An
Omnipotent God
2/4/14
We
use this term often when we are referring to God and it is common to hear
coming from a source that is trying to describe God. But do we
really understand what it means to be omnipotent? It is obvious that
our finite minds cannot fully comprehend all of the word’s definition but of
the limited portions that we can fathom the concept of this word still blows
the human mind of all of its thinking potential. So what is the
difference from what God can actually do versus what we can actually comprehend
Him doing? There are some examples that we can use to try and
understand His capacity, but I know that even with some of these human
explanations, my listings will fall terribly short of what God can do, for His completeness
is a forever and eternal action range.
The
definition of omnipotent is that a deity has the ability to obtain unlimited
power or in other words has the ability to do anything. This
definition, in truth, is a limited one since our minds cannot really comprehend
the word unlimited, and to be honest it is hard for us to even understand the
phrase “at the moment” for if we did, when a basketball team or football team
that should have no chance of winning against a stronger team beats them, we
would not be required to portray the result as an upset. So how can
we honestly say that we understand the definition of omnipotent and everything
that goes along within the confines of its meaning and can we even grasp just
how complete the word omnipotent really is?
How
many of us have used this knowledge when we are talking about one of our
enemies or to express how God is going to use this authority to wipe out His
enemies? I know I have had those types of thoughts and have
presented this type of belief in some of my writings. We have no
problem with making sure our enemies know how big our God is, and there is nothing
wrong with that by the way. But God’s
omnipotence is not always demonstrated in this manner for His authority
stretches beyond the forceful side of this word and portrays a grace that we as
humans cannot fully understand either.
God is a complete God and for us to try and comprehend this meaning we
have to include all sides of God’s existence.
I
find it kind of funny that Christians love to say that God is omnipotent and
then almost immediately confine Him to their own little box. What
buffoons we make of ourselves when we say or believe this. If we
believe that God is omnipotent then there is no way that we can even begin to
think that we have the authority to limit what He can do or what He cannot
do. Who are we who might live to be 100
years old overrule a living and breathing being that has been around since the
beginning of existence to believe that we can tell Him what His defining
existence will be? I have been around
religious people all my life and it is interesting how they convey this
containment belief of theirs without uttering one letter from their
mouths. If people who call themselves Christians actually believe
this concept then they are liars and really need to reevaluate their
beliefs. And for those of us who do not believe in God at all,
please understand that there that God is real and that He loves you so very
much for you are His created beloved.
But here is the ironic thing about this idea that we humans harbor about
God’s omnipotence, a good portion of this omnipotence is the fact that He allows
us to make a choice whether or not to have Him in our lives or not.
One
question that baffles me is why would anyone want to place God in a box to
begin with? The answer to that question is easy and it is called
pride. See if we contend that we have the ability to control God,
then what we do in our lives and how we live out our lives can be placed in
accordance to human standards. If we do freely admit that God has no
limits to what He can do this means that we give Him free reign in every aspect
of our lives, in other words He can do whatever He wishes with our lives and we
have no “control” over our lives. When we dig deeper into this area
we come to the conclusion that God allows us to make choices and will even
allow us to choose not to accept His ways, which this too is a demonstration of
the completeness of His omnipotent power.
There is a reason that God states hat His ways are not our ways and this
is a prime example of why He wants us to understand this principle.
I
have said many times in my life that God has a sense of humor since He allows
some real funny things to play out in my life. This sense of humor
that God portrays is actually a portion of His omnipotent power in that when I
ask for something or desire an answer to something His response is usually in
such a manner that catches me off guard. And while it catches me off
guard it completely relates to my life and is relevant in my situation at the
same time. I cannot argue with this because when I look back at the
choice that I would have made there would have been holes in that decision and
could have proven to be more harmful than helpful. It is this
portion of His love and power that amazes me each and every day that I wake up
for I know that His omnipotent abilities has once again rang forth to prove to
my enemy that His Kingdom reigns supreme.
Oh yes!!! The word omnipotent is
a Kingdom word!!
Have
you ever read a manuscript, book, or any other letter or note from a Jewish
source? Have you ever wondered why many of the religious Jewish
people do not spell out the name “God”? There is a reason for this
and it is because in the Hebrew language there is no accurate definition for
the word God. To the Jewish people they understand that the human is
not even comparable to God and that because of our limited capabilities of
existence that if they even said the word “God” or wrote the word “God” that
they would be in a complete sinful state for desecrating the name of
God. This is not a demonstration of a controlling God but one who
has so much power that we mortals cannot accurately define His
name. As a Christian I do not believe in this strictness over
writing out His name but I sure do understand the reasons why the Jewish
culture does not, and I totally have the utmost respect for the reason why they
believe in this manner. So, when you see the word “God” written in
this manner: G-d, understand that it is not a typo and that most likely a
Jewish person is referring to the exact same person that we know as God.
All
of us who have children understand that there are those days that we just want
to string them up by their toenails in order to make them understand that some
of the things that they are doing is just plain ridiculous. I know
my parents had days that they wanted to kill me and tell God that I
died. These types of situations demonstrate God’s omnipotent
authority that He has planted into our lives as well for we all understand that
we as humans would go against every living concept if we actually killed a
child. But how can it be fully
understood that a creating being actually loves us enough to allow us to make
our own choices about our life no matter what the outcome may warrant. This concept is difficult for us to understand
but this demonstration of God’s love is another example of true omnipotence.
There
is a new movie coming out in a few weeks and it is based upon the life of
Noah. For many years it was difficult for me to understand how
humanity could become so evil that God would regret creating
mankind. Yet at the same time within His heart make the choice to
keep His prized creations well established on the earth. The
progression of ideas within the human heart did not just appear overnight but
must have taken time to advance to that point, yet even with all of this evil
God choose to spare the human race once again. This redemption process
through Noah is another act of God’s omnipotent authority that He has within
His inner being. God does not just destroy people, places or things
because He is frustrated with them. He does not look upon our
physical lives as the sole projecting point to make His decisions concerning
our lives, it is our hearts that He looks upon and then congruently chooses to
act. His love is just as omnipotent as His judgments and every angle
and aspect of our hearts are infinitely measured before any blessings or
corrections are witnessed. It is at the
point of no return according to our progressive hearts that God has to make the
decision to grab our attention. It does
not have to be an entire city that loses its connection with God nor does it
have to be an entire nation seeking revenge upon another holy nation, only God
understands the purity of our heart according to His design and not ours, that
He sees no other option in making us aware of our sins.
Anyone
remember the movie “Schindler’s List”? There was a great scene in
this movie where the commandant of the work camp found out that a Jewish boy
had been stealing from his own personal living area. Goethe was
famously notorious for randomly opening his window and began to pick off the
workers one by one with a rifle from a distance. He considered it to
be a sport to see just how far he could hit a prisoner, to which he bragged
about often. When the boy admitted to his guilt Goethe allowed the
boy to leave and go back to his siblings and caretakers.
As
the boy left the building he had to cross a wide area that was in front of the
window that Goethe had been accustomed to shooting people after he let them
go. At this particular time Oscar Schindler was in the room when the
scene played out with the boy and knew exactly what was going to happen as soon
as Goethe retrieved his rifle. Mr. Schindler began to plead with the
commandant to spare the boy’ life and when things looked most grim for the boy
the ultimate plea of power began to flow from Schindler’s
lips. While it fed the wolf on two accords if saved the boy’s life
for the moment since Schindler informed Goethe that always taking a life when
the opportunity arose did not mean that he was demonstrating power only greed
and anger.
As
Goethe contemplated these words the boy continued his run towards his place of
residence without any shots being fired in his direction. For the
moment, the words of a brilliant human soothed a savage beast and life was
allowed to continue. But one day when Schindler was not present the
same boy was dispatched to the commandant’s office and after the encounter was
completed the boy once again left and began his run across the open
area. This time Goethe had no mediators confiding with him in his
ear and the shots began to ring out and soon the boy’s body lay still upon the
dirt. The control issues once again overcame the power to accrue
life and a young boy’s life was taken for no good reason. It is evident that this act was driven by
pure hatred of a race and it deems not worthy of true power or authority. Yet God allows humans to make their own
choices and to support the most conservative or the most liberal of ways. It does not matter who the individual may be
God still gives us ample opportunity before He must step in and remind humanity
of who is actually omnipotent.
I
must admit that there are many people in the world who have basically the same
concept about God through the actions of His Church. While God did not
personally complete all the actions of greed, lust and hate that the Church
demonstrated throughout its history, the people within these walls are supposed
to be entrusted with spreading the good news of life but are the ones who acted
in this evil manner. People who see what the Church has done have
every right, on a human level, to blame God for all of these deeds and they are
also right in questioning the legality and right of existence of God because of
what man has done to man. I argue this point, that if God is
omnipotent and that those who believe in His name to be as such, why would
anyone sucker punch another human being because their beliefs differ from
someone else’s in any other way? It is the people who have placed
God in a box that claim to do things “in the name of God” by destroying other
human beings in order to validate His omnipotent authority. It is a
grotesque lie to even consider this type of destructive action as a good deed
and then have others declare yourself as a martyr for God after your life is
over.
If
God is omnipotent then He can take care of business in His own timing based
upon Holy guidance and searching of our hearts and not because of our failing
differences that manifest between ourselves.
What a great example that this forthcoming movie gives us and to
understand how God is NOT like us and how wonderful He is not to even consider
this type of punishment and control over our lives. His willingness
to forgive us for our lies, thievery, lusts, bribery and thousands of other types
of grave wrong doings is once again a supreme measure of His omnipotent
authority. We must remember that God is a complete God and that even
though we may associate His omnipotent power as one that provides strength in
certain times that His completeness also reverts back to the other side of
omnipotence in that His mercy and kindness is just as warranted many times in
our lives.
This
basic understanding of the omnipotence of God does not present a signal to our
selfishness to believe that we can continue to live our lives in such a manner
that we have no need for God. It also does not provide an excuse for
humanity to live like ravaged dogs and feed upon every human piece of meat that
crosses our paths. It should warrant our hearts to contemplate our
daily lives and to search our inner beings in order to find those things that
would cause God to act with His omnipotent power instead of His omnipotent
grace. The concept of God’s omnipotent power should strike a holy
fear within our lives that at any given moment God could wipe us out in such
detail that our physical beings could never ever be identified again for
eternity, yet at the same time we have the assuredness that God’s omnipotent
grace can reach to even the one individual that is considered useless and
helpless to our societies. Nor does this knowledge give us the
authority to include or exclude the words of God for popularity, human
correctness or acceptance in such a manner as to condone living in communion
with the world.
God’s
omnipotence places a greater responsibility on our lives to ensure that a dying
world understand this completeness about God. The social aspects of
God are just but when we place the social aspects of God above the true mission
that God has for our lives, we prostitute God’s omnipotence and place our
entire beings into a slave condition. It is important that we
understand this concept and to make sure that we do not fall into this trap of
our enemy. The word omnipotence is a
Kingdom word as I stated before simply because it is through the advancement of
God’s Kingdom that pushes back the darkness and the kingdom of this world. If God’s omnipotence was just that, His
Kingdom would be powerless to complete this task as we direct our paths towards
the true light. God’s omnipotence is
also a true demonstration and definition that there are only two kingdoms
present and that we can only serve one of these; there is no serving two
masters.
I
have said over the course of a few articles that God is a complete God and that
statement is a very accurate one. There is a reason that God is
complete and it is because He is holy in every way possible, He is honest and
just in every way possible and He will carry out His ways according to His perfect
plan. God’s omnipotence is displayed by allowing us to choose Him or
not to choose Him. God’s omnipotence is displayed by him giving us
the opportunity to choose Him for He did not have to do allow this process to
even be in place. God is a loving God and He wants to have a close
relationship with each one of us. Allow Him to restore His loving
ways to your life and I guarantee that your life will never be the same again.
DLB
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