Our God is Omnipotent (Part 6)

So, notice, he is he is responsible for everything that is created and he is above. Notice what it says, thrones, dominions, principalities, powers. And so this is all encompassing. Alright, look at Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter one.

Hebrews chapter one verse one and verses one and two or rather two and three. Hebrews one verses two and three, I’ll read verse one for the context here. It says, god who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things by whom also he made the worlds.

Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, here it is, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Upholding all things by the word of his power. That deals with our first A which is ability. It deals with creation which we’ll see a little bit more in a minute but this is one reason why when you read the text of scripture, you cannot just lift out a phrase because if you lift it out, upholding all things by the word of his power, you might assume it’s it’s referring to someone other than Jesus but it’s not. In the context, it is clearly referring to the lord Jesus Christ and again, you know, an Arian like we talked about before, the Job’s witnesses and other people who deny the deity of Christ will often times say, oh well, yeah, Jesus upholds all things but under the power of Jehovah but here’s the problem, is as we’ve seen over and over and over again, it is not simply that Jesus is kind of like a servant of Jehovah in some way but all of the attributes of god.

He applies to himself in full, in no way, in no way, in a lesser measure than than than the lord god almighty. He is he has the same power and so that’s what we see in Hebrews one three, upholding all things by the word of his power. Now, look at first Peter chapter three and then we’ll we’ll go into a different direction here. First Peter chapter three, first Peter three verse number 20.

Let’s pick up the context, verse number 18. First Peter three verse 18 says this, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to god, being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the spirit by which he went as the same Christ of verse 18 and then we go down to verse 21, the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth of of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels, here it is, and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. Again, same thing as Matthew 28, all powers given unto me in heaven and in earth. So, I wanted to read these four, five verses here just kind of as proof text where you can see plainly where the power of god is applied to Jesus Christ. Now, we we looked at before we looked at ability, we looked at authority.

So, I wanna show you specifically now in the book of Luke where Christ exercises exercise the power of god related to ability. Now, we talk about ability, just as a reminder, we’re gonna be in Luke eight. So, if you look there, when we talk about the ability of god, that is almost always in Scripture related to God’s creative power. Now as a review, someone our class by reviewing question.

So we know God created the world by His power, we’ve seen that over and over and over. God created and we talked about the various powers of God’s material creation, the power of the sun and the stars and the forces of the universe and all of those things, we talked about that. And all of those things show not only God’s wisdom but especially God’s power, right? Okay, but then we talked about miracles.

Now how are miracles related to God’s creative power? That’s the question. Anybody wanna help help us? Because we’re coming back to that right now. How do miracles in scripture like the Red Sea or the day the sun stood still for Joshua or any of those miracles? How do miracles relate to God’s power?

So what you’re saying is he overrules his creative power and that’s what we talked about in our Sunday school before. God exercised enormous power when he created the world. Scripture says that. And every time that he asserts his power to change that and to operate outside of his created power, in a miracle, for instance, when the Red Sea parted and there was a wall of water on the right side and the wall of water on the left side, he overruled the power of gravity and probably a number of other powers that he himself had instituted.

That’s the that’s the miracle of miracles. That’s that is the miracle of the miracles is that god exercise power and usurped the power of creation which he also established. Okay. Now, when you come to Christ, we know that Christ did that many many times in his life. Did he not? He walked on water. He healed the sick. He, know, something we’re gonna read maybe today, maybe not today, but remember when when they came to arrest the Lord Jesus and Peter having his sword bearing his arms like we just read, it’s biblical. He he had his sword, took it out at the wrong time, used it in the wrong way, indeed, but trying, I I my opinion is trying to cut the head off of this servant, this servant’s that came with the the crowd to arrest him, swung and missed or maybe was dodged, cut off the ear of this servant Malcus.

And then, the Lord put forth his hand and touched his ear and healed it. That’s the kind of things that are this that of course we call miracles but to do that, the lord had to do things outside of of of what normally happens in a case like that. He had to usurp the power above creation And that’s exactly what He did. Now, I don’t wanna go into all the miracles Jesus performed because you know those, but I do wanna show you a few verses that demonstrate why this is important. Luke eight, Luke if you would, we’re gonna be in Luke eight and nine, and then also in Acts. Luke eight verse number 25.

Now we know in verse 24, verse 24 says, then he arose and rebuked the wind and raging of the water and they ceased and there was a calm. Now, the wind and the storm and those things happen to this day on the Sea Of Galilee, they are, we call it natural occurrences, but really they’re occurrences that are operating within the power of God in his natural law that he has established, right?

And god can direct that any way he chooses and he does and I think probably he did here too to bring about this event so that he could demonstrate his power but what he does here is he overrules the power of the storm, the powers that cause the storm. He overrules it and immediately, the scripture says, there was a calm. They ceased.

Verse 25, and he said unto them, where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered saying one to another, what manner of man is this? For he commanded even the winds and the water and they obey him. Here’s what want you to see about about the witnesses, the observers. So they see Jesus overrule the power of the created world, and what is their response? Their response is, what manner of man is this?

So in the moments when Jesus performs miracles, the thing that comes into people’s minds is, who is this? It’s a question of his identity. Now I know I’m repeating myself, how many times have I covered this very point? So when Jesus steps into the natural world and overrules it, people think, wow, this is not a regular guy. It’s a statement of his deity. Just like it is in the Old Testament, so it is in the New.

And look at Luke chapter nine, Luke chapter nine verse number 43. This is after Jesus heals the child from an unclean spirit. Says this, and they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered everyone at all things which Jesus did, He said unto His disciples, let these sayings sink down into your ears for the Son of Man shall be delivered into the hands of men. Again, they were stunned.

They were stunned that Jesus was exercising what appeared to be the power of god. Look at Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10. Acts ten thirty eight says this, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, there’s the word, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. Now we’ve already covered the miracles of Christ before, how they are signs.

They confirmation signs of who he was and of his message, what he was preaching because it was novel. And so he performed these miracles, miracles that only God could perform. So if you were just think about it, if you were a Jew in the first century and you had a familiarity with the Old Testament and you see Jesus doing the very same things that you know Jehovah did in the Old Testament, what is going to be your conclusion? Now, some people concluded god was with him but even if you concluded merely god was with him, you’re not gonna going to be able to stay there long.

And if if you when you read, we won’t take the time to do it but when you read the reactions of people to to Jesus various miracles starting chronologically at the beginning, you’ll notice that they they start by saying, wow, god god has some amazing power and then by the end, they’re saying, who is this? In other words, they it’s almost like the even the disciples like learn about Jesus’ identity as they go because just by observing all these signs and wonders that he does to show his power over creation. So, so, the lord Jesus Christ shows his power when he like the old the god of the Old Testament who he is when he demonstrates his ability to overrule natural law and others around him who witness those things, they are often verbally noted and and wonder, who is this person? But not only that, look at Mark chapter one, that’s ability related to to god’s creative power but also the lord Jesus shows his power as related to authority and you’ll see this in just a minute. Mark chapter one Mark chapter one verse number 27 And they were all amazed insomuch that they questioned among themselves saying, what thing is this?

What new doctrine is this? For with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits and they do obey him. Now, we already saw that. Remember all those verses we looked at at the beginning with Hebrews and Colossians, how Jesus has power over the principalities and powers and those kinds of things over all of heaven and earth. Well one of those things that was very elusive and truthfully throughout all of human history, people have tried to manipulate spiritual powers.

Witchcraft is the attempt at manipulating unseen and spiritual powers. That’s what it’s all about. And maybe that’s not so common here, but in other places it is very common. Whether they’re Muslim places or Catholic places or Buddhist places or Hindu places. The idea of manipulating the spiritual powers for one’s own favor. That is a real thing and and so there’s what I’m trying to say is so there’s always been this dynamic where you’re trying to appease those things, those spirits, you’re trying to get them to do what you want them to do, but Jesus doesn’t do that. He doesn’t appease anybody.

What he does is he steps on the scene in a world where that existed, right? Exorcisms and things like that. He steps on the scene and simply commands and those powers obey immediately in every case without exception. Now there was one exception, which is the exception when Jesus commissioned the disciples and they failed, right? Primarily because of their faith. But here but even that though demonstrates his power because when the disciples couldn’t cast out the devil, Jesus came and just immediately did it. What they couldn’t do, right? For their frailty and so, this shows Jesus as we saw in Mark, this shows Jesus power and we might say authority and that he commands these devils and they obey. Look at Luke chapter four.

Luke chapter four. Luke four thirty six. This is a similar case, but the words are a little bit different. Luke four thirty six says this, and they were all amazed and spake among themselves saying, what a word is this? For with authority and power, he commanded the unclean spirits and they come out. Authority, power. So, the fact that Jesus commanded the unclean spirits demonstrates again his authority over all things.

Look at Matthew chapter nine. Look at Matthew chapter nine. Here’s another expression of his authority. Matthew nine Look if you would at verse number two, and behold they brought to him a man sick of the palsy lying on a bed and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. You know, for a long time, this passage kinda confused me, like I didn’t really, I didn’t feel like I was able to wrap my brain around it, but this is a case where our Lord chooses on purpose not to be passive.

And let me explain to you what I mean. He does not say in this case the same thing as he often says which is rise up and walk. He chooses to say something controversial. He chooses to say something difficult that’s going to raise questions in the ears and the minds of the hearers. Notice, he says, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, this man blasphemeth.

And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? Now, it’s not in this particular passage, but in a parallel passage it says this, they asked the question, who can forgive sins but God only? Which is an interesting and insightful question, is it not? Out of the mouth of unbelievers, who can forgive sins but God only? And Jesus steps forth and says, no one.

And then he says, be of good cheer. Thy sins are forgiven thee. You see, they just never quite wanted to put it all together, right? So, in this case, it says this, Jesus knowing their thoughts said, wherefore think ye evil in your hearts for whether it’s whether it’s easier to say, thy sins be forgiven thee or to say arise and walk. That’s the part that always confused me. What is the Lord what is the Lord intending to mean here?

Which is easier, to say rise up and walk or thy sins be forgiven thee? And the answer, the conclusion I came to is the answer is, it’s easier to say rise up and walk because it doesn’t create a stir. The guy just gets up and he walks out. The fact that Jesus does the hard thing and raises the, or gives the statement that’s gonna raise questions, here’s verse six, this is why he does it. But that you may know that the son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, then saith he to the sick of the palsy, arise, take up thy bed and go unto thine house. What are they gonna say to that?

What are they gonna say when Jesus, he’s actually, in this case, not only showing his power over creation, healing of the body but he’s also showing his power to forgive sins all in one. What are they gonna say? You can’t forgive sins when the guy is literally walking out the door. What are they gonna say? So in doing it that way, he proved both his ability and his authority all at once.

And He chose to do it like that. He chose to make the difficult statement to demonstrate that fact. So Jesus has power related to ability, his miracles, he has power related to authority, the devils, as well as the authority and power to forgive sin. Now, that is significant. The fact that Jesus has power to forgive sin is significant because when you understand sin and its nature, biblically speaking, what is sin?

This world defines sin as something that hurts someone else, right? But Biblically speaking, what is a sin? Anybody want to take a stab? There’s clear Biblical definition, yes ma’am?

Something against God, you’re really close. Didn’t we have a conversation about this I think when you were in the hospital, think we talked a little bit about it. You’re really close but there’s maybe one more thing to add. Right, is that what you’re gonna say? Yeah.

Sin is, first John defines, sin is the transgression of the law, right? God says don’t do it, we do it. God says do it, we don’t. That’s at its basic thing, so it’s against God. So this is why the idea that Jesus has power to forgive sin is so important. Because all sin is God draws a line and we violate it, transgressed, to pass over the line, we violate it.

All sin, even whether it hurts another or does not hurt another, all sin is ultimately against God. You with me? This is why doing a sin that doesn’t hurt someone else is not okay because it violates God’s law and God’s holiness, okay? If all sin is violative of God and His law, then only God has power to forgive it.

If I steal Ben’s car, if I steal Ben’s car, Jim can’t forgive me for stealing Ben’s car because I have transgressed against him. He is therefore the one that must forgive me. Okay, so since we know all sin is related to God himself, only God himself has power to forgive sin. And so when Jesus asserts that, what is he asserting? He is asserting his equality with God, which we already knew that to be the case. But again, we’re stacking a huge library, right, of truths of the deity of Christ as we’ve gone through the different attributes of God. That’s for our Sunday school class, as you’ve sat here and you know, we’ve kind of in some cases trudged through these various attributes, what we’re doing is we’re building a structure and in each case, in each case, you’re seeing the deity of Christ shown in God’s attributes one by one by one by one. Again, I told you this, I said this before and I’ll say it again, the truth of the true identity of Jesus Christ is not a matter of just proof texts, although those are fine.

It’s a whole system of truth All wound and tied up together that the scripture teaches. Alright, let’s look at one more. So, we talked about the statements regarding Jesus power. We talked about Jesus ability in the miracles, we talked about Jesus authority over devils and to forgive sin, and there’s one other power, this is kind of a minor thing, look at Luke chapter nine, one other power that we see when we were looking at God’s delegated power.

So, when we were talking about civil rulers, we discussed how that the how that god has delegated his power to some degree to civil rulers, not absolute, absolutely, but he’s delegated some power to civil rulers.

And so the Lord, even though he is almighty, he has all power, he does at times provide or hand out his power to others. This is also what the Lord Jesus Christ himself does. Alright, look at Luke chapter nine nine verse number one. Then, he called his 12 disciples together and gave them power. He gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases. Those are two things we just looked at, did we not? When Jesus himself exercised them, now he is he is delegating that power to others and he sent them to preach the kingdom of god and to heal the sick. Now, the Lord the Lord Jesus does not delegate all his power to them.

This is only healing of the sick and casting out devils. That is all. But we saw in the life of Christ, what did he do? He also forgave sin. That is not something he delegated. And he also had power over the wind and at the at the sea, that he didn’t delegate that either. It was this narrow delegation of power. It’s what I’m saying is he not only exercises it to do these things but he also exercises the the prerogative of god to give that power to others at his will and that’s what exactly what he did.

And so in all of these ways, there’s one other power. Anybody wanna guess what the other power of Christ is? That shows his his omnipotence? Come on. One more power. The biggest one of all. Exactly, power of the resurrection, right? But in each one you see the Lord Jesus showing Himself that He is very God in the flesh. Let’s pray together.