17:30 all men every where. Now that God has revealed Himself, not only in creation but also in His human incarnation in the Lord Jesus, He is no longer dealing mainly with just one nation. The gospel of salvation is for all men, and all must “repent” (that is, “change their minds”) concerning the true God and their responsibility before Him.

17:31 judge the world. God, who created all men, must be the Judge of all men, and “the Judge of all the earth” will certainly “do right” (see Genesis 18:25). And since God both “created all things by Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3:9), and has also “made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself” (Colossians 1:20), it is appropriate that “He shall judge” all things by Christ. See also John 5:22,27; Matthew 25:31-46.

17:31 raised him from the dead. Death has always been man’s greatest, and finally victorious enemy (I Corinthians 15:26), and only the Creator of life, the Judge who imposed the sentence of death because of sin (Genesis 3:17-19), can conquer death. The founders and leaders of all other religions and philosophies eventually die, but Jesus Christ is alive! His tomb is empty, and He has ascended in His resurrection body to the Father in heaven. His bodily resurrection, which can be shown to be the best-proved fact of Biblical history, is the certain assurance that He is the Creator and Judge of all.

17:32 mocked. The response is typical. Whenever one preaches or witnesses of the creation and resurrection to unbelievers, especially to pagan evolutionists such as the Stoics and Epicureans, many will ridicule, but some will defer judgment, and some will believe. The same is true, for that matter, when one witnesses to those monotheists (e.g., Jews, Muslims) who believe in a Creator but refuse to acknowledge that He must also be the Redeemer.