Pastor Josh here, the word of the week is power.
For the next several lessons here in the word of the week, we
are going to be studying the attributes of God.
These are the characteristics of God that make him God.
We can learn these attributes through scripture.
Some of these attributes are attributes that we can observe, that
we can experience in our own life, and actually, to some degree,
live out in our own lives as believers.
So, for example, we can experience God's love.
We can read about God's love, and we can show God's love to other
people around us.
We can experience his grace, his mercy, his forgiveness, and to
some degree, be graceful, merciful, and forgiving.
Now, none of us as human beings can be perfect.
None of us as human beings can completely live out these attributes
in perfection.
That's only God's position, because he is perfect and completely
holy.
We as human beings are fallible.
We are flawed in our limitations as humans.
So there are some attributes that are communicable, meaning we
can understand them and in some ways live them out in our lives.
But there are some attributes of God that what we are as christians,
as humans, not able to obtain.
And these are the incommunicable attributes of God.
Incommunicable attributes are attributes that we cannot obtain
because we are not goddesse.
And so God is perfectly holy in the concept of his holiness.
We can never be perfectly holy on this side of heaven.
It is his holiness imparted unto us that gives us the righteousness
in our own lives.
And so the attribute that we're going to be studying here today
is the attributes of God's all powerful nature.
Some of us, as humans, can have physical power, some of us can
have positional power, but none of us can have an all powerful
nature.
We all have limitations.
And when what we can see through scripture is that God has
no limitations.
And so the theological term for this is omnipotence.
Omnipotence just means all powerful.
God is all powerful.
Now, where we can learn about that in scripture is starting in
Genesis, chapter one, creation, right?
God created this world out of nothing.
The theological term for that is ex nihilo, out of nothing.
God spoke this world into existence from nothing to something.
And actually, that something as originally created was perfect.
It was good, and we marred it by sin in our own nature, in our
own human nature.
And so God is perfectly powerful, completely powerful, not
limited by anything of this world, not limited by himself, not
limited by mankind, not limited by evil.
And in Romans chapter one, we actually see this explained here
in the New Testament.
Romans, chapter one.
Paul is explaining that all human beings are responsible to respond
to God in his power because we all as humans witness his creation.
And so just that general revelation of witnessing his creation
should bring us to the point of understanding that there is a
creator out there.
There is an all powerful God who brought something out of nothing.
Romans chapter one, verse 20 says, for the invisible things of
him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead,
so that they are without excuse.
And so there's no one who has an excuse because we can all look
out and see in general revelation, this creation that God
brought about.
That's his all powerful nature.
Now, that's not enough to save us.
We have to understand that there is a creator out there and
then understand what's called specific revelation, revelation from
the word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And so we then search after this all powerful God and we find
Jesus and we know that it's the holy spirit that stirs our heart
to know this truth.
But as we can see in this case, the all powerful nature of
God is described here in Romans chapter one.
Another passage of scripture that talks about God's all powerful
nature is colossians.
Colossians, chapter one.
And we can see it in verse 16 and 17.
Verse 16 and 17 is talking about the all powerful nature of
God.
If you go back to verse 15, it says, who is the image of the invisible
God?
Now this is talking about Jesus and his godhood, that Jesus
is God.
And so it says that in verse 16, for by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created by him and for him.
And he is before all things and by him all things consist.
The idea that is here is that basically God is holding everything
together.
Now he is the creator.
And so that's one element of his all powerful nature, is that
he is the creator, something out of nothing.
God is a creator.
But then we see also here that God is a sustainer in his all powerful
nature.
So he doesn't just create something and let it go like a clock
maker creates his clock and then sets it in motion and steps
away and isn't involved in that life.
He, God is a God who is concerned about our lives and he
is involved in our lives.
He's present in our lives.
And so it says here, yes, he is the creator, but he is also the
sustainer, verse 17 of Colossians, chapter one.
And by him all things consist.
And by him all things are held together.
What an amazing truth that is.
And what an amazing truth that we can trust in, in our lives is
that God is a creator.
He created us and he saved us, but he also holds us together in
our lives.
Another passage of scripture that I'm reminded of when I think
about that is in Hebrews, chapter twelve.
Hebrews, chapter twelve, verse two.
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
And so, yes, God is a creator, he is a sustainer, but he's also
the finisher, the completer.
What an amazing truth that is, that what a work that God starts
in our life.
He completes it.
Philippians, chapter one.
Philippians, chapter one, verse six.
Another verse that speaks of this completion, this finishing of
a work.
It says, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ.
That is a truth that we can take heart in, that we can have confidence
in, that we can have hope in, that God is a creator.
He is the author and finisher of our faith.
So God created a way for us to understand him.
God created us in his image.
God created us in a world that was perfect, and yet we marred it
by sin.
But yet God still created a path for us to understand his grace
and his mercy.
And so he is the one who creates it.
He is the one who sustains it.
Thank the Lord that he is holding us together.
Thank the Lord that it is not me who is in control of my own life,
but it is God who is in control of my life.
And so he is the creator, the sustainer.
And then, as we see, the completer, the finisher, the author
and finisher of our faith.
That is an amazing, amazing truth to know about God.
And not just to know about God, but to believe about God.
We know that even back in Hebrews, chapter one, verse three,
it says, who, being the brightness of his glory, in the express
image of his person and upholding all things by the word
of his power, when he had himself purged our sins, sat down
at the right hand of the majesty on high.
And so this is speaking of the power of God.
This is speaking of his all powerful nature, saving us, sustaining
us, and completing the work that he has for us in our lives.
And so what can we learn from this.
What can we learn and understand and apply in our lives
when it comes to the area of God's omnipotence?
Well, it's this that we are not in control, that we must relinquish
control from our life so that God's power can be seen and understood
in our lives and through our lives.
Second Corinthians, chapter number twelve.
Paul is dealing with a struggle, a thorn in his side.
And most of you are familiar with this passage.
He asked three times for it to be removed, and God responds with
essentially a no.
And so what happens is in verse number nine, God speaks to
Paul and he says, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strengthen,
or my power is made perfect in weakness.
And so then Paul's response is, well, most gladly, therefore
will I glory, rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me.
And so what this means is that we relinquish what we think is the
power of our own lives and say, you know what, Lord?
I will be weak, I will be humble, I will be broken, so that
your power can be seen in my life, so that I can be used by your
power.
This is a difficult thing.
This is a difficult process to go through.
But what the Bible says is essentially this.
As a Christian, we die to ourselves, we die to our wants, we
die to our fleshly desires and even into the fact of our own control
in our lives.
And so if God is all powerful and God loves us and God has what's
best for us in our life, then what that means is that there is
a surrender, a submission that comes with understanding God's power.
The more we understand God's power, the more we trust in God's
power.
The more we believe in that truth in our lives, the more we are
going to live by faith.
We are going to live in trusting God to overcome our issues
in our life, trusting God to give us the things that we need to
do for his work in our life.
Philippians 413 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me.
That's not a verse to say, I can do whatever I want.
And God's going to bless me.
It's God's going to let me come to a place in my life where
it might be good or it might be bad.
But if God's brought me to this, he's going to give me the power
to get through this.
And so I encourage you here, as you listen to this podcast, to
think about what it means to have a God who is all powerful, who
is invested in your life as the creator, the savior, the sustainer
and the finisher, the completer of your faith.
Man, that's exciting for me because there's so many times in
my life that I look to other things for my power.
Maybe it's my physical strengthen, maybe it's my finances,
maybe it's the political climate around me, maybe it's my
job, maybe it's my house, maybe it's whatever it is that I
look to as my power or my strength.
But folks, really what it is is that if we are a believer, our
identity is in Christ.
Therefore, the power that we see in our life that God gives us
is the power through us.
But it's ultimately sourced in God.
Like I can tell you that.
The Bible does say that we will receive power.
And that's an exciting thing.
We're not powerless as Christians.
It's just not our power.
It's God's power.
Ephesians, chapter three, verse 20.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us.
And so God is going to do things above what we could ever ask
or think.
But what is it according to?
It's not according to our power.
It's according to the power that worketh in us from him, through
us.
So it's his power, not our own.
It's his strength, not our own.
It's his confidence, not our own.
It's his victory, not our victory.
Now we get to be beneficiaries of that, but the source of that is
not our own willpower, it's not our own physical strength, it's
not our own spiritual strength.
It's the strength or power that God imparts to us as believers.
And so his power is clear through the believer who is trusting
in him.
It's God's power that continues to hold us in our grace
and in our forgiveness.
He is that sustainer.
And so if you could take anything with you, take this.
God is all powerful.
He has proven his power.
And in his power there's creation and there's power.
There's salvation and there's power, there's sanctification.
In his power there is sustaining strength.
And ultimately he is the completer.
He is the one who is going to finish the work that he has started
in you.
And one day we know that his power will be proclaimed by all in
heaven for all eternity.
Revelation, chapter 19.
It says this in verse one.
And after these things, I heard a great voice of much people
in heaven saying, alleluia.
Salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God.
There will be a day where all understand God's power.
It should be today.
But unfortunately, there are many people that are going to doubt
God's power.
But we know that there will be a day where there is an undeniable
aspect of God's power shown to all of this world.
And we are going to be the ones who are going to be proclaiming
for all of eternity, he is powerful.
He is all powerful.
And so that's just one attribute of the many attributes
of God that we can celebrate and worship as believers.
So if there's anything else that we can think about here in this
study, we can think about this, that God is all powerful and
that he is present in our life and that he is praise worthy.
So we'll come back next week with another attribute of God that
we can celebrate, that we can worship.
But I encourage you, if you've enjoyed these studies, please like
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Middletown Baptist church podcast.
Well, we hope you have a wonderful week.
We look forward to talking to you next week in the word of the
week.
God bless you.
Take care.
We'll talk to you soon.