Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

June 8
Saturday


WHERE DID I
COME FROM?

READ:
Acts 17:22-31
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[God] has made from
one blood every nation
of men to dwell on all
the face of the earth.
__Acts 17:26
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My 7-year-old African-American friend Tobias asked me a thought-provoking question the other day: "Since Adam and Eve were white, where did black people come from?" When I told him we don't know what "color" they were and asked him why he thought they were white, he said that's what he always saw in Bible-story books at church and in the library. My heart sank. I wondered if that might make him think he was inferior or possibly not even created by the Lord.

All people have their roots in the Creator God, and therefore all are equal. That's what the apostle Paul told the Athenians: "[God] has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts 17:26). We are all "from one blood." Darrel Bock, in his commentary on the book of acts, says, "This affirmation would be hard for the Athenians, who prided themselves in being a superior people, calling others barbarians." However, because we all descended from our first parents, Adam and eve, no race nor ethnicity is superior or inferior to another.

We stand in awe of our Creator, who made us and gives to all "life, breathe, and all things" (v.25). Equal in God's sight, we together praise and honor Him. __Anne Cetas

````````````````Every life has been created__``````````````````
````````````````God's handiwork displayed;````````````````````
```````````````When we cherish His creation```````````````````
`````````````We value what He's made. __Sper`````````````````
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God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.

***********Today's Bible Reading __ Acts 17:22-31*****************

22 Then Paul ... said, "Men"
of Athens, I perceive that in
all tings you are very
religious; 23 for as I was
passing through and
considering the objects of
your worship, I even found
an altar with this inscription:
TO THE UNKOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom
you worship without
knowing, Him I proclaim to
you: 24 God, who made the
world and everything in it,
since He is Lord of heaven
and earth, does not dwell in
temples made with hands.

25 Nor is He worshiped with
men's hands, as though He
needed anything, since He
gives to all life, breath, and
all things. 26 and He has
made from one blood every
nation of men to dwell on
all the face of the earth,
and has determined their
preappointed times.... 27 so
that they should seek the
Lord in the hope that they
might grope for Him and
find Him, though He is not
far from each one of us;

28 for in Him we live and
move and have our being, as
also some of your own poets
have said, 'For we are also
His offspring.' 29 Therefore,
since we are the offspring of
God, we ought not to think
that the Divine Nature is like
gold or silver or stone,
something shaped by art and
man's devising. 30...[God]
commands all men
every where to repent,

31 because He has appointed
a day on which He will judge
the world in righteousness by
the Man whom He has
ordained. He has given
assurance of this to all by
raising Him from the dead."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

All people are religious. the people of Athens were so religious that
they made an idol to the "unknown god." This demonstrates what
Paul says in verses 26-27, that God has made humanity on the earth
"so that they should seek the Lord."