To say that God is infinite, is to say that he is without limits, vast, endless. Creatures are finite, having limits. God is infinite in power, so he is all-powerful, or omnipotent. A children’s hymn says, “There is nothing our God cannot do.” Yet, there are things that God cannot do. He cannot lie, he cannot die, he cannot deny himself, and he cannot fail to fulfil his purposes. These refer to God’s character and commitment. They are not deficiencies in God. They show us, rather, what kind of God he is.

What distinguishes the infinite God of the Bible from other gods? All other gods are created. The God of the Bible has not been created. He is the living God, who has never died, and never can. Elijah believed this as he stood strong before King Ahab and said, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives before who I stand.” (1 Kings 17:1). God lives and will live forever. The only way that God could experience death, was that he would assume a human nature, susceptible to death. This he did when Jesus was born, and so we read, “Immanuel, God with us”. When Jesus died at Calvary, it was the human nature that experienced death, not the divine. He is the Creator, who by the word from his mouth, created all that exists, even the sun and the moon and also the stars. He could stop rain or send rain, as he pleased. King Ahab did not live by faith in God, but he experienced drought or rain, whichever God chose. It can be said of God, that “He is able”. He created the universe, and he holds all things in place by the word of his power. (Hebrews 1:3). The Apostle Paul, provoked by the religious superstition of the Athenians (Acts 17:16­ 28), teaches them that the God who made the world, v24, is not far from any of us, for “In him we live and move and have our being”, v28.

Belief in this divine power gives believers solid reason for confidence in God in life’s changing scenes. This God holds the universe in place, and attends to the details, even of the sparrow that falls to the ground. “He is able”. These three simple words are immensely important. The magnificent design displayed in the vastness of the universe, and the minute detail of the smallest forms of life, all speak about God’s resources. The laws of nature are the laws of God at work. He can suspend these ‘natural laws’ as he pleases, so that three men came out from a hot furnace without as much as a singe. Be encouraged that, as you live under God’s divine care, his power extends to every part of the material universe. The Bible, however, shows that God’s power reaches beyond the visible universe. It reaches places where the greater problem is the human sin of defiance against God. Disobedience has plunged the human family into darkness and damnation. We are confronted with our ignorance of God and our disinclination – we are opposed to his terms. Can the omnipotent God handle this problem of human sin, and still be God? God’s own answer is the sending of his Son into the world, to take a true body and reasonable soul. He was given the name “Jesus”, so stipulated by God.

The Living and True God cannot die, but he laid the sin of his people on his Son in human nature, his Son, the Lord Jesus, who fulfilled all that was prophesied about the promised Messiah, and who gained the victory over death and the grave. He travelled in the greatness of his strength, he speaks in righteousness and is mighty to save (Isaiah 63:1). The integrity of the Almighty and Holy God is intact in all the journey through Bethlehem and Calvary to the empty tomb and the Ascension of the Risen Christ to Heaven. All that God requires to satisfy divine claims and meet with human need, to display his love, and to pour out his grace, he has himself provided in his Son, the perfect sacrifice. Psalm 85:10 confirms the message and the purpose achieved. In Jesus Christ, God has dealt with sin, to his own satisfaction. Will the display of God’s power in raising Jesus from the dead, be wasted by human rejection of the divine offer? The omnipotent God resolves this problem. For mere men, it is an impossible assignment, but God is able. Psalm 110:3 informs us that people will be willing when God exercises his power – “Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power”. God has the hearts of all people in his hands. In prayer, and in preaching, be encouraged that he is able to convict of sin, and to convert sinners to Christ.

This is Jesus explains in John 16. The omnipotent God is the God of salvation. The power of Almighty God brings people to know his mercy and grace in Jesus Christ. The same power will carry us through every stage of the journey to Heaven. The Omnipotent Lord will preserve your going out and your coming in, from this time onward. The Christian life is described as a race, a fight, a pilgrimage, a wrestling experience. Who is sufficient for all of this? The power of God’s grace is sufficient to meet our every need. When you pass through the waters, they will not overflow you; and when you pass through the fire it will not kindle upon you. There is fear and fighting, but “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Cor. 15:57). The Risen Jesus Christ has ascended to Heaven for us, showing that a glorified human nature can enter Heaven and live there. Redemption is secure in the power of God, and so also the details of our lives in his hands.

The Bible doctrine of divine omnipotence is not confined to the lecture rooms of theological colleges. It is for life every day. It enables the believer to do all things through Christ who gives strength, but for the unbeliever that omnipotence sounds a warning not to defy God. Mighty men on earth challenged God, but they did not fare well in the contest. Goliath was hit by a stone and died. King Ahab thought he could out-step God by disguising himself before going into battle. He was trying to avoid the death that God said would come to him on the battlefield. Sadly, the King had not reckoned with God who rules over the details in providence. “A certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel”. God who can direct arrows, and King Ahab died, as God’s word had predicted.

The Omnipotent God has revealed that every knee will bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. The good news of God’s grace is that those who come to him through Jesus, and so bow the knee in gracious submission, are saved. All of salvation hangs on the power of God. He commanded the light to shine in the beginning, now commands the light of grace to shine into the heart and mind. Two essential things for spiritual progress are “to get to know more of Christ”, and that “to become more like Christ.” These two become a reality in the life of a believer by the power of Omnipotent God. He is mighty to save and will fulfil this purpose for all who trust in Jesus. You will be like him, because you will see him as he is. Colossians 2:12. “You were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead”. Divine power has created the universe, has raised up the Lord Jesus, and that same power ensures the salvation of the Christian believer.