When Paul was in Athens, he took on the heavy philosophers. In that speech, he told them, "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28) Now that's a loaded statement.
Paul said we live in Him. He is our life force. Our lives are predicated on and sustained by Him. He said we move in Him. He is our motive force. Without Him, we could not move. Your every step, your heartbeat, your blood flow ... everything that moves owes its ability to do so by His power. He said we "have our being" in Him. We exist in Him. In English, the word, "exist" is an interesting word. The suffix, "est," is "to stand." The prefix, "ex," is "out of." So to "exist" is to stand out of what is. In the most literal sense, then, God does not "exist." He doesn't derive His being from that which is. He is that which is. He is the "is" from which we stand out. Everything that exists comes from Him. And if it wasn't for Him we ... would ... not ... exist.
Deism argues that God made everything that is and just ... spun it off and watched it go, so to speak. Sure, He made it, but now it's on its own. The truth is many of us are practical deists. We deny the idea but live like it's true. "It's okay, God ... I've got this." Paul disagrees. Our daily existence of living and moving and being is predicated on and sustained by God Himself. Should He remove His hand, we would not be. Think about that the next time you wonder to whom you owe your greatest allegiance.
2 comments:
Deism, yet another attempt to let God off the hook for evil, and to give us more power and agency.
One of my favorite passages in all of scripture is Acts 17:24-25: “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. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things [emphasis added].” Acts 28a (“In Him we live and move and have our being”) is certainly very related to it (although I understand that Paul is quoting Greek poet Epimenides here, as he directs the Athenians to the true God and away from “the Unknown God” they were worshiping). You are right: We will hold a proper perspective in life when we consider that we, who merely “stand out from what is”--utterly dependent upon our gracious Creator--can know the One who is beyond, apart, above, and outside our finite existence yet who is close enough to be found by those who seek Him (Acts 17:27).
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