Summary
Omnipotence
Omnipotence is the divine attribute by which God is able to do whatever He desires. He has all power, and nothing in heaven, on earth, or in the seas lies outside His ability to accomplish. As the psalmist confesses, "Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps" Psalm 135:6.
A vivid display of this attribute comes in Numbers 11. Israel had grown weary of the manna and reminisced about the meat they once ate in Egypt—conveniently forgetting their slavery there. Moses, crushed under the weight of their complaints, cried out that the burden was too heavy. The Lord answered by promising both helpers and meat: not for a day or two, but for a whole month, until it became loathsome. When Moses protested that 600,000 people could not possibly be fed that way, God replied with a question that frames the whole doctrine: "Is the LORD's hand shortened?" Numbers 11:23. The image is the saving arm of God—stretched out, strong, and never too short for what He intends to do. This is the heart of “Omnipotence” 8-21-22.
Scripture testifies to this power in many places. Job confesses, "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted" Job 42:2. Jeremiah prays, "Nothing is too hard for you" Jeremiah 32:17. Jesus declares, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" Matthew 19:26. The biblical narratives illustrate it concretely: God halts the sun in Joshua 10, makes an iron axe head float in 2 Kings 6, strikes an army blind, calms the raging sea, heals the sick, and raises the dead.
A common but mistaken notion holds that "there are some things God can't do unless you let Him." This inverts reality. The expression of God's omnipotence is not beholden to the human will. When the risen Christ met Saul on the road to Damascus, Saul was not given an opportunity to permit a transformation; he was transformed. We do not hand God control over corners of our lives, as though He had lost it and were begging permission. He never lost it. To imagine otherwise is to picture God on His throne pleading, "pretty please"—a picture Scripture nowhere allows.
This is why God's word to Abraham begins, "I am God Almighty" Genesis 17:1. When Abraham laughed at the promise of a son in old age, the announcement still stood, because the One making it is not limited by biology, age, or human possibility. Faith takes its bearings from who God is, not from what we judge feasible.
The omnipotence of God is finally a comfort, not a threat. The same God whose arm is never too short was pleased to send His Son to the cross to bear all our sin—including our stubborn suspicion that He is not really almighty. By that same power He comes through Word and Sacrament to turn hearts of stone into hearts that trust Him. We worship God Almighty, who does whatever He pleases—and what pleases Him is to save.
Video citations
- “Omnipotence” 8-21-22 — Would you open your Bibles' plays with me to Numbers the 11th chapter this morning? That is in the Old Testament and if you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on…