************ Sermon on Belgic Confession Article 1d ************
Doctrine: God is Almighty
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on Oct 19, 1997
B.C. 1(d)
Job 38; 42:1-6
"God is Almighty"
Introduction
We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a God. What is this God like? What kind of God do we believe in?
God appeared to Abram one day and said, "I am God Almighty" (Gen 17:1). In the Hebrew, "I am El-Shaddai" (pronounced l sh d' ). This is a name which emphasizes the power, greatness, vastness, and height of God. He is a God before Whom men tremble with fear. In another place God says,
(Rev 1:8) "I am the Alpha and the Omega ... who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
God is almighty. The theological term is "omnipotent." God is omnipotent. He is able to do anything, anything He wants to do.
I put three things behind this pulpit this evening. The first is an egg (HOLD IT UP AND BREAK INTO A BOWL AND CRUMBLE UP THE SHELL TOO). Who here can put this together again? I also have a needle and a rope (HOLD UP NEEDLE AND ROPE). Who here can thread this big rope through this little needle? And, I have a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste (HOLD THEM UP AND SQUEEZE TOOTHPASTE ONTO THE BRUSH). Who here can put the toothpaste back into the tube again?
Our God is almighty. He is omnipotent. He can do anything, anything He wants to do. He can put the egg back together again (HOLD IT UP). He can put a rope through an eye of an needle (HOLD THEM UP); in fact, the Bible says He can make a camel go through the eye of a needle. He can put the toothpaste into the tube again (HOLD THEM UP).
Today, let us look at the omnipotence and might of God as we see it revealed in creation, miracles, redemption, and the consummation.
I God's Omnipotence in Creation
A In our Scripture reading this evening God tells Job about His might, His omnipotence. He reminds Job that it is He Who made the heavens and the earth. Our attention is immediately drawn back to the Genesis account of creation:
(Gen 1:1-3) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (2) Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (3) And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
"And God said." This formula is repeated 9 times. God said, God spoke, and heaven and earth and everything in them sprang into being. No one else can speak and create; only God can do this because only God is omnipotent.
In 1990 we spent part of our summer vacation on Vancouver Island. While there we watched a chain-saw sculptor at work. With a block of wood and a chain-saw he fashioned bears, eagles, lions, and fish. Imagine if the sculptor stood in front of a block of wood and com manded the bear or eagle to appear; we would say he is crazy and should be locked up. No artist can stand in front of his canvas and paint and command the Mona Lisa to appear. Human beings cannot change the course of nature or bring things into existence by sheer talk. But God can. He is almighty. He is omnipotent.
B Not only does God create by the breath of His mouth, He also creates "out of nothing." The chain-saw sculptor needs tools and material to do the job. Leonardo de Vinci needed paint, brushes, and canvas to paint the Mona Lisa. No man can make something come out of nothing. But God can. He is almighty. He is omnipotent.
C Think, too, of the vastness of the creation God has made. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second. Yet, the light from the nearest star took 4½ years to get to us. Scientists tells us that the farthest galaxies and stars are over 15 billion light-years away. To put this into perspective, if one inch equals a million miles then the closest star to us is 730 miles away. Our God is almighty. He is omnipotent.
D In the care of God for all that He has made we also see His might and omnipotence. The psalmist speaks to this:
(Ps 104:10-18) He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. (11) They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. (12) The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. (13) He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work. (14) He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate-- bringing forth food from the earth: (15) wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart. (16) The trees of the LORD are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. (17) There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees. (18) The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the coneys.
By His almighty and ever present power God cares for and upholds heaven and earth and all creatures. In song we heard how God's eye is on the sparrow. God, we would have to say, is almighty. He is omnipotent.
II God's Omnipotence in Miracles
A We also see the omnipotence and tremendous power of God in miracles. Think, for a moment, of the time Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had been dead for 4 days. What did Jesus do? He stood at the entrance to the tomb and called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" (John 11:43).
Like me, you have probably seen television preachers lay their hands upon the heads of the sick and cry "Heal!" But I have never seen one of these preachers go to a cemetery and begin shouting for rotting corpses to burst from their graves.
Jesus did not touch Lazarus. There was no laying on of hands, no mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Jesus did not administer CPR. The only preparation for the miracle was the rolling away of the stone. Then Jesus yelled to Lazarus. Instantly the putrid, rotting flesh of Lazarus was reformed and renewed. Air filled his lungs. His heart began to beat. The veins in his temples throbbed. He was alive. He walked out of the grave.
That is power. Our God is omnipotent. He is almighty.
B Consider too Israel's demand for meat while in the wilderness. They were sick and tired of manna. They had manna for breakfast, manna for lunch, manner for dinner, and if they wanted a snack, that too was manna. They wanted meat to eat? Meat they would get — more meat than they ever dreamed of. This is what God said:
(Num 11:18-20) Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it. (19) You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, (20) but for a whole month--until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it--because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?"
When Moses heard this he stumbled in unbelief. How could God possibly provide this much meat?
(Num 11:21-22) But Moses said, "Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!' (22) Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?"
Moses was clearly challenging the omnipotence and might of God. Here was a miracle far greater than anything Jesus did. Jesus fed 5000 for one lunch; the Father was about to feed more than 600,000 for an entire month. So Moses raised his doubts. God responded:
(Num 11:23) The LORD answered Moses, "Is the Lord's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you."
What happened? Scripture tells us the amazing miracle that God brought about:
(Num 11:31) Now a wind went out from the LORD and drove quail in from the sea. It brought them down all around the camp to about three feet above the ground, as far as a day's walk in any direction.
After a miracle like this, can there be any doubt? Our God is almighty. He is omnipotent. He is in control of His creation.
III God's Omnipotence in Redemption
A The same power God displayed in the Creation and in His miracles is also exhibited in redemption. The God Who set the heavens in motion and provides for the needs of His people also delivered His people from their bondage in Egypt.
Throughout the Exodus it is the power and might of God that is displayed. We think of the ten terrible plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the manna and water and quails — all of this displayed the power of God. The power of Moses faltered; more than once the people turned aside and fell away. But God's power endured.
B The same kind of power is evident in the life of Sarah. If you remember, God made a series of wonderful covenant promises to Abraham about a nation, a name, a blessing, a land, a numerous offspring, kings, and an everlasting covenant. As far as Abraham was concerned, all these promises boiled down to one event — the birth of a son. All those wonderful covenant promises were dependent upon Abraham becoming a father. If Abraham had no child, there would be no nation, no name, no blessing, no land, no numerous offspring, no kings, and no everlasting covenant. All of God's promises were bound up in the promised child. God's covenant promises needed the child in order to be fulfilled!
There was one problem: Sarah was barren, her womb was shut! And, now, being 90 years old she was well past the age of child-bearing; she had given up all hope of ever having a child of her own. Yet, the Lord came to Abraham and said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son" (Gen 18:10). When Sarah heard this she had to laugh (Gen 18:12). The Lord has a response for Abraham and Sarah: "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Gen 18:14).
Our God is omnipotent. He is almighty. The barren womb of an old lady doesn't stop Him from accomplishing His redemptive purposes. Scripture tells us,
(Gen 21:1-2) Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. (2) Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.
C If we were to glance forward some 2000 years from Abraham we would see God making a promise of a Son to another couple in similar circumstances. The couple, of course, is Joseph and Mary. Mary and Joseph were not united in marriage and to them pre- marital sex was simply unthinkable. Yet, God announced to Mary, "You will be with child and give birth to a son." Mary's response: "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" (Lk 1:31,34). Back then there was no in-vitro fertilization, no test-tube babies, and no surrogate motherhood, so it was humanly impossible for a virgin to conceive and give birth to a son. The Lord has a response for Joseph and Mary:
(Luke 1:35) "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God ... (37) For nothing is impossible with God."
Our God is omnipotent. He is almighty. He is more than able to make a virgin conceive and bear a child in order to accomplish His redemptive purposes.
IV God's Omnipotence in the Consummation
The omnipotent power of God is not limited to creation, miracles, and redemption. God has promised to use the same power at the end of times. The vision of John on the Island of Patmos reveals the future use of God's power:
(Rev 21:1-3) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. (2) I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. (3) And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
Our God is almighty. He is omnipotent. God is able to do what He says He will do. He has the power to raise our bodies from the dust. He has the power to wipe our tears away forever. He has the power to cleanse us from all sin. His promises are not idle wishes. They are commitments.
When you or I make a commitment for the future there is always an "if" attached: if I am able. I may be dead in three years. I may be physically incapacitated. I may be hindered in some other way. But there is no "if" with God's future promises. He will do what He has promised. Don't forget, He is almighty. He is omnipotent.
Conclusion
The Confession says "we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths" that there is a God Who is almighty. In other words, this is something we must both confess and live out.
Job does this. He listens to God talk of His power and might. He listens, he thinks about it, and finally he says,
(Job 42:2) "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted."
The prophet Jeremiah is the same way. He also thinks about God's might and comes to a similar conclusion:
(Jer 32:17) "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you."
I also think of Mary. She hears the angels's words: "For nothing is impossible with God." She hears, she believes, and she submits:
(Lk 1:38) "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said."
You know what Mary is saying?
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after thy will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still.
(287:1)