CHAPTER SIX
The Omnipotence of God
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.’
“People are starving for the greatness of God,” writes John Piper. “But most of them would not give this diagnosis of their troubled lives. The majesty of God is an unknown cure. There are far more popular prescriptions on the market, but the benefit of any other remedy is brief and shallow. Preaching that does not have the aroma of God’s greatness may entertain for a season, but it will not touch the hidden cry of the soul: ‘Show me thy glory!’”
Piper then gives an illustration from his own ministry to demonstrate how the greatness of God ministers to people, even in the worst of times. He said,
Years ago during the January prayer week at our church, I decided to preach on the holiness of God from Isaiah 6.… So I preached on the holiness of God and did my best to display the majesty and glory of such a great and holy God. I gave not one word of application to the lives of the people. Application is essential in the normal course of preaching, but I felt led that day to make a test: Would the passionate portrayal of the greatness of God in and of itself meet the needs of people?
I didn’t realize that not long before this Sunday one of the young families of our church discovered that their child was being sexually abused by a close relative. It was incredibly traumatic. They were there that Sunday morning and sat under that message. I wonder how many advisers to us pastors today would have said: “Pastor Piper, can’t you see your people are hurting? Can’t you come down out of the heavens and get practical? Don’t you realize what kind of people sit in front of you on Sunday?” Some weeks later I learned the story. The husband took me aside one Sunday after a service. “John,” he said, “these have been the hardest months of our lives. Do you know what has gotten me through? The vision of the greatness of God’s holiness that you gave me the first week of January. It has been the rock we could stand on.”
Contrast that man, who was fortified by the greatness of God’s holiness, with Rabbi Harold Kushner. As a conservative Jew, Rabbi Kushner believed that God was benevolent and omnipotent, all-good and all-powerful. But then his son, Aaron, died prematurely at age fourteen of progeria (rapid aging disease). This tragic death caused Rabbi Kushner to reexamine the traditional beliefs about God’s attributes. His reexamination resulted in the best-selling book When Bad Things Happen to Good People. In the book he looks at Job, and says there are three premises we would like to believe simultaneously:
1. God is omnipotent, all-powerful
2. God is benevolent, all-good
3. Job is a good person.
However, in light of all the suffering that Job experienced, Rabbi Kushner concludes, we cannot possibly hold to premises #1 and #2 at the same time. A God who was all-powerful and all-good would never have allowed a righteous man like Job to go through such excruciating trials. Therefore, God is not omnipotent. He then says, contrary to Scripture, “God wants the righteous to live peaceful, happy lives, but sometimes even He can’t bring that about…. There are some things God does not control.” But is disease and death an argument against God’s omnipotent control? Moreover, does disease and death in this life indicate that God isn’t intervening to eradicate them? We will address God’s solution to these shortly.
HOW BIG IS YOUR GOD?
Let’s put these two men aside, and ask: “How big is your God; how powerful is your God?” To make the question less abstract, and more pertinent, let’s phrase it this way, “How big is your God in comparison to your problems or difficulties?” Can he handle them? Or, are they too tough even for him?
Although orthodox believers would never dare to verbalize such heresy, could it be that our dour disposition and paltry prayers betray that our view of God is subpar? Our prayer lives can be especially revealing. Robert Murray M’Cheyne declared, “What a man is alone on his knees before God, that he is, and no more.” Along similar lines, J. I. Packer said, “I believe that prayer is the measure of the man, spiritually, in a way that nothing else is, so that how we pray is as important a question as we can ever face.” Or, it could be stated this way: Private prayer exposes our true spiritual condition, faith and perception of God, unlike anything else in our lives. What do your prayers reveal about your perception of God?
GOD’S POWER DISPLAYED
The Scriptures are full of descriptions of God’s omnipotence. While you may not find the word omnipotence in the Bible, depending on the translation you use, nevertheless, as was mentioned in the previous chapter, you will find the synonym almighty about 57 times. And one of God’s names is El-Shaddai, God Almighty (see Gen. 17:1). The Church has confessed its belief in God’s omnipotence all throughout her history. In the Apostles and Nicene Creeds we declare our belief “in God the Father Almighty.” This is one of the most basic and fundamental confessions of Christianity.
As we open our Bibles to the first page, we’re immediately confronted with the existence of God and his awesome and eternal power. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:1, 3). Never get over the child-like wonder that God spoke the light into existence. Or, that God spoke the whole universe into existence ex nihilo—out of nothing (Gen. 1:6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24). Psalm 33:8-9 states it well: “Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”
Was it hard for God to create the universe? “Since God has all power,” A. W. Tozer comments, “nothing is harder or easier with God. ‘Hard’ and ‘easy’ can’t apply to God because God has all the power there is.” Additionally, God never gets worn out. When God “rested” on the seventh day, he did so not because he was exhausted after a long hard week of creating the universe, but because his work was complete.
Genesis chapter one tells us that God created the heavens and the earth, which included the sun, the moon, the stars, the oceans, the mountains, the trees, the birds, the fish, the land animals and man (male and female) in the span of six days. Modern man, educated by Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, ridicules this idea, because he assumes that billions and billions of years were necessary for the evolution of the world and mankind. After all, as we saw earlier, modern theorists hold that it takes an enormous amount of time for something to come into being out of nothing. When a Christian considers the Genesis account of creation in six days, he too scratches his head, but for the exact opposite reason. What puzzles the Christian is why God would take such a long time to create the world, when he could have easily done it in less than a sixth of a nanosecond. We could say to the evolutionists, what Jesus said to the Sadducees on one occasion: “You know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.” God took a long time to create the universe, because he wasn’t just creating, he was also providing us with an example to follow. So, like God, we work for six days and rest on the Sabbath (Ex. 20:8-11). But, unlike God, we actually need the physical rest.
God’s power is also seen in the preservation of the universe: “[Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3). Rabbi Kushner believes that “God does not reach down to interrupt the workings of laws of nature.” He fails to recognize that the myriad of miracles recorded in the Bible are instances of God interrupting the laws of nature. Moreover, God is continuously upholding the universe, which includes the so-called laws of nature. Thus, there is no need for God to “reach down.”
Creation stands as an irrefutable monument to God’s omnipotence, which is why Paul could state boldly, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). Jeremiah, commenting on the power of God exhibited in creation, exclaims, “‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who has made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you’” (Jer. 32:17). Biblical logic dictates that if God can speak the universe into existence ex nihilo, then nothing is too hard for him. Genesis 1:1 should be sufficient to convince us all of the omnipotence of God. The only reason this clear demonstration of omnipotence is rejected is due to a deliberate suppression of the truth (Rom. 1:18-20).
Before we consider other instances of God’s power, let’s address an argument that some atheists have put forward to refute it. It has been called the omnipotence paradox. It’s so silly that it’s hardly worth our time, but, following the wisdom of Proverbs 26:5, we will “[a]nswer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.” Instead of defining omnipotence as God being all-powerful, it has been redefined as God having the ability to do anything. So some scoffer will ask, “If God can do all things, can he make a rock so big that even he can’t lift it?” Since God cannot do this, the omnipotence paradox states that an omnipotent God doesn’t exist. C. S. Lewis’ response is apropos, “You may attribute miracles to Him, but not nonsense.” Christians freely confess that God cannot do that which is based upon a logical contradiction, or that which is contrary to his nature.
Psalm 115:3 says: “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” And it does not please him to lie, or to tempt his people to sin, or to do anything that violates his perfect nature. (Num. 23:19; Jam. 1:13). Our creation of irrational self-contradictory categories, like square circles or married bachelors are meaningless when it comes to questions about God’s omnipotence. The omnipotence of God simply states that he has the power to do all that he pleases and to carry out his sovereign will; it is not a claim that he can perform acts that violate his nature or the law of non-contradiction, which necessarily follows from his nature. At the end of the day, the omnipotence paradox is nothing more than a desperate, and failed, attempt to dismiss God.
“NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD”
Scripture contains countless examples and statements about God’s omnipotence. His power over nature is seen in the calming of the storm. After Jesus’ panicked disciples woke him up, he “rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mk. 4:39). As a result, the disciples “were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and sea obey him?’” (v. 41). Whenever I read that, I smile, and think to myself, “This is the One whom even the wind and sea obey.”
In Genesis 18, the aging Sarah overhears the LORD saying to Abraham that she will give birth to a son in her old age. She responded as most of us would have responded—she laughed. “The LORD said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD?’” (Gen. 18:13-14). Similarly, the angel Gabriel told Mary, the mother of Jesus, “And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God” (Lk. 1:36-37). And, of course, Mary herself miraculously gave birth to God’s Son. It appears that one of God’s favorite ways to display his power is by enabling an old, barren, or virgin woman to conceive and give birth.
The gospels provide us with many examples of Jesus’ power over sickness, leprosy, paralysis, blindness, the demons and, most notably, death. At the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus said to Martha, “‘Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?’” (Jn. 11:40). He then proceeded to put that glory on display through his power that called Lazarus out of the tomb. Concerning his own death and resurrection, Jesus said, “‘My Father loves me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again….’” (Jn. 10:17-18, NKJV). Even a cursory reading of Scripture would lead one to conclude that nothing will be impossible with God.
GOD’S POWER IN THE GOSPEL
“And behold, a man came up to [Jesus], saying, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good…. If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me’” (Matt. 19:16-17, 21). When he couldn’t do it, Jesus told his disciples that “it is easier for camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (v. 24). “When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’” (vv. 25-26). Entering into the eternal kingdom of God is a consequence of God doing the impossible in our lives. And, mark it well, he is doing the impossible on behalf of people who are not good.
One reason for Rabbi Kushner’s misunderstanding of God’s power is because he was operating with a faulty presupposition from the outset. His book is titled When Bad Things Happen to Good People. That never happens. The only exception in all of world history took place when God’s only Son voluntarily went to the cross. Somebody should write a book titled When Good Things Happen to Bad People. The real question is how a sovereign, just, righteous and holy God could unleash his power for the good of bad people, who have trampled upon his commands, so that they could be saved? That’s the actual conundrum.
Disease and death are intensely emotional issues, especially when it hits home. I would never want to minimize the agony Rabbi Kushner experienced as he watched progeria take the life of his young son. That should not, however, cause us to conclude that God is not omnipotent. We must grasp that ultimately disease and death are the result of sin. In God’s perfect time and inscrutable way, he is eradicating disease and death by entering into this fallen world through the person of his Son. Even though the world doesn’t recognize it, and in fact, sees it as impotent and foolish, the cross of Christ was necessary to eliminate disease and death forever. Thus, diseases, such as progeria, are not a refutation against God’s omnipotence.
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). The Jews of the first century, just like many Jews today, failed to recognize the power of God unto salvation, as it is displayed in the cross of Christ. As Paul went on to say, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (vv. 22-24). No wonder the apostle Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).
We often speak of our salvation being due to God’s love. And, of course, it is. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). And as Paul wrote: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). But don’t gloss over the power of this love. How much strength was necessary in order for the second person of the Trinity to empty himself, to take the form of a slave, to be born in the likeness of men, and then to humble himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross? (Phil. 2:6-8). This is the greatest love the world has ever known, and it is the greatest love because it is the most powerful love. This is an omnipotent love that only those who are being saved can exult in. To everyone else it is folly.
TRIUMPHANT POWER
The crucifixion of Christ is indispensable if we are to truly understand and appreciate the power of God. In his book Humility, C. J. Mahaney tells a moving story from the life of his older sister Sharon. It turned out that her husband Dave was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and it was particularly aggressive.
“After surgery and unsuccessful chemotherapy, it wasn’t long before Dave was brought home from the hospital and placed under hospice care to await what now appeared inevitable, and which indeed came quickly….
During those last few weeks, Dave's bed was set up in the center of their living room, where a parade of caring people visited him. Sharon would often sit beside him and stroke his hair and, whether he was conscious or not, speak into his ear, telling her "bud" what a wonderful, godly husband and father he was.
On one occasion, a relative of Dave was visiting, a man who was not a Christian. As he watched Sharon caring for Dave and thought about Dave’s relative youth and the children he would leave behind, anger seemed to well up from within him—anger directed at the God whom Dave and Sharon were professing to believe in.
He asked Sharon, "Why aren't you angry?"
She turned to him and answered with the truth of the gospel: “Dave deserved hell for his sins, just like you and me, and yet God, in His mercy, forgave him because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Dave is going to heaven,” she said. “How could I be angry at God for taking him to heaven?”
It was an answer I’m sure he wasn’t expecting, and one that I doubt he’ll ever forget.
Whether they realize it or not, people are starving for the greatness of God. And it turns out that the focal point of God’s greatness and power is to be found in the gospel, which provides the greatest answer when it comes to addressing the questions of pain and sorrow. At the cross, the power of God triumphed over sin, the devil, disease, and death. With this perspective, we can all say with the apostle Paul: “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18).
Come, Thou almighty King,
Help us Thy Name to sing, help us to praise!
Father all glorious, o’er all victorious,
Come and reign over us, Ancient of Days!
Jesus, our Lord, arise,
Scatter our enemies, and make them fall;
Let Thine almighty aid our sure defense be made,
Souls on Thee be stayed; Lord, hear our call.
Come, Thou incarnate Word,
Gird on Thy mighty sword, our prayer attend!
Come, and Thy people bless, and give Thy Word success,
Spirit of holiness, on us descend!
Come, holy Comforter,
Thy sacred witness bear in this glad hour;
Thou Who almighty art, now rule in every heart,
And ne’er from us depart, Spirit of pow’r!
To Thee, great One in Three,
Eternal praises be, hence, evermore;
Thy sov’reign majesty may we in glory see,
And to eternity love and adore!
Anonymous
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