Unknowable God

Note: This is a continuation of posts from my Advanced Preaching students at Kentucky Christian University.  I (and they) would appreciate some comments and feedback!

Guest Author: Eli Cox (@ElijahReece)

I do not know if you have seen it, actually you probably have not, but this new movie came out recently called “A Strange Brand of Happiness.”  Basically, this movie is about a bachelor named Joe who is aimlessly searching for himself, while also chasing after a woman.  Joe is a talented artist, but does not know how to use his talent as a career fully.  We see throughout the movie that he believes in some higher being, but Joe lives in a state of confusion beyond this knowledge.  In the end of the movie, Joe sees how he can use his talent in a more productive way, he gets the girl, and he comes to terms to believe in God.  He is still very confused about many of the things with God, but admits to His very clear presence in his own life.

I could not help but think about another story when I saw this movie.  It is a story of a man, a husband.  He spends his life worshipping many different gods.  He had a god for the rain, and one for the sun; one for basically any aspect of his life.  And he lived his life that way; making alters to these different gods in worship of them.  But this man came to a place in his life, a place of confusion; he knew that there was something else.  There had to be someone else causing the things in his life to happen, some other god.  So, out of total confusion and probably some anger therefore, this man constructed an alter to the unknown God, or more correctly translated: “to the unknowable God.”

“So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. “It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows [literally, to the unknowable God]. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know whom you’re dealing with.  The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but also actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him!” (Acts 17:22-27)