God is omnipotent. That’s a fancy word for “all-powerful.” Meaning, God can do anything and everything. That’s a place from where most of us draw the greatest sense of comfort as we walk through life as His followers. Nothing is beyond God’s ability. The apostle Paul could do “all things through Christ” (Philippians 4:13) because Christ can do all things. In Matthew 19:26, Jesus says, “with God everything is possible.”
There is power in knowing that God can do all things. That’s why there are dozens and dozens of verses in scripture that remind us that this is so.
But what if I told you that there are things that God can’t do? Would that strike you as odd, disappointing or even dismaying? If there is power in knowing that God can do all things (there is), does it somehow diminish or detract from the power to acknowledge that there are some things that God can’t do? Perhaps this burst your proverbial faith bubble. We gain encouragement from knowing that God can do all things, so naturally it would crush us to think that He is not indeed able somehow. Right?
Actually, I’d argue that there is even more power that we can draw from the things God can’t do. Confused? Perfect.
It is precisely the fact that God can’t do certain things that I find all the more comfort about Him and that, to me, make Him all the more praiseworthy. The very things He can’t do are some of the foundational bedrock that allow me to feel solidified in my most unstable and uncertain moments. I reckon if we explore some of the specific things God can’t do, we can better unpack the potency of the inability.
God can’t lie.
So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.
Clear as day … it is not possible for God to lie. God can’t lie. This is also demonstrated in other places in scripture such as John 14:6 which describes Jesus as “the way, the truth, and the life,” (emphasis added).
Let’s walk this out a little. Given that God can’t lie, what does that mean to you and me? The bible tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God (Psalms 139:14), that God has a plan and purpose for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11), that even though we are inherently sinful God sent His one and only son Jesus to die for our sins (Romans 5:8), and once we accept Jesus’s free gift of salvation we are secure for eternity (John 6:37). Nothing can change that. And since God can’t lie, we can know that we know we are eternally secure, regardless of how we might behave, how we might feel, what the world might tell us, or how the enemy Satan may try to accuse us.
What power there is in the certainty that God can’t lie!
God can’t change.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
“I am the Lord, and I do not change.”
Why does it matter that God can’t change? Because what He has promised us won’t fade. Who He is, He will always be. His love will never become conditional. His power will never diminish. Those are some of the attributes of God (among many) that we can depend on to counteract the things in the world that do change. Like our circumstances, our standing with others, our health, etc. The things that can cause us physical, spiritual or emotional whiplash can ultimately be governed by and rationalized through God’s steadiness. There are many things in this world and in our lives that we believe we can depend on, only to find that they are fleeting and capricious. God is the ultimate in reliability.
What power there is in the certainty that God can’t change!
God can’t learn.
Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
The fact that God can’t learn means that He already knows all things. Things that have already happened, things that are happening presently, and things that will happen in the future. When you and I go through difficulties in life, we only know our experience now. God not only knows – already – our experience in the future, but He also knows how He uses our experiences now to grow us, to prepare us, and to bless us. He already knows because He knows all things. If He knows all things, then by definition He can’t learn. Since He can’t learn, we can take solace in knowing that our difficulties are not frivolous, random or surprising to God. He knows, and He knows what’s best for us … what conveys to us the greatest good while giving Him the greatest glory.
What power there is in the certainty that God can’t learn!
Therein lies one of the most amazing things about our Father in heaven. We gain comfort and power from Him because He can do all things. And yet, we can also draw comfort and power because of what God can’t do!
Soli Deo gloria!
MR
Renewal 