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COLLECTIONS
Commentaries, Word
Studies, Devotionals, Sermons, Illustrations
Old and New Testament. |
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OMNIPOTENT |
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The Hallelujah Chorus
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
The kingdom of this world
Is become the kingdom of our Lord,
And of His Christ, and of His Christ;
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
For ever and ever, forever and ever,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,
And Lord of lords,
And He shall reign,
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings, forever and ever,
And Lord of lords,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
(Play
Handel's Messiah - The Hallelujah Chorus)
OMNIPOTENCE (Ps 68:14; 91:1, 2; 115:3; 2Cor 6:18) means God is all
powerful and thus has unlimited authority & influence. He has the ability to
do whatever His will dictates. Man may have the authority but not the
ability to carry through. The term omnipotence is not found in Scripture but
clearly is declared in Scripture (Ge 18:14; Job 42:2; Nu 11:23; Mt 19:26;
Rev 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 19:6). His omnipotence is seen in His act of creating
(Ge 1:1, 2, 3; Ps 33:6, 7, 8, 9). and sustaining everything (Col 1:17b; Heb
1:3), in His relation to mankind (Gen. 45:4, 5, 6, 7, 8; Ex. 4:11; Da 4:17,
25, 32; Luke 12:20; Acts 12:21, 22, 23, 24), in His relation to the hosts of
heaven (Da 4:35; Heb 1:14), in His power over Satan and his minions (Job
1:12; 2:6; Luke 22:31, 32), and as Commander in chief (Ex 9:3, 4, 5, 6, 23,
24, 25, 26, 33; Ps. 107:25, 26, 27, 28, 29; Jonah 1:17; 4:6, 7, 8; Da 3:22,
23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28).
Jesus said “All
authority (exousia
= authority and power to act
- see word study)
has been
given to Me in
heaven and on
earth.”
(Mt 28:18)
Although God has all
power He cannot do that which contradicts His holy character or essence and
thus He cannot annihilate Himself because He is eternal, immutable, and all
wise. He cannot lie because He is truth (Titus 1:2; Heb 6:18). He cannot not
keep His Word because He is faithful (2Ti 2:13). God cannot be tempted by
evil (James 1:13). The omnipotence of God gives every saint a firm
foundation to trust Him and confidence in His ability to keep the precious
and magnificent promises in Scripture.
What is a practical
application of KNOWING God as OMNIPOTENT?
CLICK for a great Biblical example and
brief discussion.
Ray Pritchard in his sermon series
on the "omni" attributes of God writes that...
these attributes are difficult to grasp
because they describe truths about God that have no analog in human
experience. We are limited as to place, power and personal knowledge. God is
not. Thus we say that God is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (present
everywhere), and omnipotent (all-powerful).
Theologians sometimes speak of God's
attributes in two categories—communicable and incommunicable. That sounds
strange until you remember that we commonly speak of communicable
diseases—diseases that can be spread from one person to another, such as
chicken pox. Incommunicable diseases are those that cannot be spread from
one person to another, such as rheumatoid arthritis or most forms of cancer.
When this distinction is applied to God, communicable attributes refer to
those aspects of God's character that we may share in some way—such as
mercy, grace, anger, justice, and holiness. Incommunicable attributes are
those that are unique to God and unshared in any way by his creatures. The
three "omni" attributes fall into this category. I have always remembered
that distinction because that was the subject of the very first question on
my ordination exam almost 20 years ago—Define the communicable and
incommunicable attributes of God and give an example of each. Talk about a
tough way to get started. I'm not sure how I answered, but I must have done
all right because they voted to ordain me.
The Definition - With that as
background, we turn now to the final "omni" attribute: omnipotence. The word
means "all-powerful" and refers to the fact that God's power is infinite and
unlimited. He can do with power anything that power can do. Said another
way, God has the power to do all he wills to do. He has both the resources
and the ability to work his will in every circumstance in the universe.
If you prefer a simpler definition, just think of these three words—"God is
able." That's what omnipotence means. He is able to do everything he needs
to do or wants to do.
The Scripture - This doctrine is assumed everywhere in the Bible. One
might easily find 500 verses that either teach omnipotence or implicitly
assume it. Although the word is not found in our modern translations, the
concept might be truly said to be assumed on every page of the Bible. (It is
found in the King James Version of Revelation 19:6, "For the Lord God
omnipotent reigneth." George Frederick Handel composed his majestic
"Hallelujah Chorus" around that phrase.)
To make matters easy to understand, let's list four categories of scripture
that lead us to the doctrine of omnipotence:
A. Nothing is too hard for God.
"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great
power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." Jeremiah 32:17
"For nothing is impossible with God."
Luke 1:37
B. No one can stop God's plans.
"I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted." Job
42:2
C. He made all things and all things serve him.
"Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you." Psalm 119:91
D. He does whatever he pleases.
"Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him." Psalm 115:3
Seven Stages of God's Power
In his commentary on Ephesians (God's New Society, pp. 139-140), John Stott
shares a delightful analysis of Paul's famous benediction at the end of
Ephesians 3:
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably
more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work
within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all
generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20, 21)
I am going to retrace his comments, with
one or two slight changes. Let's call this the Seven Stages of God's Power.
1. He is able, for he is the true and living God..
2. He is able to do, for he is neither inactive, idle, nor dead.
3. He is able to do what we ask, for he hears and answers prayer.
4. He is able to do what we ask or imagine, for he reads our thoughts, and
sometimes we imagine things for which we do not dare to ask. But he can do
those things anyway.
5. He is able to do all that we ask or imagine, for he knows it all and can
perform it all.
6. He is able to do more than all we ask or imagine, because his
expectations are higher than ours.
7. He is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, because his
power is unlimited.
As a simple summary statement we may say that there are no limits to what
God can do because there are no limits to GOD.
Among the many titles given to God in the Old Testament is one that relates
directly to his omnipotence. In Genesis 17:1 God speaks to 99 year old
Abraham who has been promised a child by God. By this time his body is "as
good as dead" (see Romans 4:19, 20, 21, 22). In the face of all his very
understandable doubts God reassures him by calling himself
EL Shaddai,
which means Almighty God (See
study). It was God's
way of saying, "Don't look in the mirror, Abraham. Look at me. If I say
you're going to have a son, it's going to happen. Age means nothing to me. I
am Almighty God." (For the full sermon message see
Is Anything Too Hard For God? The Doctrine of God's
Omnipotence
by Ray Pritchard)
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International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia:
"The noun "Omnipotence" is not
found in the English Bible, nor any noun exactly corresponding to it in the
original Hebrew or Greek. The adjective "omnipotent" occurs in
Rev 19:6 the King James Version; the Greek for this, pantokrator, occurs
also in 2Cor 6:18; Rev 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7,14; 19:15; 21:22 (in all
of which the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and
American) render "almighty"). It is also found frequently in the
Septuagint (LXX) ,
especially in the rendering of the divine names Yahweh tsebha'oth and
'El Shadday. In
pantokrator, the element of "authority," "sovereignty," side by
side with that of "power," makes itself more distinctly felt than it does to
the modern ear in "omnipotent," although it is meant to be included in the
latter also. Compare further ho
dunatos, in Luke
1:49.
GOD'S OMNIPOTENCE IS
INHERENT IN HIS NAMES
Inherent in Old Testament Names of God:
The formal conception of
omnipotence as worked out in theology does not occur in the Old Testament.
The substance of the idea is conveyed in various indirect ways. The notion
of "strength" is inherent in the Old Testament conception of God from the
beginning, being already represented in one of the two divine names
inherited by Israel from ancient Semitic religion, the name 'El. According
to one etymology it is also inherent in the other, the name 'Elohim, and in
this case the plural form, by bringing out the fullness of power in God,
would mark an approach to the idea of omnipotence.
In the patriarchal religion the conception of
"might" occupies a prominent place, as is indicated by the name
characteristic of this period,
'El Shadday
(see
EL Shaddai - God Almighty); compare
Ge 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:24,25; Ex 6:3. This
name, however, designates the divine power as standing in the service of His
covenant-relation to the patriarchs, as transcending Nature and overpowering
it in the interests of redemption.
Another divine name which signalizes this attribute is Yahweh tsebha'oth,
Yahweh of Hosts. This name, characteristic of the prophetic period,
describes God as the King surrounded and followed by the angelic hosts, and
since the might of an oriental king is measured by the splendor of his
retinue, as of great, incomparable power, the King Omnipotent (Ps 24:10; Isa
2:12; 6:3,5; 8:13; Jer 46:18; Mal 1:14).
Still another name expressive of the same idea is
'Abhir, "Strong One," compounded with Jacob or Israel (Ge
49:24; Ps 132:2,5; Isa 1:24; 49:26; 60:16).
Further, 'El Gibbor, "God-Hero" (Isa 9:6 of the Messiah); compare for the adjective gibbor,
Jer 20:11);
and the figurative designation of God as Tsur, "Rock,"
occurring especially in the address to God in the Psalter (Is 30:29, the
King James Version "Mighty One"). The specific energy with which the divine
nature operates finds expression also in the name 'El Chay,
"Living God," which God bears over against the impotent idols
(1 Sa 17:26,36; 2Ki 19:4,16; Ps 18:46; Jer 23:36; Da 6:20,26). An
anthropomorphic description of the power of God is in the figures of "hand,"
His "arm," His "finger."
Other Modes of Expression:
Some of the attributes of Yahweh have an
intimate connection with His omnipotence. Under this head especially God's
nature as Spirit and His holiness come under consideration. The
representation of God as Spirit in the Old Testament does not primarily
refer to the incorporealness of the divine nature, but to its inherent
energy. The physical element underlying the conception of Spirit is that of
air in motion, and in this at first not the invisibility but the force forms
the point of comparison. The opposite of "Spirit" in this sense is "flesh,"
which expresses the weakness and impotence of the creature over against God
(Isaiah 2:22; 31:3).
The holiness of God
in its earliest and widest sense (not restricted to the ethical sphere)
describes the majestic, specifically divine character of His being, that
which evokes in man religious awe. It is not a single attribute coordinated
with others, but a peculiar aspect under which all the attributes can be
viewed, that which renders them distinct from anything analogous in the
creature (1 Sa 2:2; Ho 11:9).
In this way holiness becomes closely associated with the power of God,
indeed sometimes becomes synonymous with divine power equals omnipotence (Ex
15:11;
Nu 20:12), and especially in Ezekiel, where God's "holy name" is often
equivalent to His renown for power, hence, interchangeable with His "great
name" (Ezek 36:20-24). The objective Spirit as a distinct hypostasis and the
executive of the Godhead on its one side also represents the divine power
(Isa 32:15; Mt 12:28; Lk1:35; 4:14; Ac10:38; Ro15:19; 1 Cor 2:4).
Unlimited Extent of the Divine Power:
In all these forms of expression a
great and specifically divine power is predicated of God. Statements in
which the absolutely unlimited extent of this power is explicitly affirmed
are rare. The reason, however, lies not in any actual restriction placed on
this power, but in the concrete practical form of religious thinking which
prevents abstract formulation of the principle. The point to be noticed is
that no statement is anywhere made exempting aught from the reach of divine
power. Nearest to a general formula come such statements as nothing is
"too hard for Yahweh" (Ge 18:14; Jer 32:17); or "I know that thou canst do
everything?" or "God .... hath done whatever he pleased" (Ps 115:3; 135:6),
or, negatively, no one "can hinder" God, in carrying out His purpose (Is
43:13), or God's hand is not "waxed short" (Nu 11:23).
In the New Testament: "With God all things are possible" (Mt19:26; Mk 10:27;
Lk 18:27); "Nothing is impossible with God" (the Revised Version (British
and American) "No word from God shall be void of power," Lk
1:37). Indirectly the omnipotence of God is implied in the effect ascribed
to faith (Mt 17:20 "Nothing shall be impossible unto you"; Mk 9:23 "All
things are possible to him that believeth"), because faith puts the divine
power at the disposal of the believer. On its subjective side the principle
of inexhaustible power finds expression in Isa 40:28: God is not subject to
weariness. Because God is conscious of the unlimited extent of His resources
nothing is marvelous in His eyes (Zech 8:6).
Forms of Manifestation:
It is chiefly through its forms of manifestation that the distinctive
quality of the divine power which renders it omnipotent becomes apparent.
The divine power operates not merely in single concrete acts, but is
comprehensively related to the world as such. Both in Nature and history, in
creation and in redemption, it produces and controls and directs everything
that comes to pass. Nothing in the realm of actual or conceivable things is
withdrawn from it (Amos 9:2,3; Da 4:35); even to the minutest and most
recondite sequences of cause and effect it extends and masters all details
of reality (Mt 10:30; Lk12:7). There is no accident (1 Sa6:9; compare with
\1Sa 6:12; Pr 16:33\). It need not operate through second causes; it itself
underlies all second causes and makes them what they are.
It is creative power producing its effect through a mere word (Ge 1:3; Dt
8:3; Ps 33:9; Ro 4:17; Heb1:3; 11:30). Among the prophets, especially Isaiah
emphasizes this manner of the working of the divine power in its
immediateness and suddenness (Isaiah 9:8; 17:13; 18:4, 5, 6; 29:5). All the
processes of nature are ascribed to the causation of Yahweh (Job 5:9;
9:5;Isa 40:12; Am 4:13; 5:8,9; 9:5,6); especially God's control of the sea
is named as illustrative of this (Ps 65:7; 104:9; Isa 50:2; Jer 5:22;
31:35). The Old Testament seldom says "it rains" (Am 4:7), but usually God
causes it to rain (Lev26:4; Dt 11:17; 1Sa12:17; Job 36:27; Mt 5:45;
Ac14:17).
The same is true of the processes of history. God sovereignly disposes, not
merely of Israel, but of all other nations, even of the most powerful, e.g.
the Assyrians, as His instruments for the accomplishment of His purpose (Am
1:1-2:3; 9:7; Isa 10:5,15; 28:2; 45:1; Jer 25:9; 27:6; 43:10). The prophets
ascribe to Yahweh not merely relatively greater power than to the gods of
the nations, but His power extends into the sphere of the nations, and the
heathen gods are ignored in the estimate put upon His might (Isa 31:3).
Even more than the sphere of Nature and history, that of
redemption reveals the divine omnipotence, from the point of view of
the supernatural and miraculous. Thus Exodus 15 celebrates the power of
Yahweh in the wonders of the exodus. It is God's exclusive prerogative to do
wonders (Job 5:9; 9:10; Ps 72:18); He alone can make "a new thing" (Nu
16:30; Isa 43:19; Jer 31:22). In the New Testament the great embodiment of
this redemptive omnipotence is the resurrection of believers (Mt 22:29; Mk
12:24) and specifically the resurrection of Christ (Ro 4:17,21,24; Eph
1:19); but it is evidenced in the whole process of redemption (Mt 19:26; Mk
10:27; Ro 8:31; Eph 3:7,20; 1Pet 1:5; Rev 11:17).
Significance for Biblical Religion:
The significance of the idea may be
traced along two distinct lines. On the one hand the divine omnipotence
appears as a support of faith. On the other hand it is productive of that
specifically religious state of consciousness which Scripture calls "the
fear of Yahweh." Omnipotence in God is that to which human faith addresses
itself. In it lies the ground for assurance that He is able to save, as in
His love that He is willing to save (Ps 65:5,6; Ps 72:18; Ps 118:14, 15, 16;
Eph 3:20).
As to the other aspect of its significance, the divine omnipotence in
itself, and not merely for soteriological reasons, evokes a specific
religious response. This is true, not only of the Old Testament, where the
element of the fear of God stands comparatively in the foreground, but
remains true also of the New Testament. Even in our Lord's teaching the
prominence given to the fatherhood and love of God does not preclude that
the transcendent majesty of the divine nature, including omnipotence, is
kept in full view and made a potent factor in the cultivation of the
religious mind (Mt 6:9). The beauty of Jesus' teaching on the nature of God consists in
this, that He keeps the exaltation of God above every creature and His
loving condescension toward the creature in perfect equilibrium and makes
them mutually fructified by each other. Religion is more than the inclusion
of God in the general altruistic movement of the human mind; it is a
devotion at every point colored by the consciousness of that divine
uniqueness in which God's omnipotence occupies a foremost place. |
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Spurgeon's Devotional on Isaiah
40:10:
Isaiah
40:10 'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about
you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'
God has a strong reserve with which to
discharge this engagement; for He is able to do all things. Believer,
till thou canst drain dry the ocean of omnipotence, till thou canst
break into pieces the towering mountains of almighty strength, thou
never needest to fear. Think not that the strength of man shall ever
be able to overcome the power of God. Whilst the earth's huge pillars
stand, thou hast enough reason to abide firm in thy faith. The same
God Who directs the earth in its orbit, Who feeds the burning furnace
of the sun, and trims the lamps of heaven, has promised to supply thee
with daily strength. While He is able to uphold the universe, dream
not that He will prove unable to fulfill His own promises. Remember
what He did in the days of old, in the former generations. Remember
how He spake and it was done; how He commanded, and it stood fast.
Shall He that created the world grow weary? He hangeth the world upon
nothing; shall He who doth this be unable to support His children?
Shall He be unfaithful to His word for want of power? Who is it that
restrains the tempest? Doth not He ride upon the wings of the wind,
and make the clouds His chariots, and hold the ocean in the hollow of
His hand? How can He fail thee? When He has put such a faithful
promise as this on record, wilt thou for a moment indulge the thought
that He has out promised Himself, and gone beyond His power to
fulfill? Ah, no! Thou canst doubt no longer.
O thou Who art my God and my strength, I can believe that this
promise shall be fulfilled, for the boundless reservoir of Thy grace
can never be exhausted, and the overflowing storehouse of Thy strength
can never be emptied by Thy friends or rifled by Thine enemies.
"Now let the feeble
all be strong,
And make Jehovah's arm their song." |
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Our Daily Bread
The Awesome Power Of God
Read:
Psalm 114
Tremble, O
earth,
before the
Lord,
before the
God of
Jacob,
--Psalm
114:7
(See Spurgeon's
Note)
Back and forth, back
and forth go the pounding waves of the sea. From ages past, the continents
have been separated by the mighty oceans. Man has learned to travel over
them, to descend to the bottom of them, and to travel through them--but
their immensity and the relentless force of their waves remain untamable.
Rocks are crushed, shorelines are changed, and even experienced sailors can
be driven aground or sent to the bottom of the sea. The combined genius of
man and the most powerful equipment can do little to conquer the oceans.
They are no problem for God, however. The One who created the mighty oceans
does with them what He wishes. Psalm 114 refers to the exodus of the
Israelites from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea (Ex. 14:13-31) to
describe God's great power. The psalmist wrote, "The sea saw it and fled"
(Ps 114:3-Note).
Then he asked, "What ails you, O sea, that you fled?" (Ps 114:5-Note).
The answer is implied: The seas were obeying the command of God. When the
turbulent seas of adversity are threatening, we need to remember the awesome
power of God. As the seas fled before Him, so too can the obstacles that
seem so overwhelming to us. They have no more resistance to God's power than
water in a teacup! --D C Egner
(Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
God gives to His servants
a promise:
You'll not have to face life alone,
For when you grow weak in your struggle,
His strength will prevail--not your own. --Hess
The power of God within
you is greater than the pressure of troubles around you.
When life gets you
down, take time to look up.
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Our Daily Bread:
To Show
His Strength Read:
2 Chr 16:1-10
"For the eyes of the LORD move to
and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart
is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you
will surely have wars." 2 Chronicles 16:9
Although it's God's desire to
reveal His power to us, we seldom give Him the chance. We're like the
accountant who was told by his boss to falsify company records. Afraid of
being fired, he chose to comply--even though as a believer in Christ he knew
he was lying and breaking the law. Worse than being out of a job, he ended
up in jail. He missed the opportunity to trust God and give Him a chance to
show His power. I'm afraid we're not much different. We're like King Asa, a
good king who foolishly chose to make a treaty with Ben-Hadad rather than
trust God. Asa had reason to worry--Judah was at war with Israel. But Hanani
the prophet told Asa, "Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and
have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of
Syria has escaped" (2
Chr. 16:7). As
a result, the rest of Asa's reign was plagued by war (1Ki. 15:16).
God continues to show
Himself strong to those who remain loyal to Him. Whenever we rely on a
crooked boss or a clever scheme or a pack of lies, we are headed for
trouble. But if we stay true to God when we're under fire, we give Him the
opportunity to show us His power. --D C Egner
(Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
In God we trust, let
others trust their rulers,
We trust in God to save us from alarm;
Like broken reeds, the works of man will fail us,
Our God alone can keep us from all harm. --Smith
Our problems can
be opportunities to discover God's solutions.
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God is our
refuge and
strength, A
very
present
help in
trouble. Ps
46:1 (Spurgeon's
Commentary on Ps 46:1)
The safest place in South Florida during the
hurricane season may be the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The $5
million structure boasts 10-inch concrete walls designed to withstand the
force of 130 mph winds. Because the fierce storms come every year, the
Center is there to provide a safe working environment for the people who
monitor the weather and issue the warnings. When other residents leave, they
must stay. Just like hurricanes, the storms of our lives arrive with
unnerving regularity. Often they strike without warning and linger without
welcome, testing the limits of our faith and endurance. But God has given us
a place of safety in the midst of our circumstances. The prophet Nahum
wrote, "The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows
those who trust in Him" (Nah 1:7). And the psalmist confidently stated, "God is
our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will
not fear, even though the earth be removed" (Ps 46:1, 2). God Himself is our
center of safety. It is not our strength but His that shields us from the
whirling winds of circumstance and change. --D C McCasland
(Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Give me a spirit of peace,
dear Lord,
Midst the storms and tempests that roll,
That I may find rest and quiet within,
A calm buried deep in my soul. --Dawe
When trouble blows into
your life, seek shelter in your OMNIPOTENT God.
><>><>><>
Dear saint, God's omnipotence has several
implications that should greatly encourage your faith and give you comfort
and stedfast hope that if the all powerful God is for you, who can be
against you...
No power or will can
ultimately thwart His purposes.
What God starts,
He always finishes.
No matter how great the need,
His resources are never depleted
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HYMNS
THAT RELATE TO
GOD'S POWER
ASCRIBE TO THE LORD OUR GOD
COME, LORD, AND LET THY POW’R
COMING UP THE ROAD
ELIJAH’S GOD STILL LIVES
GIVE TO THE LORD, YE SONS OF FAME
GOD OF LOVE AND GOD OF POWER
GOD IS THE NAME MY SOUL ADORES
IF GOD HIMSELF BE FOR ME
LORD, KEEP US STEADFAST IN THY WORD
O GOD, THOU BOTTOMLESS ABYSS
O GOD, THY POWER IS WONDERFUL
O WHEREFORE HAST THOU CAST US OFF
POWER OF GOD, THE
THOU ART, O GOD, THE GOD OF MIGHT
WE SING THE GLORIOUS CONQUEST
WHEN IN HIS MIGHT THE LORD
WHEN ISRAEL, FREED FROM PHARAOH’S HAND |
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RELATED
RESOURCES
GOD'S OMNIPOTENCE
Attributes of God - The Power of God (Can
God Do Everything?) -
by Dr S Lewis Johnson
-
and
The Power of God, part II
Recommended Resource
- includes Mp3, Pdf or MS Word document. This is only one study out of over
100 in depth lectures by Dr Johnson on Systematic Theology including studies
of the doctrines of God, Christ, the Spirit, Prayer, Salvation, etc. (click
for this extensive list)
What God Is Like
by J. Hampton Keathley III
The Omnipotence of God
by D. H. Kuiper
Is Anything Too Hard For God? The Doctrine of God's
Omnipotence
by Ray Pritchard
The Omnipotence of God
by Sam Storms
Omnipotence of God
by C H Spurgeon - multiple quotes
Discourse On the Power of God by
Stephen Charnock (from his classic work "The Attributes of God")
The Lord of Power by John M. Frame
Of the Omnipotence of God
by John Gill
The Power of God by A. W. Pink
The Omnipotence of God
by A.W. Tozer
How Much Does God Control? Loving a God who
is all-powerful and good - a small
booklet from Radio Bible Class about 40 pages
God Is Able
from
The Joy of Knowing God -- Action To Take: List
some problems in your life that seem to be impossible to solve. Now meet the
conditions for enjoying God’s power: Yield your will fully to Him; Commit
the problems to Him in prayer regularly; Believe that He will solve them in
His own perfect way.
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OMNIPRESENT |
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This is an eminently practical attribute
of God which describes His presence in every place at the same time! As a
result there is nowhere in the universe that lies outside of God's cognition
and care. God can be scoffed at, mocked at, disbelieved, impugned, spurned,
blasphemed, etc, but ultimately He is unavoidable! Every man must prepare to
meet God now through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ as Savior or
later in Christ as Judge (2Ti 4:1-note,
Jn 5:22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)! As William Secker put it "A man may
hide God from himself, and yet he cannot hide himself from God." Tozer
adds that "The notion that there is a God but that he is comfortably far
away is not embodied in the doctrinal statement of any Christian church."
GOD IS NOT
NOWHERE
but
NOW HERE
Spurgeon succinctly defined
God's omnipresence...
God is everywhere. His circumference is
nowhere, but his center is everywhere. (Spurgeon goes on to say) I heard the
story of a man, a blasphemer, profane, an atheist, who was converted
singularly by a sinful action of his. He had written on a piece of paper,
“God is nowhere,” and ordered his child to read it, for he would make him an
atheist too. The child spelled it, “God is n-o-w h-e-r-e—God is now here.”
It was a truth instead of a lie, and the arrow pierced the man’s own heart (For
more of Spurgeon's comments click
Omnipresent.)
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones rightly
said that
This is the fundamental thing, the most
serious thing of all, that we are always in the presence of God.
Ray Pritchard
illustrates God's omnipresence with this humorous story...
The scene: A
young boy and his mother are having a serious discussion over lunch one day.
"Where is God?" he asks innocently. "He's in heaven," his mother replies.
"Does He live there?" "Yes." "Where's Jesus?" "He's in your heart." "But I
thought Jesus and God were the same Person." "They are." "How can he be in
heaven and in my heart at the same time?" "Sweetheart, it's hard to
explain." A short pause. "Where does the Holy Spirit live?" Another short
pause. "I think it's time to take a nap."
Thus we are introduced to one of the more difficult doctrines of the
Bible—the doctrine of God's omnipresence. "Where is God?" This is a very
important question. The seeker wants to know ? and so does the skeptic and
so does the guilty sinner so he can run the other way. And so does every
hurting person who feels abandoned by the Almighty. "Where is God when I
need Him?"
The "Omni"
Attributes - There are three attributes of God that should always be
kept together in your mind. They naturally go together since each begins
with the four-letter prefix "omni": Omniscience/ Omnipotence/ Omnipresence.
The first means that God is all-knowing, the second that he is all-powerful,
the third that he is present everywhere.
Tony Evans comments that these three attributes work in tandem:
He knows what needs to be done—that's omniscience.
He has the power to do it—that's omnipotence.
He's always wherever he needs to be to do whatever needs to be done— that's
omnipresence.
Omnipresence is the hardest for us to grasp. We can only be one place at one
time, but God is everywhere at the same time. Our problem is that we have
nothing to compare to it. Is God all powerful? Yes, and we can slightly
grasp that concept because we have power and strength. Is God all wise? Yes,
and we can conceive of that on some level because we have wisdom and
knowledge.
But there is no sense in which we are can be present everywhere! We can't
even be two places at once—a fact that we sometimes forget. For that reason
omnipresence is mysterious to us.
Satan is Not Omnipresent - But we're not alone in this. Only God is
omnipresent. All other beings are restricted to a given place at a given
time. When I preached this sermon, I comment that the angels and demons can
only be one place at one time. I also pointed out that Satan is also
limited. He is not omnipresent. That thought apparently was new to many
people. They had somehow conceived of Satan as being like a "junior God" who
could do everything God could do, only at a lower level. But a moment's
thought will show the impossibility of that notion. Either you are
omnipotent or you are not. There is no such thing as being 90% omnipotent,
or 60% omniscient for that matter. By the same token—and even more
obviously—either you are present everywhere all the time or you are not.
There is no such thing as "partial omnipresence." Because Satan is a created
being, he is limited and localized in the spirit realm, as are all the
angels and demons. This should give comfort to those who feel overwhelmed by
attacks they believe to be Satanic in nature. While we would surely agree
that Satan works today through a vast array of spirit beings who work his
infernal will, he himself is no more omnipresent than you or I.
Not a 99% God! - In his classic seven-volume Systematic Theology,
Lewis Sperry Chafer advanced the following argument for omnipresence. He
said in essence that God's perfection demands it. If we could conceive of
even a tiny portion of the universe where God is not present, then we might
conceive of a being in that locality who is greater than God himself. Some
years ago a certain brand of soap advertised itself as "99 and 44/100th
pure." But God knows no such sliding scale with regard to himself. A 99% God
is no God at all! If your God is not present everywhere in the universe,
then he is not the God of the Bible.
That leads me to offer this simple definition of omnipresence (courtesy of
John Bisagno):
The Lord Our God is everywhere
at once.
He is everywhere
present all the time. That is a truly awesome thought.
Most people are not comfortable with an omnipresent God. That's why they
have idols. They want a god they can see and feel and touch. A god they can
understand. A god they can control. A god made by their own hands.
But you can't fully understand the God of the Bible. And you certainly can't
control him.
God is Not
Limited by time or space - Perhaps the greatest statement of omnipresence is
found in the inspiring words of Psalm 139:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
Where can I go
from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the
heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I
rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even
there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say,
‘‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the
day, for darkness is as light to you.
As David
contemplates how God knows him inside and out, he wonders where he might go
to hide from the Lord. Heaven, hell, east, west, the far side of the
ocean—it doesn't matter for the Lord is already there. What about the
darkness of the night? The darkness will not deter God, for "darkness is as
light to you." There are several important implications of this truth.
First, God
cannot be contained in a building. Solomon said as much in the
dedication of the First Temple in Jerusalem. Sometimes I hear well-meaning
people call the church the "house of God," as if his presence somehow
specially dwells in a building made by the hands of man. But a church is not
a holy place in the sense that the temple was a holy place. Today God dwells
among his people and in his people wherever they are and wherever they go.
Second, God cannot be localized in a city or a nation. This truth
should keep us from boasting too much in our supposed moral superiority. God
is not an American nor does he exist to defend and perpetuate our form of
government.
Third, God
cannot be reduced to an image or a statue. This is why the Second
Commandment warns against making "graven images." It is also why the Jews
refused to make any pictures, drawings or statutes of God. The danger of
idolatry is so great that J. I. Packer in Knowing God warns against the
danger of religious pictures, even innocent drawings of Jesus. The truth is,
we don't know what he looked like and any picture or statues meant as an
"aid to devotion" may somehow lead to superstitious worship.
Fourth, he is always present whether we believe it or not. In the
early days of space travel, one of the Russian cosmonauts returned from
orbiting the earth to announce that he had looked out his space capsule and
had not seen God anywhere. To which Dr. W. A. Criswell of the First Baptist
Church of Dallas replied,
Let him take off
his space suit for just one second and he'll see God quick enough.
Fifth, he is
present even in the worst moments of life. God's omnipresence means that
he is there in the midst of suffering, pain, sickness, sorrow, anger, grief,
bitterness, divorce, betrayal, murder, rape, sexual abuse, cancer, AIDS,
abortion, warfare, famine, earthquakes, fires, floods, every natural
disaster, accidents, personal loss, and at the moment of death.
Sixth, he is always available to us wherever we go, 24 hours a day.
We always have his full attention, we don't have to make an appointment,
he's never too busy to hear us when we pray, he's never preoccupied with
other problems. Can you imagine what it would be like if we prayed only to
have a angel tell us, "I'm sorry, but God is busy handling a major crisis in
the Middle East. Leave your name and number and someone will get back to you
as soon as possible." That will never happen because all of God is
completely available to you no matter where you are. Though there be a
thousand wars in a thousand places, our God hears you as if you were the
only one praying.
Seventh, we may rely fully on him no matter how desperate our situation
may be. This week I spoke with two of our senior adults. One has just
been diagnosed with cancer. When I talked with her, she said, "Pastor, don't
worry about me. The Lord has been so good to me." She's 80 years old. Later
I spoke with a woman who is 90, very weak and frail and eager to go to
heaven. Her voice quivered, but her faith was strong. "I'm just trusting in
the Lord," she told me. These dear saints have learned through a lifetime of
walking with God that he will never leave them for he is always present with
his people.
God is always present everywhere in the universe - Most of us
struggle to understand omnipresence because it is so foreign to our
experience. The doctrine teaches us that God is wholly present everywhere.
"God is not like a substance spread out in a thin layer all over the
earth—all of Him is in Chicago, in Calcutta, in Cairo, and in Caracas, at
one and the same time" (Paul Little). God's presence is not like a layer of
peanut butter on a piece of bread. All of God is completely present at every
point in the universe all the time. He is present as fully as though He were
nowhere else. Furthermore, his presence extends to all three Persons of the
Godhead. That's a relief because what if I needed to talk to Jesus and found
out that he was over in Indonesia and wouldn't be back in Oak Park for a
month? Or what if the Spirit were in South Dakota when someone needed him in
Turkey? Thank God, all three Persons of the Trinity are everlastingly
available to all the children of God.
I have already commented that he is present even though we do not realize
it. One writer said that God's presence is like the air we breathe. Air is
odorless, tasteless, invisible (when it's not polluted). Most of the time we
don't even think about the air we breathe, yet we depend on it for our very
existence. Even so God's presence is everywhere with us, and if it were
withdrawn, none of us could survive for even one moment.
Or consider radio waves. They are invisible yet everywhere. We don't realize
that in this room there are thousands of signals floating through the air.
Microwave, short wave, AM-FM, TV, cellular phone, CB, police, fire,
ultra-low frequency and ultra-high frequency. Tens of thousands of signals
float through the ether all around us. They are there all the time. We
aren't aware of them because we don't have a receiver tuned in to the right
frequency. Likewise, God is always there, but we're not tuned in to his
frequency so we don't sense his presence all the time.
God can be ignored but he cannot be avoided - You can ignore God but
you can't avoid him. This should be a serious warning to the unconverted.
That's why Genesis 16:13 calls him (in Hebrew) El Roi, which means The God
Who Sees. At the end of this age, in those terrible days leading up to the
return of Christ, the unconverted will suddenly realize the error of their
ways. But then it will be too late. Revelation 6:15-17 describes the scene:
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the
mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks
of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, ‘‘Fall on us
and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath
of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?
Think of it! Every sin you commit is committed in the presence of God. He
hears every white lie, he knows when you cheat on your taxes, he listens
when you swear under your breath, he takes note of every broken promise, he
records the evil men do under cover of darkness.
Jesus Makes People Nervous - You can't avoid him even if you try. This week
I heard from a couple in our church whose children attend the local public
schools. One of their sons had to write an essay about a person in the past
who changed the world for the better. When he chose Jesus, the teacher said
he had to pick another person because to write about Jesus you have to use
the Bible and she said it wasn't a trustworthy historical document. Now,
before I say anything else, let me remark that the teacher was simply
showing her ignorance. Her comments were pure prejudice—nothing more. I
seriously doubt she has ever read the Bible. Even the secular experts agree
that it is the most trustworthy ancient book in the world.
So the parents protested, called the principal, played phone tag with the
principal, and then earlier this week the teacher relented under pressure.
In fact, the principal said she thought it was marvelous that a young boy
should know so much about his faith. When I discussed it with the mother, I
asked what would have happened if one of the students had volunteered to
write about Mohammed? Or Buddha? That would be okay, but not Jesus. "Jesus
makes people nervous," she said. Yes, he does.
You can ignore him but you can't avoid him! Every time you write 1997 you
are giving testimony to his power. All history is divided by his birth.
God promises to draw near to anyone who will draw near to him - God is
always near his people. This promise is repeated many places in scripture.
Hebrews 13:5b says,
‘‘Never will I
leave you; never will I forsake you."
In Matthew 28:20b
Jesus promised,
"I am with you
always."
And in
Deuteronomy 31:6, as he was nearing the end of his long life, Moses reminded
his people,
"Be strong and
courageous. Do not be terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes
with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
In our worship
services we sometimes have a prayer called an "invocation," which means we
pray and invite God's presence in our midst. Now I know what is meant by
that. We are praying for God's manifest or powerful presence in our midst.
However, I do think it's good to remember that we don't have to ask God to
be with us because he is always with us. We don't have to "invoke" God's
presence. He's already here!
The Bible also tells us that he draws near to us in times of pain and
suffering. Psalm 34:18 tells us that "the Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Many of God's choicest servants
have experienced God's powerful, uplifting presence in the midst of
unspeakable sorrow. Often they look back later and marvel at how God brought
them through when their own resources completely failed.
"Open His Eyes, Lord" - He is also near when we least expect him. In this
regard I often think of Elisha and his scared servant at Dothan. 2Kings 6:8,
9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 tells how the mighty armies of Aram
had completely surrounded the people of God at Dothan. When his servant saw
the enemy drawn up on every side, he cried out in fear, "What will we do?"
Elisha told him not to fear because, "those that are with us are more than
those who are with them" (2Ki 6:16). Then Elisha prayed that the servant's
eyes might be supernaturally opened. They were, and as he looked up, he "saw
the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2Ki 6:17).
Something like that needs to happen to many of us. We need a glimpse of
God's presence all around us—even in the midst of difficult circumstances.
Maybe you don't need a new neighborhood or a new job or a new school. You
need to see the angels of God surrounding you right now!
We also know that he draws near to those who approach him in humble faith.
In Psalm 145:18 we read that "the Lord is near to all who call on him, to
all who call on him in truth." James 4:8 challenges us to "come near to God
and He will come near to you." To quote Tony Evans once again, "God is with
you if you are with God! If you are far from God today, who moved? He's
right where he always said he would be. If you aren't conscious of his
presence, perhaps it's because you have moved away from him."
"When John Comes Home" - There is one final promise we need to remember.
This is the most important promise of all. He promises to walk with us in
the hour of death.
You will not pass across the threshold of death alone. In one of his sermons
Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse illustrated that truth this way. Think about a
mother with son serving in the military. She doesn't know when he'll be
home, so she constantly speaks of him this way: "When John comes home, he'll
fix the window shade." "When John comes home, he'll plant the garden," "When
John comes home, he'll sit in his favorite chair and eat dinner with the
whole family." Why the third person? Why does she say "he" and not "you"?
Because John isn't home yet!
But when he finally comes home and she sees him for the first time, she
cries, "John, you're home." Why the change from "he" to "you"? Because John
has come through the door.
Now listen to these familiar words:
"The LORD is my
shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he
leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me" (Psalm 23:1,
2, 3, 4).
Why the change
from "he" to "you"? Because even though the Lord is with us every day, we
don't always feel his presence right beside us. But in the moment of death,
we are not left alone. The Lord Jesus comes for us and walks with us across
the Great Divide. Thank God, I do not have to walk through the valley of the
shadow of death alone. For he comes, he enters the room, the stands by the
bedside, he reaches down and takes my trembling hand, and he walks with me
from this life into life eternal.
The Best Part of the 23rd Psalm- The best two words in Psalm 23 are
two little words in verse 4:
"You are with me."
The shepherd is
no longer up ahead leading the flock. The valley is too dark for that. Now
he is walking with us, step by step, walking side by side reassuring his
sheep by his calm presence.
If God is with us, we have nothing to fear. - Death casts a
frightening shadow over all of life. Visit any hospital or nursing home and
you will see the fear on the faces of the patients. Go to a funeral and
watch the faces of the mourners. One reason we hate funerals is because we
don't want to face the truth of our own mortality.
We can struggle with many other enemies but we can't struggle with death.
The grim reaper wins every time.
We'll all eventually go through the valley of the shadow of death. We need a
guide to help us find our way through that land of darkness to the light on
the other side. Where will we find a guide who can take us through that
valley? We've got to find someone who's been there before, who's gone
through himself, who can take us by the hand and lead us where he's already
been.
The Guide We Need - Who can we get? Where can we find a guide like
that? His name is Jesus! He's been there before. He knows the way through.
He's been to the light on the other side and he'll come for us.
But thank God, we don't walk through that valley alone. Jesus will walk with
us. He'll lead us through to the other side.
Deep in my soul, I believe that the saints of God have nothing to fear in
the moment of death. Though it may not be pleasant or painless, though it
comes after long suffering or in a fiery crash, the moment itself will be
filled with joy as the Lord himself escorts God's children through the
darkest valley of all. At that moment, all other guides must turn back. Only
the Lord Jesus Christ can help us through. And he does. (Ray Pritchard
Here, There and Everywhere: The Doctrine
of God's Omnipresence )
The famous scientist
Isaac Newton , a believer in Jesus Christ, drew this profound conclusion
about God...
He is not eternity and infinity, but
eternal and infinite; He is not duration or space, but He endures and is
present. He endures forever and is everywhere present; and by existing
always and everywhere He constitutes duration and space.
OMNIPRESENCE:
COMFORTING
and
CONVICTING
As believers we should love the
comforting attribute of God's omnipresence, for as Isaac Watts said
so poetically...
Within thy circling power I stand;
On every side I find Thy hand;
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still with God.
But the comforting
doctrine of divine omnipresence is also convicting, as
Spurgeon explains...
Where we cannot enjoy God’s company, we
will not go. Our motto is, “With God, anywhere. Without God, nowhere...There
is no place so well-adapted for the discovery of sin and recovery from its
power and guilt as the immediate presence of God. Get into God’s arms, and
you will see how to hit at sin. You will gather strength to give the final
blow which shall lay the monster in the dust. Job never knew how to get rid
of sin half so well as he did when his eye of faith rested on God, and he
abhorred himself, and repented in dust and ashes (Job 42:5, 6)
Scriptures that speak
of God's Omnipresence...
Deut 4:39 "Know therefore today, and take
it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth
below; there is no other.
Psalms 139:7 Where can I go from Thy
Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold,
Thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the
sea,
10 Even there Thy hand will lead me, And Thy right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me
will be night,"
12 Even the darkness is not dark to Thee, And the night is as bright as the
day. Darkness and light are alike to Thee.
Isaiah 66:1 Thus says the LORD, "Heaven
is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could
build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?
Jeremiah 23:23 "Am I a God who is near,"
declares the LORD, "And not a God far off? 24 Can a man hide himself
in hiding places, So I do no | |
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