What does it mean that God is omnipotent?
God's omnipotence is one of the plainest things the Bible says about Him and one of the hardest to take in — that all power belongs to Him, without measure and without rival. The question is what that power actually covers, whether anything limits it, and what difference it makes to someone who is weak.
Unlimited power
At its simplest, the word describes power with no boundary — power that both brings things into being and keeps them there.
Omnipotence is unlimited power. Like God's eternity it is both mysterious and incomprehensible to our minds. "The Lord God Omnipotent reigns" — and all the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing. "He does according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand, or say to Him, What are you doing?" (Revelation 19:6; Daniel 4:35)… The wonders of creation may be examined by the microscope as well as by the telescope, but greatness and littleness, immensity and intensity, are alike to omnipotence. The power that creates is the same that upholds, for He upholds all things by the word of His power.
James McBroom (Revelation 19:6 reads in the ESV: "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.")
The name Almighty
Scripture does not present this only as an idea. It is a name God took for Himself, and writers note that its meaning carries more than raw strength.
Edward DennettThe first mention of this is found in Genesis 17:1, "The LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty"; that is, EL SHADDAI. The meaning of the word El is said to be strength, omnipotence; and Shaddai is thought by some to mean the same thing, while others prefer the rendering all-sufficient, or self-sufficiency. Either way, the combination of the two words carries divine attributes, since omnipotence and all-sufficiency can only be found in God.
What faith does with it
Abraham heard that name at the point where his own strength had run out, and that timing is the lesson.
Hamilton SmithNow, having learned his weakness, he learns that God is Almighty. If God is Almighty, then God's purposes and promises will surely come to fruition, however impossible their fulfilment may appear to nature, and sight, and the flesh. Abraham only has to remember that God is Almighty and at once every difficulty will disappear, every obstacle will be overcome, and in quiet faith and patience he will be able to wait for God to act in God's own time… We can say, "If God wills"; who but the Almighty God can rightly say, "I will"?
Power that never contradicts His nature
Unlimited power raises the old puzzle: can God do absolutely anything? Commentators answer by pointing to what He is, not to a ceiling on what He can do.
James McBroomWhile it is clear there can be no limit to His power, we know He is governed by His love, and in the region of moral truth there are certain things He cannot do. "He cannot deny Himself" (2 Timothy 2:13). "God cannot be tempted with evil" (James 1:13). "God is not unjust" (Hebrews 6:10)… From these and other passages we learn that God is so governed by His nature that He cannot do anything opposed to justice. It is not that He obliges Himself to use His almighty power in line with justice, but that justice is so much part of His moral nature that He cannot act otherwise.
The same power seen in Christ
The attribute is not held back for God at a distance. Writers point to Jesus as the place where it is on display.
Leslie M. GrantThis great attribute of Deity is also plainly ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ in the Word of God, as for example in Hebrews 1:3: "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power."
Power aimed at believers
The measure of God's power toward His people is not their experience but the raising of Christ.
Samuel RidoutThe apostle prays that the Ephesians may know "what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand" (Ephesians 1:19-20). Now here is a stupendous statement. We see Christ in His tomb raised and lifted to the throne of God. Could any power be greater? And yet this same power has worked toward us… The power that worked in Him has worked in us.
Why it matters when you are afraid
Power in a friend is what turns goodwill into help.
J. T. MawsonOur God is also a God of power, and His power has been shown by His triumph over death… We can always rely more on a friend who has great power than on a friend who has none, for willingness to help, however much we appreciate it, does not count for much when there is no ability. Our God is almighty; the greatest foe is now a defeated foe, and we need fear no other.
Summary
- Unlimited — omnipotence is power with no boundary; the same power that creates also upholds, and none can stop His hand.
- Named — He revealed it as El Shaddai, God Almighty: strength joined to all-sufficiency, a name only God can carry.
- Bounded by Himself — nothing outside God limits Him; His own nature does. He cannot deny Himself, cannot be tempted with evil, cannot act unjustly.
- Personal — the same attribute is ascribed to Christ, who upholds the universe by the word of His power.
- Directed at you — that power was measured in raising Christ from the dead, and it now works toward those who believe, so the last enemy is already a beaten one.