Acts 17:24-25 God Is Self-Sufficient
“The God who made this 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” (NIV).
Paul spoke these words in Athens as he was addressing a gathering of Athenian philosophers. They had many gods, and Paul observed statures and monuments to the many gods throughout the city. He even saw an inscription “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” He then went on to introduce them to this “unknown god” of theirs, the known God, the God of Jesus Christ. As can be seen from the Scripture above, God made it all, and He needs nothing. Paul’s all-encompassing words were, “Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”
Before I began to write this message, I asked God for His help. He led me to read a daily devotional from a book of devotionals, Drawing Near by Pasquale Mingarelli, a writer I admire. We agree that God uses His creation to draw us to Him. Mingarelli says that since God created everything, He is not part of creation, but independent of creation. He goes on to say, “God does not need the help of creation to exist. Everything in creation needs the help of creation and the help of God to exist. God alone is self-existent.” All life on earth is dependent upon something else in order to exist. God created it that way. Mingarelli says that trees need sun and soil, animals need food, fish need water, and mammals need air. Ultimately, He created everything in such a way that we and every part of creation depend upon Him. Colossians 1:17 tells us: “He was before all else began and it is his power that holds everything together” (TLB).
God was and is self-sufficient. He didn’t need us, and He doesn’t need us, but He desired us. He wanted to be able to fellowship, so He created all of this, every single bit of creation so that we would be able to live and enjoy a beautiful world that invites us to study it and come to appreciate God, the creator. Since we didn’t obey His one basic rule, “Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” we couldn’t fellowship with Him. So He provided a way for us to still be with Him. He sent His Son, Jesus, so we could obtain forgiveness for not just that one sin, but also for every sin committed since then. Once we accept that sacrifice of Jesus, we have eternal fellowship with God. So, God is self-sufficient, but He desired us, and that is our great blessing.