! (Col. 1:27). It is my desire that through this book, those who don’t know God will come into the knowledge of Him and also that those who do know God will come into a greater understanding of our assignment in the earth to reveal to mankind the Unknown God!

Table of Contents

To the Unknown God

The Origin of Idolatry

The Light of the Body of Christ

A Strange God

Ignorant Worship

Priest of God

The Place of Faith in Relation to God

Accept the Spirit of God

To the Unknown God

For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions I found an altar with this inscription.

—Acts 17:23

Something that struck me about the Apostle Paul’s statement here in Acts 17:23 was that the men of Athens had devotions. The Amplified Bible called these devotions objects of worship. This is an obvious indication that these men had a desire to know God.