The God You Do Not Know

About This Song

The God You Do Not Know sets the sermon Paul preached on Mars Hill in Athens (Acts 17) to music, sung in Paul's own voice. It opens exactly where Luke's account opens: walking through Athens, stone by stone, past gods of silver, wood and gold, until one small altar catches the eye: "To an unknown God."

The song then does what Paul did — it preaches the sermon. The chorus carries his central claims: the God who made the world needs no temple built by human hands; He gives all people life and breath; and the proof of it all is that "Jesus has risen and He reigns." Verse two follows the sermon's sweep — one man, every nation, seasons and boundaries set so that people would seek Him and be found — and even quotes the Athenian poets back to Athens: "In Him we live."

The bridge stays honest about the results: some mocked, some wanted to hear more, some believed and left the crowd. And the outro draws the lesson every witness needs: "We cannot choose their answer — we must faithfully proclaim Him."

Devotional

"So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship — and this is what I am going to proclaim to you" (Acts 17:23).

Paul's Athens strategy is a masterclass in reaching people far from God. He did not begin by attacking their idols; he began by noticing their hunger. That altar to an unknown God was Athens admitting, in stone, that all their silver and gold had not satisfied — something was still missing. Paul simply named the missing One.

Every generation builds its own altars to the unknown god — career, wellness, causes, the endless search for meaning. The hunger is real; only the address is wrong. The song's pre-chorus answers the seeker's ache with Paul's own words: "He is not distant, deaf or still — we live and breathe within His will." God is "not far from any one of us" (Acts 17:27).

And notice how the sermon ends — not with philosophy but with a fact: God "has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead" (Acts 17:31). The resurrection turns the unknown God into the God who can be known. Some sneered, some believed. Our part has not changed since Mars Hill: we cannot choose their answer; we can only faithfully proclaim Him.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I walked through Athens, stone by stone,
Past gods of silver, wood and gold,
Then one small altar caught my eye:
"To an unknown God" was carved inside.
You search for truth, you reach and grope,
You build your shrines, you speak of hope,
But what you worship without sight,
I now proclaim to you tonight.

[Pre-Chorus]
He is not distant, deaf or still,
We live and breathe within His will.

[Chorus]
He made the world, He gave us breath,
He rules above all life and death.
No temple built by human hands
Can house the God who formed the lands.
Turn from your idols, hear His call,
The Lord of heaven is Lord of all.
Unknown no more, the truth is plain:
Jesus has risen and He reigns.

[Verse 2]
From one man every nation came,
Each tribe and tongue, each place and name.
He marked their seasons, set their ground,
So they would seek Him and be found.
Your poets spoke a shadowed word:
"In Him we live" — but had not heard
That we are children of the One,
Not shaped from silver, rock or bronze.

[Pre-Chorus]
He needs no gift that we can bring;
He gives us life and everything.

[Chorus]
He made the world, He gave us breath,
He rules above all life and death.
No temple built by human hands
Can house the God who formed the lands.
Turn from your idols, hear His call,
The Lord of heaven is Lord of all.
Unknown no more, the truth is plain:
Jesus has risen and He reigns.

[Bridge]
Some will mock — still speak the Word.
Some want more — let truth be heard.
Some believe and leave the crowd;
Still proclaim His message loud.
A day is fixed, the Judge is named,
The risen Christ will come again.
God raised Him up and proved it true;
Now He commands that all turn to You.

[Breakdown]
Not held by stone.
Not shaped by gold.
Not far away.
Not growing old.
The God who made
The earth and sky
Has called all people
To new life.

[Final Chorus]
He made the world, He gave us breath,
He rules above all life and death.
No temple built by human hands
Can house the God who formed the lands.
Turn from your idols, hear His call,
The Lord of heaven is Lord of all.
Unknown no more, the truth is plain:
Jesus has risen and He reigns.

[Outro]
Some may sneer.
Some may believe.
Some may ask to hear again.
We cannot choose their answer —
We must faithfully proclaim Him.