When we list some of the attributes of God the word omnipotent should be near the top of the list. The word basically means all powerful. And throughout the Scriptures this theme is echoed over and over again. Whether we talk about God and creation, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, or God’s ability to sustain the entire planet we live on, the Bible makes it crystal clear that God is the sovereign ruler of the universe. Nothing happens or exists without God allowing it to take place. Let’s take a look at God’s omnipotence in relation to His creative power, His sustaining power, and His resurrection power.
His Creative Power
In order to create something man needs existing materials and tools but God created the universe out of nothing. Not only that but God created everything just by speaking it into existence. (Genesis 1:3) tells us: “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” And this is the refrain we see throughout (Genesis 1) as God continues to create and populate the earth. We see this again in (Psalm 33:6): “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” I can’t fathom how powerful God must be to create everything that exists out of nothing, just by the power of His voice, but that’s exactly what the Scriptures say happened. Evolution says nobody times nothing equals everything – that’s ridiculous. Creation says somebody (the omnipotent God) times nothing equals everything – that makes so much sense!
His Sustaining Power
The God who created you and me also has provided everything we need to survive – from the air we breathe to the food we eat. You see not only did God create the universe we inhabit, but He makes sure we will enjoy life by virtue of His ability to maintain order amidst the complexities of His universe. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is not only fully God but that He is the one that sustains everything: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:3).
Have you ever wondered what would happen if God withdrew His mighty hand from upholding our universe? Absolute chaos would ensue and life as we know it would end. For example, our exacting orbit around our sun would end if God ceased to maintain his universal laws of planetary motion. And without our sun, as our constant traveling companion through space, all life would perish. And if God didn’t maintain the exact combination of gaseous elements in our atmosphere we would not be able to breathe. And I could list a thousand more areas where without God’s sustaining power we couldn’t survive. But thankfully the God who created us also provides everything we need to sustain us, at least during our time here on earth. But there is so much more to life than just living for the 70 to 90 years here on earth – and that’s where God’s resurrection power comes in.
His Resurrection Power
Being dead in our sins we became separated from God and were on a collision course with eternal damnation. Because of the sin of Adam, we all are under God’s condemnation since His holy character demands payment for sin. But praise God, while His holiness demands payment for sin His great love offers us a pardon. When Jesus died on the cross, He took the penalty for our sins upon His body and in turn imputed His righteousness to us. And to seal the deal God in His omnipotence resurrected Jesus from the dead. David Jeremiah says it so well:
“God, by His exerted power, reversed the process of death, overturned the processes of decay, caused a silent heart to beat again, made our Lord’s closed eyes to open again, His lifeless corpse to walk again. But there’s so much more. Jesus didn’t simply return to life. He wasn’t merely resuscitated. He was resurrected with a glorified body, one incapable of aging, pain, sickness, or death. He was resurrected with an eternal body, which, according to Philippians 3:20-21, serves as a prototype for our own resurrected bodies.”1
So, in God’s great omnipotence He created us, sustains us, and by Christ’s resurrection, rescued us, from certain damnation. Indeed, what a mighty God we serve!