Who Is This Man? #295

Acts 17:30-34                                                                      30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” 32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you again concerning this.” 33 So Paul went out of their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

The setting is Mars Hill in Athens Greece. The speaker is the Apostle Paul; the man named Saul who was converted to Christ on the road to Damascus, Syria. The audience was a very religious group of people of all persuasions who prided themselves on their intellectual approach to all of life, especially their religious beliefs. As Paul walks around Mars Hill he find shrines and centers of worship to gods of all varieties. In the midst he finds an inscription that addresses: “The Unknown God.” The Apostle uses that phrase to tell them about the true God. This unknown God he declares brings about life and being.

From the beginning of his discourse he lets them know that the true God is declaring to everyone everywhere of the need to repent. He tells them that this God demands repentance because He is going to judge the world in righteousness; that righteousness based on the perfect Son of God, Jesus Christ.

This Man, Jesus, proved He could be the judge because He arose from the dead. This declaration of the resurrected Jesus is not only sneered at by the crowd but outright rejected by most. Because of their willingness to at least listen they tell Paul they will talk about this later. Some believe in the message of the resurrected Savior, others do not.

The resurrection is the proof of the deity of Jesus and His saving power. It is still true today. Do you believe in the living Christ? He arose from the dead to give you life.

____________________Today's personal note from Dennis

Greetings from Starbucks in beautiful Tempe, AZ

Happy Easter!! How grateful I am that Jesus is alive. He arose from the grave to conquer death, hell, and to give us life. This Holy Week we remember His death on the cross and an empty tomb. Both are reason to rejoice. 

Sandy and I celebrated her birthday last Friday. Sandy enjoys birdwatching so we headed to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum for several hours of gazing at our feathered friends. We ventured from there over to Globe, AZ to eat lunch and do some antique shopping. I purchased three beautiful necklaces for her gift at one of the shops in Superior. 

We documented the trip with photos. The first picture was taken September 4, 2006 while I was on Chemotherapy. The second picture was taken on Friday April 11, 22014 on Sandy's birthday. They were taken at the same spot at Boyce Thompson Arboretum. 

We got home in time for John, Mandy, Johnny and Justin to take us out to dinner. In all it was a great day.

Saturday afternoon and evening we attended the Arizona All State orchestra, band and choral concerts. Our grandson, Bennett, sang in the 200 voice All State Choir. Of course he was marvelous. 

This past week has been the best week for my health in almost 3 months. It is good to feel good. I only had a couple of times that the pain returned, but it was short lived. I find that eating causes most of my issues. French Fries are not good!!

I pray you have a Blessed Easter and join with other believers in worshiping the Lord Jesus. 

I also pray that God blesses you this week with HIS LIFE IN YOU!!

Praise the Lord for answered prayer.  ~ DGW