One Man, Every Nation
Memory verse (Acts 17:26): “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”
Objectives
- Explain from Acts 17:24–26 why no nation, tribe, or skin color owns God or ranks above another.
- Distinguish the real differences among nations from the false ladder of human worth.
- Reject the “curse of Ham” claim by reading what Genesis 9:24–25 actually says.
- Obey the command that all people everywhere repent, and live as one body in Christ.
Thesis
The God who made every nation from one man commands us to reject human pride, seek Him, and obey the one gospel by which He saves people from every nation.
Study Guide
1. The Creator gives life to all people (Acts 17:22–25)
Paul stood before the Areopagus, Athens’ oldest council, with the Parthenon rising directly above him. The city kept altars even to gods it could not name, and Paul used that confession of ignorance to proclaim the God who made the world. That God does not dwell in temples made with hands, and He gives every person life and breath. Genesis 1:27 says mankind was made in the image of God, and sin has corrupted mankind without creating different grades of humanity.
1. Acts 17:24–25 says four things about God. Name them, and explain how each one answers the temples and altars Paul could see from Mars Hill.
2. According to Genesis 1:27 and Acts 17:25, what are we really doing when we despise a person because of his skin, language, or ancestry?
2. One man became every nation (Acts 17:26)
The human family has one source. Genesis 10 traces the families, languages, lands, and nations that came from Noah’s sons, and at Pentecost each man heard the apostles in his own language (Acts 2:6–11). The Bible recognizes nations without ranking human beings by them. Noah’s words named Canaan, not Ham, and said nothing about skin color (Genesis 9:24–25), so men who used that text for racial slavery forced the Bible to serve a prejudice it condemns.
3. Read Genesis 9:24–25. Whom did Noah name, and why can this passage not be turned into a curse on dark-skinned people?
4. What did God do with the languages of the nations at Pentecost (Acts 2:6–11), and what does that teach about the families and cultures we come from?
3. God ordered the nations so they would seek Him (Acts 17:26–27)
God determined the times and boundaries of the nations “that they would seek God.” At Babel men set out to make a name for themselves, so God confused their language and scattered them (Genesis 11:4, 8–9). Babel explains our division without establishing anyone’s superiority. The tower changes shape, but the heart remains, whether a nation speaks as though it cannot fall or a family history becomes a reason to despise another family.
5. Compare Genesis 11:4 with Acts 17:27. What did the builders of Babel want for themselves, and what does God want from every nation?
4. One risen Lord commands every person to repent (Acts 17:28–31)
Paul quoted the Greeks’ own poets and then told them that God cannot be shaped by human art, not even the gold-and-ivory Athena standing in the Parthenon. God now declares that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day to judge the world through the Man He raised from the dead. In Christ the dividing wall is broken down, and all who are baptized into Christ are one in Him (Ephesians 2:14–18; Galatians 3:26–29). Some sneered, but Dionysius, Damaris, and others believed (Acts 17:32–34).
6. Acts 17:30–31 gives a command, a reason for it, and a proof. Name each one.
7. According to Ephesians 2:14–18 and Galatians 3:26–29, how does Christ make one people out of many nations, and what does that require of a congregation today?
Application
- Examine your heart: name one judgment you make about people before you have heard them speak, and repent of it.
- Guard your home: name any joke, word, or suspicion about another people that you will stop passing on to your children.
- Open the congregation: name one person of another background you will welcome, serve, or teach this month.
- Obey the gospel: if you are outside Christ, hear, believe, repent, confess Christ, and be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
Personal Response
Truth I must hold:
Pride or partiality I must repent of:
Obedience I must practice this week:
Prayer: