From Your precepts I gain understanding; Therefore I hate every false path (Psalm 119:104)

To those who recognize the unknown God

Bible Texts (Concordant Version of the Old Testament and Concordant Literal New Testament with keywords Concordance-CLNT): Acts 17:23-28; Colossians 1:15 and 1 Corinthians 15:21-23

 

Acts 17:23-28

23 For, passing through and contemplating the objects of your veneration, I found a pedestal also, on which had been inscribed, 'To an Unknowable God.' To Whom then, you are ignorantly devout, This One am I announcing to you.
24 The God Who makes the world and all that is in it, He, the Lord inherent of heaven and earth, is not dwelling in temples made by hands,
25 neither is He attended by human hands, as if requiring anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all.
26 Besides, He makes out of one every nation of mankind, to be dwelling on all the surface of the earth, specifying the setting of the seasons and the bounds of their dwelling, for them to be seeking God, if, consequently,
27 they may surely grope for Him and may be finding Him, though to be sure, not far from each one of us is He inherent,
28 for in Him we are living and moving and are, as some poets of yours also have declared, 'For of that race also are we.

Colossians 1:13-15

13 Who rescues us out of the jurisdiction of Darkness, and transports us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in Whom we are having the deliverance, the pardon of sins,
15 Who is the Image of the invisible God, Firstborn of every creature,
16 for in Him is all created, that in the heavens and that on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or sovereignties, or authorities, all is created through Him and for Him,
17 and He is before all, and all has its cohesion in Him.

 

1 Corinthians 15:21-23

21 For since, in fact, through a man came death, through a Man, also, comes the resurrection of the dead.
22 For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified.
23 Yet each in his own class: the First fruit, Christ; thereupon those who are Christ's in His presence;

It would make me feel better to see some traditional believers acknowledging the unknown God. My grandmother shared a secret with me about the unknown God. Long before she died, she let me know that Yorubas understand that there is a God who is the father to all other gods. She said this God is not visible but he has a son who came into this world to do good. She also mentioned that this son died sorrowfully because people on the earth wronged him. She stated that this son would come back and people on earth would move into a new land. She added that there is no way in Yoruba land that any Ifa priest would want to talk to “Olodumare” through their oracle without mentioning the word, ELA. Ela means purity and he is the only son of Olodumare. All deities in Yorubaland respect and honor Ela. He stands out among all deities.

The information I heard from my grandmother many years ago got me thinking. Then, this week, I stumbled into Paul’s encounter with the Greeks in Acts 17. To those who want to know the truth, here is the summary of his experience.

Ø  In Acts 17, Paul had an argument with Jews in one of the temples. The argument was all about the salvation of humanity. Jews were accustomed to the salvation through animal atonements but Paul brought the evangel of Yeshua which involve the ultimate sacrifice paid for all humanity. Last week discussed a lot about this sacrifice. Please, try to read it if, you have not.

Ø  Paul argued with the Jews he met because they were still living in Old Testament atonement of sins. Even, the Jews believed they were the custodians of the procedures Gentiles should follow to know Yahweh. Paul kicked against all these and it resulted to a hot debate between them.

Ø  The Greeks in Athens were more intrigued about Paul’s message. They found that his message was different. So, they wanted to hear more of his message. There, Paul found a place where a title of "to an unknown God" was written over it. That gave him an idea of how to approach them.

Ø  The Greeks respect their gods and they have many of them. Somehow, they knew that there should be a god that is not known to them yet, he exists. So, they created a place for this unknown god.

Ø  The hearts of these Greeks were yarning for the truth but the Jews’ messages were full of condemnation and confusion. This is what religions messages entails nowadays. Remember that the Greeks have been trying to know the truth since the days of Yeshua according to the book of John 12:20-21.

Ø Paul realized the sincerity of these Greeks, and he approached them with this greenlight. He realized that they had a vacuum in their hearts. They wanted to know the truth. He took them from what was relevant to them about the unknown god to what they needed to understand about this unknown God. What a wisdom!

Ø It is great to help those who are completely blind than to help those who are half-blind. Those who are half-blind may still tell you that they can see whereas they are still blind. So, Paul realized that it was better for him to divert his energy to these Greeks because they were completely blind to the truth about salvation of humanity.

Ø Paul explained in details to these people about who Yeshua is and the plan of Yahweh for salvation of humanity through Yeshua. These enabled these Greeks to come to the realization of the salvation of humanity.

Ø Among other things that happened in this scripture chapter, Paul let these people realize that Yeshua came from Yahweh. Through Yeshua, all things were made. In him we live, breath and have our beings. This is very deep.

Ø In Colossians 13-15, Paul further explained about the implications of the work of salvation Yeshua did for humanity. He explained with all simplicities who Yeshua was. He informed them that Yeshua is the express image of Yahweh.

Ø He let his audience understand that through Yeshua, we have been removed from the thick darkness and spiritual blindness and put into the marvelous light of Yahweh. This light is the understanding of the salvation Yahweh had done through Yeshua.

Ø Paul let his audience understand that when Yeshua said it was accomplished on the crucifixion tree/pole, it means the work of salvation had been completed. There is no need for further sacrifice for atonement of humans’ sins.

Ø Religious people also believed that Yeshua had paid for the sins of humanity but they still hold on to what they had to do to show that they had been saved. My dear reader, there is nothing for you to do than just to believe the work that had been done for you.

Ø  Believing this work is not by your flesh and blood. It takes the Spirit of Yahweh to open your spiritual eyes to realize this truth and get you from the point of being blind or being half-blind to your eyes being opened completely to the truth.

Ø Coming to the knowledge of this truth is not by your might or your power. It takes the Spirit of Yahweh to do this for you. This is where faith comes-in. Faith is one of the Spiritual fruits of Yahweh (Galatians 5:22). So, you cannot earn this Spiritual fruit unless it is given to you by Yahweh.

Ø  Yeshua established this in John 6:44 that no one comes to him except through his father. So, if anyone is telling you to follow the ABC procedure of salvation, this is an implication of asking for your contribution to the work of salvation which had already been completed for you. This is another implication of self-righteousness. This can be traced to the Jews and the circumcised gospel believers. They borrowed their leaves from Jews just as the 12 disciples. They do not understand fully well what the salvation of humanity is truly all about. They are striving to be saved but such striving is not necessary. 

My grandmother’s spiritual intuition was amazing. I wished I had known this truth and shared it with her before she died. She knew that this truth was beyond going to any place of worship because she would never hear such a truth there. She held on to her conviction and I admired her for it. Of course, she tried to please my father by attending church but she never deviated from her conviction concerning her ancient traditional truth. I knew that because she told me. I was her favorite grandson. 

In conclusion, there is no need for ABC procedure on human salvation than just to believe this work. Just believe it. Nothing more. In case you do not believe it now, you would believe it at the right time (1 Corinthians 15:23). Philippians 2:9-11 also established that all beings will confess Yeshua as the Lord to the glory of his father, Yahweh. So, you do not need to be forced to believe in Yeshua’s work of salvation. Yahweh will give you the conviction and faith to believe in Yeshua’s work of salvation. This Yeshua is the savior of all mankind especially of those who believe him (1 Timothy 4:10). So, are you a true believer?

More message to come next week by God’s grace.

Shalom!

 

References:

https://www.concordant.org/version/read-concordant-new-testament-online