“I see that in every way you are very religious.  For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.  Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.”  Acts 17:22b-23

This article begins a four-part series based on a sermon I preached at the Deer Run Church of Christ.  As Paul arrives in Athens, he finds himself in the midst of people that he describes as “very religious”.  They are constantly worshipping a variety of objects and gods.  In the practice of their worship, they set up an idol to an “UNKNOWN GOD” — perhaps so that they would not inadvertently ignore a god who could become angry with them.  It is within this context that Paul presents the case for “A God That Is MORE”!

What do you worship?  I know, the “church answer” for Christians is, “Of course, I worship God!”  But really . . . look beyond the proper answer and consider the things and/or people in your life that you give honor to . . . perhaps sometimes more honor than you give to God.  I live in a culture that surrounds me with many objects of worship — each calling out in its own way for me to give it my time, energy, treasure, emotion, and worship.  My guess is that you live in a culture much like that as well. 

So, what makes God MORE than all the other objects of worship calling out for you and I to come bow down to them?  Paul begins his explanation with the fact that God is Maker:  “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 hands.  And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.”  Acts 17:24-25

God is set apart above all things because He is the maker of all things!  As a believer in the Biblical account of creation, it is easy to regard God as the creator of the heavens and earth and everything in it.  It is in the day-to-day living that it sometimes gets hard to remember that God is not only the maker of the world, He is the maker of me! 

As maker, God pays attention to the details.  This isn’t some assembly line manufacturing process, this is God knitting us together.  It is us being “God’s handiwork”.   God is MORE because He is Maker . . . a craftsman who has designed, supplied, and made us in His image.  A Maker who through His Spirit and the power of His Son can restore us to that image regardless of what we have done to His creation.  A Maker who understands what makes us tick because He has put that “ticker” within us.  A Maker who deserves our worship as He gives “life and breath and everything else”.

I pray that as you consider A God That Is MORE, that your worship of Him increases as you acknowledge Him as Maker of heaven and earth . . . and as Maker of you!