Read
“For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”
Acts 17:23
Reflect
There are almost as many opinions about God as there are people. Some people are sure that He exists, but that He’s not all that powerful. Others believe that He exists and that He’s all-powerful. Some think He doesn’t exist. And some people believe they are God — or at least godlike.
You may think the confusion about God is a 21st-century phenomenon, but it’s really almost as old as humanity itself. It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in an effort to “become like God.” The Apostle Paul encountered this same confusion at the Areopagus in Athens, Greece, where he found an altar with an inscription that said, “To the unknown god.”
Paul told them the same thing we still need to hear today: God is far from unknown. He has made Himself known from the beginning of time. Look through every Bible story, and you’ll see the Lord drawing near to man — from the Garden of Eden to the burning bush, from Elijah to Daniel, from the prophets to the manger in Bethlehem.
His clearest and fullest revelation came when He drew near through His Son, Jesus Christ, who gave His life on the cross for our sins and rose again so that we could know God not as a mystery, but as Father.
God is not foreign. He is not distant. He is nearby, and He is reaching out to you.
The question is not whether God can be known.
The question is whether we will receive the One who has already made Himself known.
Enjoyed this? Subscribe and get future reflections, bourbon notes, and assorted nonsense delivered straight to your inbox.
Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
