When Paul arrives in Athens, the center of philosophy, in Acts 17 (the word “wishers” in verse 18 literally means “philosophers“), he doesn’t bombard them with Bible texts, but appeals to their common sense, to wisdom. Philosophy means: love of wisdom.
still unknown
Religious as they were, they had a pedestal with the inscription: To the Unknown God. Apparently, they were afraid of forgetting one. But the God who was unknown to the Greek philosophers remains just as unknown today. Not only in the secular world, but also, and especially, in the religious world. The Christian world included.
Theos
The Greek word for God is Theos, which literally means: Placer or Subordinate. Paul explains to them that the God he proclaims is the God, the Subordinate, the Placer.
Acts 17
24 God, who made the world and all things in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands,
25 nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, since he himself gives to all life and breath and all things.
from Him, through Him, and to Him
Behold, the gospel in a nutshell! There is one God, and that God Himself gives life and breath and everything and all. Nothing exists outside of Him. Reconciliation, faith, salvation, justification, you name it: He gives everything, and everything is His work. Or as Paul says in Romans 11:36: from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
God is not far from each one of us, Paul continues in Acts 17:27 to the philosophers with whom he is conversing. God is everywhere around us; all creation testifies to Him.
Acts 17
28 For in Him we live and move and have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also His offspring.
29 Since then we are the offspring of God…
God’s Offspring
Paul addresses these Greek philosophers, who later reveal themselves to be unbelievers (Acts 17:32), several times using the plural form. He considered not only himself, but also the philosophers with whom he debated, to be part of God’s offspring.
owner
Why? Because God is the Owner of all of His creation. Christ Jesus died and rose from the dead as a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:6). Since then, every person has been His property, and therefore He is Lord (=Owner) of all (Rom. 10:12, Rom. 14:9, Acts 10:36).
The Owner seeks until He finds what is lost (Luke 15), and therefore He is the Savior of the world (John 4:42, 1 John 4:14), for it is His world.