God’s Omnipotence
When I was a junior in high school, I was 6 feet tall but only weighed about 125 pounds. So, I decided to start lifting weights, and I’ll never forget that first day in the weight room where I’m doing bench press. I literally had no weight on the bar. I’m just lifting the bar, and I was struggling. It was so embarrassing.
That day, I made it a goal that I was going to be able to put one of those 45 pound weights on each side and be able to bench press that one day. I worked so hard to get there, but finally, one day after gritting my teeth, pressing with everything I’ve got, and making one of those embarrassing facial expressions, I did it!
I was so proud of myself. And then some guy walks over, sits down on my bench and starts warming up with what I had just maxed out on. I went from being so excited to being so deflated in a matter of seconds.
I used to think of God’s power and strength kind of like that. I mean, I’d picture Him doing what that guy did to me. This guy would have just finished maxing out at like 400 pounds, but then God would sit down after he got up and start warming up with it like it was no big deal.
I mean God is strong. He is powerful. But that’s not really what God’s strength is like.
As we continue this blog series on the attributes of God, this blog post will be about God’s omnipotence.
GOD’S OMNIPOTENCE
Omnipotence means all-powerful. God is all-powerful.
What that means is that you can’t use words like easy or difficult with an all-powerful Being because that implies a range of effort. So, to say that it’s just easy for God implies that if you kept putting more weight on the bar at some point it would be more difficult for Him, but that’s not true.
God is all-powerful, and there’s no effort involved for Him. He’s just able to do all things.
Here’s what Blaise Pascal said about God’s omnipotence:
The greatest single distinguishing feature of the omnipotence of God is that our imagination gets lost thinking about it. (Blaise Pascal)
It’s hard to comprehend all-powerful as a limited human.
However, through Scripture, we are able to see what God has revealed to us about His omnipotence.
GOD’S OMNIPOTENCE THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE
First, we see it in the way God addresses Himself. God addresses Himself as “El Shaddai” (God Almighty).
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am (El Shaddai) God Almighty” (Gen. 17:1)
As ‘God Almighty’ He is strong enough to do anything. We see this name here at the beginning of the Bible, all throughout the Bible (used more than 40 times), and we see it at the end of the Bible.
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. (Revelation 19:6)
The Lord God Almighty reigned in the beginning, and He’ll be reigning in the end because He is all-powerful and nothing can defeat Him or His purposes.
Here’s something else that Scripture says about God’s omnipotence:
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:27)
Of course, the implied answer is “No, nothing is too hard for God!” He is omnipotent. There’s no range of effort required. He can just do all things.
Look at what Job says about God’s omnipotence:
“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2)
God is so powerful that whatever it is that He wills to happen, He is going to make happen because nothing is stronger than Him to stop those plans. Isn’t that comforting?
Scripture declares that through faith in Jesus, you have eternal life and that no one can snatch you out of his hand (John 10:28), and if no purposes of His can be thwarted, then your eternity is secure!
GOD’S OMNIPOTENCE IN ACTION
We don’t have to look any further than the opening line of the Bible to see God’s omnipotence in action.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen. 1:1)
God took nothing and created everything. Now that’s power. You try taking nothing and creating anything. God took nothing and created everything. And it didn’t strain Him. He didn’t have to work at it. He didn’t get tired.
Here’s what Psalm 33:9 says God’s creation power:
For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. (Ps. 33:9)
As the all-powerful God, he said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. He just spoke things into existence! That is how powerful He is.
Here’s another example of God’s omnipotence in action:
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. (Exodus 14:21)
God dried up the Red Sea in one night so that around 2 million Israelites could cross and escape the Egyptian army that was coming after them. That’s power!
Another one of my favorite examples of God’s omnipotence in the Old Testament is found in 1 Kings 18.
There is this King named Ahab and this prophet of God named Elijah, and they get into this quarrel. There are all of these false Gods that people believed in, and Elijah tells Ahab to bring 450 of the prophets of Baal (this false god) to a “show down.”
And basically, Elijah tells them to cut up some wood and put a bull on it but don’t set it on fire. Then he tells them to call on the name of their so-called god and that he would call on his God, and whichever one answers by fire is obviously the one-true God.
So, all of these 450 prophets start shouting for Baal to start this fire, and they are dancing and shouting but nothing is happening.
Then Elijah began to take water and drench the wood and makes the conditions least compatible to be able to start fire in, and here’s what he says:
Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” (1 Kings 18:37-39)
Isn’t that awesome? When people realize the omnipotence of God, the only proper response is to fall prostate before Him and cry “The Lord-He is God! The Lord-He is God!”
These are just a few places that the Old Testament reference God’s power in action, but we see it in the New Testament as well.
In Matthew 8, we are told that Jesus and his disciples were out on a lake in a boat when a furious storm came up, and waves were coming over and into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. Here’s what we are told:
The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Mt. 8:25)
What kind of a man is this? One who is the Omnipotent God of the Universe in flesh. He calms storms with mere words. Talk about power.
And this is just one of the many times we see the omnipotence of God on display through Jesus, but perhaps the greatest display of His power was to raise Jesus from the dead after He died on the cross for our sins.
Not even death is too big for an omnipotent God to overcome!
GOD’S OMNIPOTENCE IS ONLY APPLICABLE TO THINGS THAT ARE CONSISTENT WITH HIS NATURE
When it comes to God’s ability to do all things, that only applies to things that are consistent with his character or His nature.
Here is one example found in Hebrews 6:18:
God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie. (Heb. 6:18)
God cannot lie, and that doesn’t make Him not omnipotent. It’s just that it is not in His nature to lie. It’s inconsistent with His character.
We know that God also can’t sin (Hab. 1:13), and too doesn’t make him not omnipotent. Sinning is inconstant with His character.
In other words, when we talk about how God is all-powerful, what that means is that He is all-powerful to do whatever is consistent with his nature.
Henry Thiessen, a New Testament scholar puts it this way:
“God is all-powerful and able to do whatever He wills. Since his will is limited by his nature, God can do everything that is in harmony with his perfections.” (Henry Thiessen)
This is good news because to have a Being who is all-powerful sitting over us can be a scary thing.
We see people abuse the power they have in this world, and it is scary to sit underneath their leadership.
Some of you even had people in your life who abused their power over you and used it to hurt you.
So, if we can see and feel this in ways that people have limited power, then to think about a God who is all-powerful can be a scary thing. I mean, think about what He could do to us!
However, God is limited by His nature, and one of God’s attributes is goodness. God can only use His power in ways that are good.
His power is not something to cause us to live in fear. It is certainly meant to cause a healthy reverence and awe for God, but it is not something that we have to walk around worrying about Him using it to abuse us in any way.
He loves you and has your best interests in mind. He may not always act in ways that you think is best, but He knows what is best because He is your Creator and He is good in His nature.
GOD SHARES HIS POWER WITH YOU
God’s omnipotence is a communicable attribute. He shares His power with those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus for salvation.
As we come into a spiritual union with Him (the One who is all-powerful), He shares His power with us. Not to the same degree of course, but we get to experience His power working both in us and through us, nonetheless.
(God) is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. (Ephesians 3:20)
I don’t know what your biggest struggle is today, but whatever it is, you are in union with an omnipotent God.
His power is at work in you, and He can overcome the evils of this world and the things going on in your life. So, turn to Him. Invite Jesus into those areas of struggle in your life, and rely on His power in you to be at work in you…
He can do immeasurably more than all you could ask or imagine.
GOD’S EXPRESSES HIS POWER THROUGH YOU
God’s power is not just at work in you but through you.
When Jesus was meeting with the disciples for the last time before ascending into heaven after His death and resurrection, He tells them this:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Do you see it? The power of Jesus will be at work through the disciples so that other people witness it on display.
Jesus shares His power with you, not just to be at work in you for your good, but also for the good of others.
All throughout the book of Acts, Jesus’ power is at work through the disciples to impact other people in their world. People were healed. They were encouraged. They were taught more about God. They received salvation and forgiveness.
People were impacted by Jesus’ power at work through the disciples in a forever kind of way, and Jesus wants to do the same thing through you!
As you make yourself available to be used as His instrument, His power will be on display through you and make eternal impact on the lost and dying world around you. To God be the glory!
