It was in this location that one of the greatest sermons in the new testament was preached by the Apostle Paul.
It’s right across from the acropolis where the parthenon, the temple to the gods particularly the the goddess athena is built.
And it was here where Paul got together with the Greek leaders and proclaimed to them the unknown god.
You see, Greek was a polytheistic culture. There were gods everywhere.
In fact, one of the statements that had been made was you walk down the streets of Greece, you could maybe run into more gods than humans because the gods were looked to as the, the mechanism to the, to the metaphysical world.
Uh, and you look to a god to impact your life.
To give you guidance, to, to produce fertility of crops, and, in anything you needed, you created a, a god for.
And so it is in the midst of this place that had been inundated with Greek thought and Greek culture we know about Plato and Socrates and Aristotle and Aristotle and the world view that accompanied them.
And how it had been infused into the belief system of the day, a mixture of philosophy and religion.
Paul comes to this cultural center of the world.
Rome was the political and the military power, but Greece was the center of culture.
We called it the Greco Roman world.
Paul came in a Mars hill where people would gather to have deep discussions and philosophical analysis and religious thought.
And he knew that if he could bring the good news of Jesus Christ here, he could bring it to a place that would have cultural significance and influence because Greek language and Greek thought, and Greek worldview had so permeated the unknown world.
So he came to a place that had a provision for an unknown god.
And with all these other gods, But in case a new god popped up, they provided for it.
Well, Paul being a relevant proclaimer, but also being steeped in his understanding of Greek language, Greek thought, Greek philosophy, as well as Judaism in the Old Testament.
Was able to take their worldview and turn it on its head, taking what they knew about that there would be an unknown reality that they still had to learn about, and they introduced the true god.
The god of the Bible, and he talked about the unknown god, the god that they hadn’t considered, the creator god, the god who is responsible for human life, and then he threw the ultimate care ball.
The god raises the dead.
And it was this thing about the resurrection that caused quite a stir here on Mars Hill.
What do you mean? A bodily resurrection?
Now, there was the thought of a, uh, a spirit out there somewhere, but a physical bodily resurrection unheard of.
In fact, most of the group who were listening to him thought he had lost his mind.
What is this man talking about? This is outside of our frame of reference.
This is contrary to our world view, but we know it is the centerpiece of the gospel, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which becomes the basis of the resurrection of all those who have placed faith in him.
And it would be this proclamation of the unknown god, the father of the lord Jesus Christ, who would be proclaimed to a people who had not seriously considered him.
But there are all kinds of lessons that come from Paul’s servant.
First of all, he was resting on the truth of the Old Testament since the new testament hadn’t been codified yet.
And he was preaching based on the word of god to a people who did not know it, did not have it, and could not relate to it.
So he showed how you communicate to a secular society who does not have and is not rooted in the scriptures and that you can be relevant starting with where they are for what they need to know.
Biblical preaching needs to be back today.
People who are tethered to the text as Paul was to the Old Testament, but relevant to the culture.
That’s what we try to do.
Show that the Bible is relevant to an unbelieving, unknowing, and even god rejecting world because they rejected this truth about Jesus Christ by and large.
Oh, there were a few we’re told who believed.
But little did Paul know that he was starting a movement in Greece that was spread like wildfire as the church of Jesus Christ continued to spread throughout the book of acts.
It would be this proclamation to show that people who do not have a clear understanding of the good news of the gospel and of who the true god is can be approached in a way that takes what they already know turns it to the truth of god to introduce them to the good news of Jesus Christ.
And the great news of the gospel, the gospel of Salvation.
What Paul did then and what we should do now is to show people the true god because we’re inundated now with, uh, we’ll call them American Idol.
Uh, they’re not the same, uh, uh, polypistic idols of, of, uh, the 1st century.
But they are the idolat trees that people look to as their source of meaning, as their source of guidance, as their source of identity today.
And these false gods have blurred them to the true god.
We are to take what they are looking for and show how the true god speaks into that.
Not only by revealing their sin by offering the good news of Salvation.
To steer them to the true god through the means of getting there.
And that is the one who said, I am the way the truth and the life. Jesus Christ.
This Jesus who rose from the dead and who raises from the dead those who believe in him for eternal life.
This is what we are proclaiming at the urban alternative.
The good news of Jesus Christ, to the biblically illiterate as well as to those who’ve grown up around the scriptures, but who’ve not gravitated and who’ve not responded to Jesus Christ.
Well, this is the message that needs to be heard today.
This is the message we’re going to unapologetically in love, proclaim today, because Jesus is the truth.
He has risen from the dead, and he’s still raising people to new life when they place faith alone in Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins and the free gift, the grace gift of eternal life through faith in him.
So here on Mars Hill, with the backdrop of false gods, Paul proclaimed the true god.
So I’m sitting in a great spot led by a great apostle.
The apostle Paul, with the message of the ages. And that is the true god can be known.
He has manifested himself in history in the incarnation, the in flesh, the coming as a man in the second person of the Trinity Jesus Christ, the good news of the gospel, and that is that sin can be forgiven eternal life can be freely granted if a person will place their faith in the finish work of Jesus Christ who died on the cross in their place for their sin, and he will give the credit of a lifetime.
He took on the cross the credit of our sins upon himself, and he then gives us the credit of forgiveness and righteousness as he imparts the perfect life of Christ.
And credits it to our account so we stand before a Holy God with the righteousness of Christ as though we’ve never sinned.
The news didn’t get any better than that. That was the news Paul gave on Mars Hill.
That’s the news I’m giving from Mars Hill right now. And that is the message of the urban alternative.
God’s word is true. The true god can be known.
And when the proclamation of that word is made relevant to people who need to hear the gospel, then they hear the good news that they can have.
Hope for eternity and help for history.
It doesn’t get any better than that.