God: God Is Omnipotent

Omnipotent is one of those big words we don't use very often and we have to think for a second about what it means.  It's from the Latin. Omni means "all" and Potent means "powerful."  God is all powerful.  

That should be obvious to us to us when we look at creation.  We scan the sky with the help of a powerful space-based telescope like Hubble and we see an estimated 100 billion galaxies! We're talking galaxies, not just single stars. A hundred billion galaxies! Who can fathom the power that it took to create such a universe from nothing?  It is incomprehensible!

The Bible tells us that nothing is impossible with God.  God can do anything, anything that is, except something that violates his character.  God cannot be evil, because evil is not a part of his character.  Also, God can choose to limit what He does in a given situation.  The limitation is self-imposed and does not in any way alter the fact that God can do anything. Look at the Son of God hanging on the cross. He chose not to assert his divine power to rescue Himself from death at the hands of evil men, because He knew that his death would atone for our sins.  That was a self-limitation.  Could He have stepped down from the cross at any time? Of course He could have.

Miracles are common in Scripture. Even though miracles violate the laws of nature, God can do miracles because He established the laws of nature.  It is not too difficult for Him to do something that appears "impossible" according to the laws of nature.  Because He established them, He can also circumvent the laws of nature whenever He sees fit.

Because God is omnipotent, He will never get tired, grow weary or wear out.  He has all power at his disposal all of the time.  All power. Unlimited power. Absolute power.

What does this mean? You'll never find yourself is a situation that is too difficult for God to handle.  You need never doubt that He can intervene for you at any time, in any way imaginable.  However, that doesn't mean that He will.  Remember, I said that God can choose to limit his power, or simply choose not use it in a given circumstance. 

Sometimes, it's hard for us to understand why He chooses not to intervene with his divine power, but we need to remember that God is love.  He works all things, good and bad alike, for our good because He loves us.  We might wish that He would intervene in some miraculous way when we're facing a tough situation, but that is his sovereign choice.  

Nevertheless, when you're overwhelmed by whatever it is that you're up against, remember that God's power is never too small to see you through.  He is all powerful.  

God: God Is Love

One of the most wonderful things that the Bible tells us about God is that God is love. This should not surprise us in any way.  God loved us so much that He sacrificed his own Son in order to reconcile us to Himself.  But why should a Being who has existed eternally, wholly sufficient in and of Himself, have any conception of love? 

I believe that the reason God is love is because God is Triune.  The word Trinity or Triune is never used in the Bible.  It is a term Christians have coined to describe how God has revealed Himself to us in his Word.  The Bible clearly states that God is One and there is only One True God.  At the same time, God has revealed Himself to us in three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

You can find all three persons of the Trinity in the very first chapter of the Bible. God the Father is the Creator at work to form the universe.  God the Holy Spirit is also present and active, "hovering over the waters." From the Gospel of John we know that Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the Word of God made flesh, and that "through him all things were made." Thus, we see the Son of God active in creation in the repeated formula, "and God said..."

There are numerous clear references to the Trinity all through the Old and New Testaments. Thus, we understand that although God existed alone before creation began, God existed in relationship with Himself from eternity and before He created anything or anyone else.  Because this is true, clearly God is by nature relational.  And relationships involve love. Of course, human relationships also involve conflict. Why was there never any conflict between the three persons of the Trinity throughout eternity? Although there are three persons, there is only one God. All three persons are of one substance and therefore there can be no conflict within the Trinity.

Don't try to figure out how there can be only one God yet three persons.  You and I are not smart enough to understand the Trinity.  We can't wrap our brains around God!  We can only accept what God has clearly revealed to us.

So what does this mean?  A God who has existed in relationship from eternity is a God who understands love.  God is love because God is relational. You can always count on God's love.  It knows no limits.  God was willing to take our place and bear our punishment in order to atone for our sins so that we could be restored to a relationship with Him.  Truly, that kind of a God is love!

God: God Is

God Is. That is a very simple but profound statement. The implication of that statement that I want to explore is this: God is eternal. The famous atheist Richard Dawkins likes to ask, "Who made God?"  It is a foolish question. Everything that has a beginning must have a cause. But behind every cause there must necessarily be one uncaused eternal cause of everything else.

A few decades ago scientists liked to argue that the universe was eternal, until the universe itself provided irrefutable evidence that it had a beginning.  Scientists called it "the big bang."  What caused the big bang? According to science it just happened when an infinitesimally small point of matter and energy exploded and the universe was born.  But I would ask, "Where did that point of matter/energy come from?" If it existed eternally, what caused it to explode? Since it had remained an infinitesimally small point of matter and energy from eternity, then there was nothing within it to cause it to explode.  Something external must have done that. Otherwise it would still be infinitesimally small. 

God is. He has existed from eternity and always will exist. He is the cause of everything else that exists, including time and space, matter and energy. If there is no God, then nothing at all would exist.

Because God is eternal, God is also immutable, that is, unchangeable.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  His character never changes. His power never changes.  His wisdom never changes. His love never changes.

Because God existed before time and He created time, therefore He is not affected by time. God is. You cannot say that God was, because He always IS. You cannot say that God will be, because He is in the future right now! He knows the end from the beginning because He is apart from time. Just as He is not bound by the dimensions of space that we experience, so He is not bound by the dimension of time that we live in.  Time is what allows us to experience change. Without time there would be no change.  As a result, God, who is eternal and exists apart from time, does not change. 

What does this mean?  You can count on God! He is always there for you. He will never cease to be there.  He is always the same.  Therefore His love for you will never change.  His power to help you will never change. We live in a world of constant change, and this can leave us feeling very unsettled. Let God be your constant in a world of change.  God is.

The Counsel of the Holy

While on my bike this morning I was thinking what it would be like to have been inside the colloquy of the
Godhead before creation began.

Father: It’s wonderful to share this love we have among ourselves, but wouldn’t it be even more wonderful to share it with many others?

Son: You mean create being like us, in our image, to share our love with.

Father: Yes. 

Son: There’s just one problem. For them to freely love us they would have to be sovereign like us, which means they could also choose to rebel against us and despise us.

Spirit: And once they understood that they could choose their own will over our will, pride would make them want to be like God.

Father: Yes I understand that, but I think it would be worth the cost to be able to share infinitely more love than we share within ourselves right now.

Son: The cost would be tremendous.  Once they rebelled against us, they would never be able to restore our fellowship on their own.  We would have to do that for them.

Father: Yes, we will have to.  Are you willing, Son?

Son: Father, you know that I am.  If I become one of them and live in perfect harmony with us, then I can make the perfect sacrifice for their sins.

Spirit:  But what a sacrifice that will be!  Are you sure you want to do that?

Son: In order to share our love with billions of more people, yes I am.

Spirit: It’s wonderful that we have no rebellion or disharmony among ourselves.

Father: That’s because it’s impossible.  We are of one substance.  Even though there are three of us, there is only one of us.

Spirit:  And that will forever remain a mystery to those we create in our image.

Father: Impossible for them to comprehend.

Son: Just as it will be impossible for them to comprehend how I will be both fully divine and fully human at the same time.

Father: Another mystery.

Son:  But we must do more than redeem them.  Once I have atoned for their sins and credited my perfect righteousness to them by faith, we will have to transform them to become like me.

Spirit: That’s where I come in.  You will go and become one of them and live among them to redeem them.  I will live within them to transform their hearts and minds so that they will become holy.

Father:  That won’t be an easy task.  Sin will cling to them as long as they live, once they have tasted the pride of rebellion. 

Son: That’s why my death for their sins will not be the end.  I will rise again from the dead so that they too may live again, after they have died for their sins.

Spirit: So that even though they die, they will live forever with us.

Father: Yes, in perfect unity and harmony forever.  They will share our glory.

Son: That sounds like a plan.  Where should we start?

Father:  They’re going to need a place to live, a place that reflects our glory.  Let us make a spectacular universe that will declare the power, wisdom and glory we have to every one of them.

Son:  And let’s make them in a wonderful fashion, in such a fantastic manner that they will see our glory everywhere in their own beings.  It will be amazing when they discover the secret code written in their cells to give them life.

Spirit:  It will be just as amazing for them to realize that they are more than just physical beings, that they have a soul, a spirit so that they can share in our love.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Let us begin.  Let there be light…

I’m sure it was nothing like that, but that’s the best my puny mind can imagine about our glorious, holy, Triune God.  I’m just glad they had that conversation somewhere in eternity, because otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.