Acts 17:24

"The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands"The God that made the world and all things therein" First, the true God is the Creator of the Universe (Genesis 1:1). Paul speaks of God (singular). In contrast to the pagan concept of gods of the sea (Neptune), forest, sky and mountains. Paul presents One Creator. This statement contradicts the Stoic concept that God is inseparable from the world. Such systems as Hinduism and Buddhism are based on the same false philosophy, that God is the world and the world is God (the tree is god,. am god, the rock is god, and so on). Paul presents. personal Creator who is distinct from His creation. This statement also contradicts the idea that matter is eternal. God "made". The world, the world had. definite beginning and it will also have. definite end (Hebrews 1:10; 2 Peter 3:10). The statement "all things therein" reveals that whatever exists in the world is also. creation of God. Many people are of the opinion that God created. basic world but then allowed evolution (chance) to develop the various life forms found in the world. In contrast, Jesus was not. believer in evolution, for He believed that God had "created" the first man and woman (Matthew 19:4). "He" God is not an impersonal force or an "it", and neither is the true God. goddess. "Being Lord of heaven and earth" "This assertion would have been contrary to Stoic beliefs (they held that the Fates governed everything)" (Reese p. 628). "As He had made all things, this made Him Lord, not of the sea, as Neptune, nor of the sky, as Jupiter, but 'Lord of heaven and earth'" (McGarvey p. 126). "Dwelleth not in temples made with hands" Various writers try to argue that Jesus and the apostles accommodated themselves to the myths and errors of the age in which they lived. This passage completely destroys such. concept. Paul was probably within. stone's throw of the Parthenon (the preeminent place of temples and shrines), the pride and glory of the Athenian people, and completely undermined the necessity of their most prized national treasure. Obviously, if God is the Creator of all things, then any temple constructed with human hands (regardless of its size, building materials, architecture or beauty), cannot be the dwelling place of the true God. "Any attempt to limit or localize the Creator, to imprison Him within the confines of manmade buildings, or structures is ludicrous" (Stott p. 285). Paul is much less "tolerant" of error than many denominational people would concede. Paul is saying to these Athenians, "All these beautiful temples are. waste of time and effort". Thus, the Holy Spirit rebukes all the ornate temples and says, "What are you trying to do, build. house in which God can?"