Skip to main content

No.


Then Job replied to the LORD, “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted." (Job 42:1-2) 

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. (Revelation 21:22)

            Job is believed to be the oldest book in the Bible. Genesis tells of the beginning, but Job was apparently written first. That means that from the first to the last, God has been known to be omnipotent or almighty. In ancient times, the gods were believed to "belong" to the people with whom they were associated. Many of the disasters with which God plagued Egypt were slap downs of the Egyptian gods. When the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant and put it in the temple of Dagon, the idol fell over and broke. When Elijah and the 400 priests of Baal got together for their cage match, the first part of the battle was the question of which god could and would bring fire on the offered sacrifices. Jesus' death and resurrection is a similar proof. The book of Revelation describes the last of these battles. 
           Today, we have different gods. The Hindu religion has more than 330 million gods. I don't think we have as many in America, but given the number of people who consider themselves to gods, I wouldn't be surprised to learn we have at least 220 million but there are a few that seem to more popular. One is "the government." Another is "science." A third is "the universe." Whatever gods we serve, God is likely to call that god out, and show Himself to be the better, stronger god. He does this not just because He can, but because our reliance on the false gods is harmful to us. The day is coming when these gods will be defeated.
            The first thing that shows His omnipotence is His ability to defeat His enemies. The second is His ability to choose to say "No." One of the ways that some people want God to prove his omnipotence is by doing something that they tell Him to do - usually something silly or demeaning. That doesn't prove His omnipotence. It proves theirs. His not doing what they demand is proof that they aren't in control. As much as I would like God to do everything I want Him to do, I respect Him because His omnipotence includes the power to say, "No."
              A third thing that proves His omnipotence is announcement beforehand of things He is going to do. Jesus' birth and death were announced nearly 500 years before they happened. Read Daniel 9. Our future was announced about two thousand years ago. Read Daniel and Revelation then keep your eyes on the news. I'm grateful for God's omnipotence. I don't like being kept in my place, but I need it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more