Athens, around A.D. 50: leading city of ancient Greece and center of one of the greatest cultures ever known. Yet in this city famous for knowledge and philosophy stood an altar bearing the inscription, “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” Why?
 
The desire to worship something exists in every human being.  But without knowing the true God, we may construct an object to worship, or, like the Athenians, even worship someone we don’t know.
 
The Bible tells us that one day Paul, a man who knew God very well, came to Athens. After seeing the altar to an unknown God, he spoke the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to help the Athenians know God. Paul said, “What therefore you worship without knowing, this I announce to you.” Paul’s words spoken in Athens 2,000 years ago are just as relevant today.
 
Paul began by telling them, “The God who made the world and all things in it, this One, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.” God is the Creator. He’s the Lord, the owner, of heaven and earth. Moreover, “He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things.” God is the source of all life. Human life comes from Him, and human existence is sustained by Him.
 
Then, Paul declared that God made from one every nation dwelling on the face of the earth. God is the source of all humankind. He also told the Athenians that God had determined the times and boundaries of each nation’s existence so that people “might seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, even though He is not far from each one of us.”
 
Paul concluded: “God now charges all men everywhere to repent because He has set a day to judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He has designated, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from the dead.” This man is Jesus Christ, the Savior.
 
Jesus is the very God who became a man and lived on earth. He was a perfect, sinless man, and at the same time, He was God Himself—a God-man. Jesus died on the cross to take away the sins of the world, the great obstacle that prevents us from knowing Him. And then He resurrected from the dead! He did all of this so that He could be intimately and personally known by every human being, including you.
 
The resurrected Jesus Christ is now the life-giving Spirit, and like air, He’s omnipresent. He’s here with you right now. Will He remain an unknown God to you? If you want to know Him, you must repent—that is, turn from a life without God. You must turn to God, who is the Creator, the source of all life, and the Savior, Jesus Christ. If you repent and believe in Him, He will forgive you of your sins and come live in you. Then, you will know Him in a deep and personal way. Just pray:
 
“Lord Jesus, I turn to You. You are the true God, my Creator and my Savior. Thank You for dying for me. I believe in You as the One who resurrected from the dead. Forgive me of my sins and come live in me. I receive You right now. Amen.”