It is deceitful and disappointing how the English language can be cleverly twisted in marketing to where the fine print is the big print and the given meaning of a word is ripped out by its etymological roots. I
bought this software program that helps me manage my articles. For such and
such a price you get the unlimited edition for an annual fee, but in reality, there turned out to be limitations on the unlimited option after purchasing! I
was looking at the word “unlimited” and thinking that there would be no restrictions like my cell phone usage which has
unlimited text and data. I just didn’t want to worry about reaching some limit
that kicks into expensive mode once going over the limit or being denied the ability to do something I thought was available.
People use the clause, “The sky’s the limit,” indicating no apparent limit, but there is always some eventual revealed apparent, some kind of restriction, limitation, condition, or qualifier, and we will never see our first trillionaire this side of eternity through the sky’s the limit sales pitch. Things may appear practically unlimited, but we live in a world full of parameters. With that said, do you think God has limitations or parameters that He operates within?
Shortly, we will look at some things God cannot do. Associating the verb “cannot” with God in the same sentence is like mixing oil and water. It runs against the grain of our orthodox understanding of what all-powerful means to us. If ever the sky’s the limit was a reality it should be with the Creator God’s all-powerfulness? Is He really limited or can He do one better than the sky’s the limit?
We have a tendency to look at omnipotence as God’s ability to do anything unimpeded, having unlimited power, possessing never-ending resources, or the ability to get things done or make possible out of the impossible. When we think that God only had to speak a word and the world was created ex nihilo, out of nothing; the extent of His power is unimaginable. This cannot be according to Darwin, and so he speculated on the origin of species by means of natural selection, and now evolutionary biology is treated as fact by anti-creationists with complete disdain and disregard for the creation of species, “Ex nihilo, rubbish!” Secular humanism is always trying to reduce our God down to the size of a man (Jesus) just to graphically depict the ludicrous idea of God creating the Universe. How little they know about our Jesus (Jn 1:3; Eph 3:9; Col 1:16-17; Heb 1:2; Rev 4:11).
People use the clause, “The sky’s the limit,” indicating no apparent limit, but there is always some eventual revealed apparent, some kind of restriction, limitation, condition, or qualifier, and we will never see our first trillionaire this side of eternity through the sky’s the limit sales pitch. Things may appear practically unlimited, but we live in a world full of parameters. With that said, do you think God has limitations or parameters that He operates within?
Shortly, we will look at some things God cannot do. Associating the verb “cannot” with God in the same sentence is like mixing oil and water. It runs against the grain of our orthodox understanding of what all-powerful means to us. If ever the sky’s the limit was a reality it should be with the Creator God’s all-powerfulness? Is He really limited or can He do one better than the sky’s the limit?
We have a tendency to look at omnipotence as God’s ability to do anything unimpeded, having unlimited power, possessing never-ending resources, or the ability to get things done or make possible out of the impossible. When we think that God only had to speak a word and the world was created ex nihilo, out of nothing; the extent of His power is unimaginable. This cannot be according to Darwin, and so he speculated on the origin of species by means of natural selection, and now evolutionary biology is treated as fact by anti-creationists with complete disdain and disregard for the creation of species, “Ex nihilo, rubbish!” Secular humanism is always trying to reduce our God down to the size of a man (Jesus) just to graphically depict the ludicrous idea of God creating the Universe. How little they know about our Jesus (Jn 1:3; Eph 3:9; Col 1:16-17; Heb 1:2; Rev 4:11).
Incidentally, there is no inference in the Bible to where God is reduced to man-sized abilities or contained or limited to the power of man, more specifically, Jesus. How big is our Creator God? Good luck with that one! There is no way we can put his back to a door jamb and see how tall He is or place Him on a weight scale. We cannot measure the attribute of His immensity (Latin, immensus, that which cannot be measured) or contain Him for He transcends all spatial limitations (omnipresence, God at any one point within space or outside of space). Given His immensity, we understand that God is a person, not a force or bound by a three-dimensional body (Jn 4:24).
Even the vastness of the wisdom and knowledge of God extends beyond our ability to search or reach their boundaries (Rom 11:33). Where can we go and not find Him already there, only to realize He was along side of us all along the way (Psa 139:7)! Who can deny or thwart His purposes should He will such a thing? His will cannot be diminished, delayed, detoured, or denied; God will have His way regardless (cf. Nebuchadnezzar viewpoint, Dan 4:34, 35).
We have all heard that absolute power corrupts absolutely, but does that apply to the Almighty who delights in exercising lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on the earth (Jer 9:24)? Satan would have us believe that God is subject to corruption in spite of whatever He said to us – “Did God really say…” (Gn 3:1, NIV). But we must think, otherwise, to avoid the tempter’s seed planting snares from germinating and rooting and growing into disobedience.
Presuppose for a moment that there are things that God cannot do. If this premise is true, should God possess just an inkling of inability or limitation, would the promise of Rom 8:28 stand in jeopardy? Yes. The phenomenal promise of Rom 8:28 or the ability to do all things in Christ (Php 4:13) demands an omnipotent (all-powerful) God, as we understand that attribute to be, to make good on these promises and all promises. Our enemy, the father of lies (Jn 8:44), would rather for us to think wrong thoughts of God in order to defeat us.
There are verses found in Scripture that indicate there are things God cannot do, and we are not talking about the inane thought of creating a rock so large that He cannot lift it. The question would be this; would these negatives make God less than Almighty? Consider that God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Titus 1:2); God cannot change (Mal 3:6); God cannot deny Himself or be inconsistent with who He is (2 Tim 2:13); God cannot sin (Jas 1:13); God cannot break a promise (Psa 89:34); God cannot desert us (Deut 31:6; Josh 1:8; Heb 13:5); or God cannot allow anything to come between His love for us (Rom 8:38, 39). Whatever impositions God has imposed upon Himself they are actually paradoxical in light of His all-powerfulness.
This cannot be said of man; for his inability to do something is an expression of being weak or powerless in some area. Inability (cannot) as pertaining to God is really an ability not to do something because God is all-powerful. God’s unwillingness to violate His nature is not a weakness but a strength. Cannots are akin to meekness in that meekness is not a weakness but controlled strength. In these cannots we see the muscularity of omnipotence.
So, let’s look at this one other way and ask this very important question, “Could God ever be out of character toward us?” The answer is an emphatic, “No,” because He is eternally unchanging or immutable. Being all-powerful doesn’t mean you have the potential to do good or bad if so desired. Satan thinks that way, and he would have us believe omnipotence includes the capability of doing good or evil. Recall the serpent was suggesting to Eve that God had a selfish motive for prohibiting eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gn 3:5). It was evident according to the serpent that God was withholding something good from them. God did have a motive: to test their obedience to the one and only prohibition in order to keep them from experiencing spiritual and physical deaths. The prohibition was for their good. Satan was suggesting that partaking of it was for their good. We know what happened next.
The crux of omnipotence is that it is defined by God’s nature as revealed in Scripture, not by what Satan or man thinks of omnipotence, whatever the rationalizations; for I am here to declare to you that He is all-powerful! It is a salient point to remember when analyzing and evaluating God’s all-powerfulness. Except for looking around creation which illustrates His omnipotence, all we know about it is what has been revealed. Written revelation from God is the best and most reliable source of God’s attribute of omnipotence. Let’s consider another facet of God’s omnipotence, His attribute of simplicity.
The attribute of simplicity means that God is not a composite of His attributes. He is not the sum total of His attributes. He is or I AM (attribute). So, if you look at God represented by a pie, for example, and wonder what slice of the pie represents all of His attributes, the whole pie would represent each of His attributes. The whole pie would represent God’s omnipotence; His knowledge represents the whole pie; His wisdom represents the whole pie; His love represents the whole pie; His holiness represents the whole pie, and so on. And what God has revealed of Himself in Scripture captures His essence in order for us to understand who He is.
With that said not all of His Excellencies as the great I AM are revealed. So we must be content as Moses with what has been revealed (Deut 29:29). What God has revealed about Himself through the Scriptures is sufficient for man this side of eternity (2 Pet 1:3). Difficult as these revelations of Him are to grasp; we must keep in mind that we are dealing with the Infinite, eternal, and immutable God who is completely other than (Isa 55:9). Can you imagine the unrevealed things about our LORD waiting to be revealed to us in glory! They must be some heavy incomprehensible things to reveal concerning the splendor of His Majesty. Our God is infinite in nature, meaning without any limitation, that pervades all of His other attributes. What a God we worship and serve! Selah.
Let’s talk about any chinks in the armor of God’s omnipotence just for metaphysical speculation. Are there any chinks in the panoply (Latin panoplia “full armor”) of God’s omnipotence that would allow the serpent to find an opening and slither his way in between the hedges and circumvent God’s will unbeknownst to Him? Such snaky activities would mean God was not omnipotent or omniscient (all-knowing).
We know from Job’s experiences that once the adversary is given an opening in the hedges or wall of protection or force field (Job 1:10); the evil one is up to no good, only destruction and death ensue. If even remotely true or in the rarest of cases that Satan could possibly circumvent God’s will it would spell disaster to our faith giving birth for a real reason to be unsettled and worried for hope would stand in peril. Our confidence in God’s abilities would be riddled with doubt; God would no longer be omnipotent if any of His creatures could go around His will. Since He is all-knowing and all-powerful, that ain’t going to happen!
Within these cannots there is no wiggle room for our adversary; any openings are by Divine design only as illustrated in Job (Job 1:12). Since God cannot lie all of His promises are good, including His warnings! The God of yesterday is the same God today and forever. God cannot think or act in a way that is contrary to His nature which is forever true to His holiness. God cannot sin nor be tempted by sin so because He is immutable He remains holy, undefiled, and incorruptible, and His unlimited power is always invested for our good (Rom 8:28); a purpose that requires omnipotent power. The highest good is being like Christ.
What appear to be inabilities in our thinking are actually abilities that demand an all-powerful God who is constantly in harmony with His nature that never ever changes (immutability). There is nothing God cannot do, and the things He chooses not to do because of His nature are all a reflection of who He is – forever righteous. When you think of what we know of Yahweh that He is omniscient (all-knowing), omnisapient (all-wise), omnipresent (all-present), eternal, infinite, immense, holy, love, grace, mercy, and so forth, we love and serve a very incredible God that defies being limited or contained in any way, shape, or form by His creatures.
No created thing is in His league; He is God alone and beside Him, there are no other gods. He is absolutely, unequivocally unique. Absolute power, strength, and dominion belong only unto Him, and nothing will undermine or overtake Him. He is the great I AM, the absolute and universal Sovereign (Rev 19:6), our Savior, our Lord, our Friend, and our Father.
For a brief technical look at His all-powerfulness, the Greek word for Omnipotent or Almighty is Pantokrátōr occurring 10 times in the NT, translated in NKJV as Almighty (x9) and Omnipotent (x1) as a title for God and only of God. It appears once in a Pauline epistle (2 Cor 6:18) and elsewhere in the Revelation of John. It’s composed of Pas (all) and kratos (great), literally all-great. Kratos “denotes the presence and significance of force or strength rather than its exercise” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary, Zodhiates). Related is Heb., Shaddai (Almighty or ruler of all).
Because Jesus is the Pantokrator, He is the God of the impossible. The cannots of Scripture are not a Self-revelation of weaknesses or chinks in the armor of His all-powerfulness. What it does mean is that Yahweh has the ability to do what He says He will do and not do what He says He will not do. If He wills a thing, it is so, hence, the expression of His omnipotence. His omnipotence is only bound by His Word, but, oh, where that Word takes us is yet to be revealed (1 Cor 2:9)! There is something about knowing the truth that sets us free from the boundaries of sin and of little faith (Jn 8:32, 36).
The sky’s not the limit with God, and He has come that we might have life and have it more abundantly (Jn 10:10). There are no limits with God in the cans or the cannots. Trust and obey, and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet 3:18).
2Pet 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the
knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
2Pet
1:3 as His divine power has
given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the
knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
2Pet 1:4 by which have been given to us exceedingly
great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature [emphasis mine], having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust.
Ah, “partakers of the divine nature!”
It just sounds clean, precious, and doable (Gal 5:16)! We can go as far as we
want in partaking of His divine nature through the Holy Spirit given unto us;
only God’s omnipotence can make that happen! Jesus is the only way, the liberating
truth, and the abundant life. The sky’s not the limit with God in us and for us;
the Almighty’s the limit, and there is no eventually revealed apparent limit in Him to ever have to worry about! Amen. <><
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