Acts 17:29,30 "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone–an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent."

There are some countries and religions where gods are still depicted in idols of gold, silver or stone. But for the most part, these instances are relegated to a few pagan nations and cultures. Don't get me wrong. There are still millions of people who worship graven images, but we don't see much of that in our American and western European countries.

But we still build idols. We still construct images of God made by man's design and skill. In fact, there are times when I see images of God constructed by Christians. IN FACT, there are times when I try to build an image of God.

It usually starts with a comment like, "God would never..." And you just fill in the blank with whatever god character you desire. For instance, we can take an attribute of God...His greatest being love, and build a god-like being that fits our mold. We can say things like, "God would never judge that, because He is a God of love." But whatever "THAT" is may be in total contrast to God's Word. And we are building a god that fits our lifestyle and many times excuses our sin.

Just because we build the idol, we cannot assume that God will be our idol. In fact, in this passage we are told to repent. What kind of god-idol would do that! That is not the god I would build...telling me to repent.

Perhaps we should look at the God that God built. The picture of God is in His Word. In fact, here is what He says about Himself...

Acts 17:24 -30“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent."