Christ is Life Podcast

And so today we're going to talk about the final Omni attribute that we'll be talking about, and that is God's attribute of omnipotence. Omnipotence means that God is all powerful, that He is powerful enough to do all things. When we think about all the things that God is powerful enough to do. I think we should think about it in the way that Blaise Pascal actually talks about it. He said this. He says the greatest single distinguishing feature of the omnipotence of God is that our imagination gets lost in thinking about it. I mean, when you pause to just begin to dwell about what it means to be an all powerful I mean, not just mostly powerful, but all powerful being, then that really will get lost in our imaginations of the full comprehensive scope of what all that entails, because we're just not able to really wrap our brains around it. I mean, we have access to being able to see some people who are really strong in our own world. I mean, there's some guys who seem like giants in our world that are body builders, and they compete in the World's Strongest Man competition thing. And I mean, they can do some incredible things. They can lift an incredible amount of weight. They can move trucks that weigh 30 something 1000 pounds, you know, 20 to 30 meters down a road. I mean, you look upon them and you just go, wow, how powerful are these guys. But yet, at some point, there's a limit to what they can do, and even while they're trying to accomplish those things, I mean, they're grunting and they're giving it everything that they've got, and there's so much effort involved. But God's power is not like that. There is no limit to what God can do, and we can't even use words like easy or difficult, because that describes a range of what God like could do, effort wise, and it's it's just not hard for him. He can just do all things. It's not easy, it's not hard. He can just do them like you get lost in the imagination of thinking about what it means to be an all powerful God. But even though we can't understand it completely and wrap our brains around it fully, we can know about it because God's revealed it to us. This is what we've been doing each and every single week. We've been turning to God's word, because this is how the Lord reveals more about himself so that we can know Him and know how to experience him. One of the ways that we see that God is all powerful is in the way that he introduces himself. This is Genesis chapter 17, and it says, When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, he said this of himself, I am El Shaddai. I am God Almighty. He's introducing himself as the all powerful God. It's just who I am. I'm mighty to do all things. It's the way God introduces himself at the beginning of Scripture. We see it throughout scripture, and we see it's the way God has talked about at the end of Scripture, Revelation, 19 six, I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud pearls of thunder shouting, hallelujah for our Lord, God Almighty. There it is again. Reigns. He's reigning as God Almighty at the beginning of God's word, and he's reigning at the end of it, because he's all powerful, and there is no one or nothing that can defeat him from accomplishing His purposes. There are other places that we see in Scripture, God's omnipotence talked about in Scripture. Here's a couple more of them. This is, this is the Lord talking and communicating with other people. In Genesis 18, he's having a conversation, conversation with Abraham. And he says, Is anything too hard for the Lord? And of course, the implied answer is, no, there's that's what he wants him to understand. There's nothing too hard for me Abraham to do. He says the same thing in Jeremiah, 3227 I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Again. Is there anything too hard for me again? The answer is no. I'm omnipotent. I'm all powerful. There's no range of effort even involved of these things. I can just do all things. Look at what Job says in Job 42 two, I know that you can do all things, and I love the latter part of this. And he says, because of that, because you can do all things, no purpose of yours can be for him. It. I mean, that should bring us great comfort when we're thinking about, excuse me, about the omnipotence of God and him being all powerful, then that means whatever it is that he purposes to happen can never be thwarted. There's no one on this planet. There's no being that exists. There's nothing that can occur that can keep God from accomplishing His purposes, his plans and his promises. When God says that if you put your faith and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ, that you will not perish but have everlasting not a life, that purpose cannot be thwarted, that means there's nothing that you can do. There's no sin that you can accomplish, there's nothing that Satan can do to snatch you out of his hands. Jesus even talked about this, even declared it himself in John 1028, he says, I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand, the comfort that when we understand that this is an all powerful God, and that if he promises eternal life, that if we just receive it by putting our faith and trust in Him, then you can take it to the bank. You will never perish. You have eternal life. You can experience it now, and you will experience it all the way through, even after you take your final breath on this planet. So Jesus is talking about God's or his own omnipotence. I'm powerful enough that no one can snatch you out of my hand. My purposes won't be thwarted. He said this in a couple of different instances about omnipotence. Matthew 1926, With God, all things, not some things, all things are possible. Mark 1436, Abba Father, he said, everything is possible for you. And so these are just a few places, not taking you to all of them throughout Scripture, but you need to see it. I mean, this is where we have to start. If we're talking about God's attribute of omnipotence, that he's all powerful, you go, Well, how do we know that? Because Scripture declares it to be so, because God has revealed it to us through His words. But God doesn't stop there. I mean, it would be enough even for him just to say it, but because it is who he is, then we actually see the evidence of this throughout his actions. And you don't have to turn any further than the opening page of your Bible to see that God is omnipotent, because it says In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. We've read that so many times, people have used that phrase, talked about it as God being the creator, so many times, I think we forget what we're really talking about here, the fact that God took nothing and he created everything. You try taking nothing and creating something, and he took nothing and created everything. Only an all powerful, omnipotent God can do that and listen, it didn't strain him. He didn't sweat when he was taking nothing and creating everything. He didn't get tired. He didn't rest on the seventh day because, oh, man, that was so exhausting to rest just means that he quit working because he was done. There was nothing left to do, because it was perfect the way that he had created it. Here's what the psalmist says about that looking back at what God was doing. Psalm 33 nine says For he referring to God spoke, just simply spoke, and it came to be. Try speaking in something coming into being.
Oh, go ahead. Try it. Got it
good. Try. Why didn't
you go for more just 100 so he spoke, and it came to be, he commanded, and it stands firm. This is who God is. He just says, Let there be light. And, okay, there was light. I mean, it doesn't even have to use a strong voice. He just says it right? It can be a whisper, because this is how powerful he is. So we see it through the act of creation, but then we see it in the way that he enters into this world and the way that he interacts with us, and the things that he does. One of the places, we won't highlight all of them, but let me just highlight a few of the places we see this in Scripture, Exodus 14, 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 dry sea. Went through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their right and a wall of water on their left. The omnipotence of God, it's. Can you imagine being there? Can you imagine seeing, I mean, in one night, it's dry and you're walking through this and there is a wall of water on your right and your left, and not be thinking, well, I guess this is the kind of big God that we serve. You know, wow, you'd be going, this is the all powerful God who can do anything? Another one of my favorites that we see in the Old Testaments is found in or the Old Testament is found in First Kings, chapter 18. Many of you are familiar with this story, but in this particular chapter we are introduced, or see King Ahab, and then we see a prophet named Elijah, and they kind of get into this quarrel. They're quarreling about things. There was all these false gods, and Elijah was kind of disturbed by it. And so, so, so he tells Ahab to bring 450 of these, these prophets of Baal, these, this false god that they were worshiping and and he basically issues them a challenge, like we're going to have a showdown between your so called God and the one true God that I know really exists. And so he says, Hey, take these 450 prophets of Baal. And here's what I want you to do. I want you to cut up some wood, and I want you to put a bull on it, but don't set it on fire. Basically, what we're going to do is you start to call on the name of your so called God, and I'll call on the name of the one true God, and we'll see which one just lights it on fire without us interacting with it in any way, shape or form. And so he lets them go first, of course, because he knew nothing was going to happen. And so the 450 prophets start shouting for Bill to answer them and do something, and they're dancing around and they're shouting and and nothing is happening. And, and this is what we're told in First Kings, 1827, at noon, Elijah began to taunt them. Did you know that taunting was in the Bible?
Apparently, it's a spiritual gift
at noon. I mean, watch this, right? This is so good. At noon, Elijah began to taunt them. Shout louder. He said, Surely He is a God, oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. Perhaps he's in deep thought, or, you know what, maybe he's busy, or is he traveling? Could he be traveling? Maybe, you know what, maybe he's sleeping. That's gotta be it. He's sleeping, and you're gonna have to awaken him. So they shouted louder, let's wake him up. They slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response. No one answered. No one paid attention. After we told this, we're told that the prophet Elijah begins to take the wood and says, Hey, you know what? Here's what I'm gonna have. You guys do? I want you to take some water now, and I want you to pour it all over the wood. And we're not talking about just a little bit of water. Listen, however much water you want just drench it. I want you guys to pour so much water on this that it makes it the most or the least compatible way that fire could start from something being present right here in this pile. And after they begin to drench that and do all of those things a little bit later in the chapter, it says that Elijah 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 felt prostrate and cried the Lord He is God. The Lord He
is God.
What an appropriate response
when you encounter an all powerful God who can do something such as this. The Lord? He is God. And again, this is just one of many places that we see it when Jesus shows up on the scene and we're told it's Emmanuel God with us, God in the flesh, fully God, fully man, we continue to see the omnipotence of God on display. One day, Jesus and disciples were out on a boat, and they were crossing on the sea, and all of a sudden a storm comes up and and there's lightning and there's thunder and it's loud, and the waves get bigger, so much so that they're coming over the boat. And the whole time this is taking place, Jesus is just just sawing logs, just sleeping. When you're an omnipotent being, things like thunder and lightning and waves coming over the boat, they don't seem to bother you too much. You. Just rest, because you're all powerful to do anything and everything. And so the disciples went and woke him, saying, Lord, save us. We're going to drown. And he replied, you of little faith, why are you so afraid? And then he got up and rebuked the wind and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, What kind of a man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him. It wasn't just any man. It was the God man. It was the omnipotent God of the universe in human flesh, which caused them to sit in amazement and wonder. Of course, he calms storms with mere words with his breath. Of course, again, this is just one instance that we know of Jesus and the omnipotence of God being on display. We see him healing the blind and healing the lame. He was walking on water, he fed 10 to 15,000 people with five loaves and and two fish. And then, of course, at the very end of his life, after dying on the cross for the sins of the world, we see God raise him from the dead because not even death is too big for an omnipotent god to overcome. And so we see God's omnipotence talked about in Scripture. It's how he referred to himself. We see it in his actions, because it is part of who he is and the way that he works in this world. But there is something else that we need to highlight, that we need to be aware of when we're talking about God's omnipotence, because for some, God's omnipotence can be a scary thing. And so when we talk about God's omnipotence, what we mean is that God is omnipotent, or His omnipotence is only applicable to all things that are consistent with his nature. In other words, God. Hebrews 618, says God did this. That that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie. Habakkuk, 113, your eyes are too pure to look on evil god cannot
sin.
When we talk about the omnipotence of God, and he's all powerful, he's limited to his character, to who he is. He can't use his power in ways that are sinful. He can't do things that are sinful with his power, because it goes against his nature. It goes against who he actually is. So this is the way that Henry Thiessen, an early 19th century New Testament professor and scholar theologian, kind of defines it. He says 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. We need to know this, and we need to understand this about God's omnipotence, because, as I mentioned a second ago, for some people, the omnipotence of God could be a really scary thing. I mean, if you look around the world, there are some really powerful people. There are some really powerful people who abuse the position and the power that they have. They mistreat people in sinful, ugly and nasty ways, and it can be so frightening sometimes that even if you're not sitting directly underneath them, they're halfway across the world, you may be fearful about how that might impact you at some point, living in this world where they're abusing the power that they have. Some of you have sat under someone in such a way that had a lot of power and abused that power, but you do not have to worry about that with God. When we talk about God's omnipotence, it is only in alignment with his other attributes. We talked in week two about one of God's attributes being his goodness, that God is good. Another one we'll talk about is how God is love. Therefore God can only work in ways with his all powerfulness, in ways that are in conjunction with his goodness and His love. He can only act in those ways, and he will never abuse the power that he has. And so what we're trying to say is that if we're trying to become more aware of God's attributes, not just for knowledge, but to be able to enter into that experiential relationship that we talked about at the very beginning of today, then we must know this about God. God. Because when you start to go, Oh, God is all powerful, then we can go like this. We spend our lives trying to hide from him, because I don't know what he could do to me. And all powerful God could do anything to me, and if I misbehave, he could really get after me. But when we understand it in conjunction with all of God's other attributes, His goodness and His love and all of these kinds of things, we see that this is how we can still enter into a relationship with an all powerful, omnipotent God. Now that certainly creates a healthy reverence and healthy all for God. But it doesn't mean that we walk around being fearful and always having to look over our shoulder whether he's just going to all of a sudden go crazy and abuse the power that he has in some way and intended for evil, God cannot do so. Okay, so we've seen how God's omnipotence is declared in Scripture. He declares it of himself. We've seen how God's omnipotence is manifested in his actions. We understand that his omnipotence is in conjunction or alignment with his nature and his perfections and all of who he is. The last thing that we need to know when it comes to the omnipotence of God, and we've talked about this with other attributes is that this is a communicable attribute. This is one in which God shares with us in Ephesians, chapter three, verse 20, it says God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work, where within us, God shares his power with you when you put your faith and trust in Him for your salvation, God, Jesus, The omnipotent, all powerful God enters into a spiritual union with you, and so you share his power, not to the decree that he has it. You don't become all powerful, but he does share his power with you. Here's why that's important. I don't know what your biggest struggle is today. Maybe it's a sin struggle, maybe it's an addiction. Maybe it's something that you just can't really seem to overcome. Maybe your marriage is on the brink of divorce. Maybe it's a relational battle with your kid or one of your grandchildren, or a conflict at work, or the debt that is mounting over you. I don't know what your biggest struggle is today. But because Jesus, who is an omnipotent being, dwells in a spiritual union with you, he is at work within you with his power to be able to overcome whatever your biggest struggle is that you walked in here with today. A lot of times we carry these things around for a somewhat of a length of lengthy amount of time, or it just seems to be the things that are happening in our world and around us and to us, and we just kind of walk through life as if they're never, ever going to change. And to to have that attitude is to deny that the omnipotent God of the universe dwells within you and is able to overcome whatever it is that you're dealing with. And so what we do is we have to be aware of that, reminded of it. We we tell ourselves all of these stories about Jesus walking on water and and and about him healing the blind and the and the lame and calming the wind and the waves to remind us how big of a god he is, and that that same God is dwelling within us, and now we just invite him to enter into those areas of our lives that we're struggling in. Go, Jesus. I know you dwell in me, in a spiritual level, at the very core of my being, and so I invite you into this sin struggle that I'm dealing with. You're all powerful to overcome it, even when it feels like I can't do it, like there's no way I can ever overcome this struggle. God, you are omnipotent. You dwell in me. I invite you into this area. Use your power to overcome that, Jesus, I invite you into this area of my life, where I have this relational struggle in this particular way. I doubt sometimes that it can be overcome, that there can be anything good that comes of it, but you're the all powerful God of the universe. I invite you in to this area, do what you will, as the omniscient, all wise God who knows what to do and then is powerful enough to work through me for it to happen. You. So we know this about God, so that we can experience Him and His power working in us. And it's the kind of thing that is immeasurably more Paul says than we could ever even ask or imagine.
What is God wanting to do in your life
that you're not imagine? Imagining could happen.
Maybe that's what he brought you here today to deal with, so that you will become aware of this, so that you can invite Him into those things. Now the next thing that we need to know about this, though, is that God doesn't just put his power in you to work in and through the struggles that we have in our own lives, but to work in and through us, to display his power to a lost and dying world around us. This is what he told the disciples whenever he met with him right before his ascension, after his death and his resurrection, he says, Guys, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea, Samaria and all the way to the ends of the earth, you're going to receive this power. You don't have it now, but when the Holy Spirit comes, you're going to have that power. It's going to be in you. And when that happens, the result will be that you are going to be my witnesses. What does it mean for them to be His witnesses? It means that other people will witness God's power at work in their lives and through their lives. I'm gonna put it in you to express it through you, so that other people witness my power, and they're also drawn to me as the omnipotent God of the universe who is also good and loving and kind and merciful and who offers them salvation, if they'll just receive it by faith. And then this happens in Acts chapter two. And then as you turn into the end of Acts two and begin to get into Acts three, and all the way through the way through the rest of it, what do you see God's power at work in the apostles, where people are witnessing that power, there are people who are healed and they're encouraged and they're taught more about God. They receive salvation, they receive forgiveness, and then those people experience His power in all of those things. And God is setting this up, not just to do this in the disciples, but in each and every single one of us as well. He puts His power inside of you, to work in you, to enter into the struggles and the things going on in your own life, to overcome those but then also to express that power through you, so that other people in this world can witness His power and be drawn to him. And so my question to you is, who is seeing God's power at work in and through you? Who's witnessing God's power being expressed through you? And if the answer to that question is no one, then why not? Is it because you didn't, weren't aware. You didn't know who he was. You didn't know who dwells in you. You didn't know well, now we know we can turn our attention to him. Maybe you know that, but you've just, kind of just going through the motions of life. I don't really believe he's going to do anything big, right? I mean, look at me. Who am I? Well, they thought the same thing, and God did so many things through them that they changed the world. And so we invite Jesus into that. I make myself available. You dwell in me. Your power is in me. What do you want to do through me to help other people witness your power so that they're drawn to you as well. The way I'd like for you to think about this is on two different levels. The moment that we put our faith and trust in Jesus is the moment that we enter into what's called the church. You as the church, brothers and sisters in Christ, sons and daughters of God, came into this building as the church today, and you're gonna leave as the church a little bit later. And one of the things that we're told in Scripture is that God unites us together as the church, as his body to be able to use the different body parts to build up the church. What ways is colonial Hills Baptist church being built up by you. It's not the right way to phrase the question, what ways are Jesus building up his church through you? Because he's made you a part of the body. He didn't bring you here just to gather together and watch a performance and then leave, right? I mean, he brought you here, he brought me here as a part of that body to use you in some way to build up his church. And so maybe you're not experiencing his power in and through you in the church that you are a part of. And the question today is, God. How do you want to use me in your church? If I'm literally a part of the body that your power gets expressed through me to build up your church, then I'm available. Show me how you want me to be involved in building up the church today. And then, of course, as I said, the church leaves as the church, and we go in under our own spheres of influence. And so the question becomes, God, how do you want to work in and through me with your power to be expressed and witnessed by others in my neighborhood, at work, at school, on the soccer field, the basketball court, the football field, any of the above, right? Wherever it is that we go, God's omnipresence. He goes with us. He dwells in us. He's all knowing and all wise to show us how to engage with people. He's all powerful to express that life through us in ways that he shows off his power that other people see and are drawn to him. So it's just availability. I'm aware and I'm available for what you're doing in and through me in these ways. And so again, as we kind of conclude and just think about all of these things today with God's omnipotence, then we are talking about God declares it himself. We see it in his actions. We can rest in his ability to carry out and fulfill His plan and all of his purposes, because he's all powerful. But then he puts that power in us and shares it in ways that he wants to enter into the struggles that we have in our own lives, to help us overcome those things, and then also puts that power in us, to express that power through us in ways that build up his church and that impact a lost and a dying world around us. On what level is the Lord dealing with you according to his power this morning, I want to invite you to pray as we continue to think about that and invite God into those things. This morning, would you close your eyes and bow your heads with me?