Acts 17:26, 27 (Pt. 5) Thought/Prayer: Why God Placed Us Here. Topics: 2 at end.
“He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” WEB (Read these scriptures and more at http://prayerpivot.com.)
Here it is. Why God placed people on Earth. “. . . that they should seek the Lord, if and perhaps they might reach out for him and find him . . . “ It’s pretty forthright here. One might think that this Biblical text came from the Old Testament where many declarations of the power and plans of God were spoken forth to establish His rule over the Erath. But this is from the New Testament book of Acts, the “Acts” of the apostles of Jesus Christ. So this quotation came after Christ had been raised victorious from the grave.
This makes no difference as to the meaning of the words regarding God’s purpose for man’s role on Earth. But seeing them in both the New Testament and the Old may be meaningful to some - making them sanctioned through God’s revelations of old and through the always-living current Christ both now and in Paul’s day on the Aeropagus hill - since He is the One who appeared to the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus that day, calling him to preach the gospel until Paul’s death.
When Paul was preaching in Athens, he began debating with some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. He was an educated man who could hold his own against a questioning or disagreeing crowd, and perhaps this was an advantage in this capitol of questioning and philosophy. He knew some background about these cultured Greeks.
Here he is addressing men at a meeting of the Aeropagus, a council of leaders. And we have this quotation. Paul is laying down the basic fabric of God’s ownership over mankind and the Earth. He acknowledges God’s creation of all persons and their nations, seasons, boundaries and dwellings. It’s a broad spectrum.
Then, he tells them that God’s purpose in all of this is to see persons on Earth seek Him; reach out for Him, the entire intent of Paul’s message everywhere. And Paul is encouraging about this. He says that God is not far from anyone (well, “each one of us” which is even more personal) and that He hopes they will reach out and find Him. And we know that if we do reach out, we do find Him.
Lord, this is high-level stuff here, as You know, since You inspired Paul to go all over into many nations with Your message of availability to all who will only seek You. These Athens people were considered at the forefront of thought and questioning. You sent Paul. As he did, help us to grasp Your intent for all of life on Earth and especially to see all conceived LIFE be able to exist here without threat of untimely person-caused death.
Topics: Pray for understanding like Paul’s when it comes to the big picture God has planned for us . . . but yet to consider each one person being called to find God.
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