God is All-Powerful Review Questions

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?" (Daniel 4:34-35)

 

 

Our God is in the heavens;

   he does all that he pleases.

(Psalm 115:3)

 

 

Nebuchadnezzar affirms God as the Most High. His power and authority are supreme. He is freely able to do whatever He pleases. In comparison to God’s power, His creatures are insignificant, therefore nothing in heaven or on earth can hinder Him from doing His will. This is what it means to be omnipotent (all-powerful). God is the great Almighty.

 

 

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8)

 

 

 

Nothing is too hard for the LORD

 

 

The LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?" 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? At the appointed time I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.“ (Genesis 18:10-14)

 

 

In order to help Sarah trust in the truthfulness of His word, God asks the question, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” The implied answer is no. God is all-powerful. He is able to bring forth the universe from nothing, and He is able to bring forth a baby from a dead womb. Nothing is too hard for Him.

 

 

'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. (Jeremiah 32:17)

 

 

 

Some things are impossible for God

 

 

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. (James 1:13)

 

 

if we are faithless, he remains faithful - for he cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy 2:13)

 

 

So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,  18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. Hebrews (6:17-18)

 

 

God cannot act against His nature. He cannot lie, sin, change, cease to exist, be illogical etc. We shouldn’t think of these impossibilities as weaknesses. On the contrary, God is even greater because He cannot do such things. With these impossibilities in mind, what should we make of the angel Gabriel’s words to Mary? Do they present us with a contradiction?

 

 

"For nothing will be impossible with God." (Luke 1:37)

 

 

Gabriel said these words to affirm the ability of God to fulfil His declared purpose. In this context, we should understand his statement as being a shorthand way of saying that nothing God purposes will be impossible with God. 

 

 

 

God does not get tired

 

 

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.  (Genesis 2:2-3)

 

 

As creatures, our power levels fall and rise with work and rest respectively. Not so with God. His power is infinite and shouldn’t be thought of in quantitative terms. Be careful not to make the mistake of thinking that God rested because His work of creation tired Him out and He needed to recover. He rested because His creative work was finished.

 

 

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. (Isaiah 40:28)

 

 

 

God’s Omnipotence and your life

 

 

God’s omnipotence means He is freely able to accomplish all His purposes. Nothing can stay His hand. Let us take that definition from the abstract and make it personal. God’s omnipotence means He is freely able to accomplish all His purposes for your life. That is exactly what we see in Romans 8:28-31. 

 

 

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:28-31)

 

 

These words are amazingly comforting. We are secure in the omnipotent hands of the Almighty. Praise be to Him!

 

 

I give [my sheep] eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. (John 10:28-29)

 

 

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)