God is Omnipotent Jeremiah 32:17-27 When Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida in August of 1992, Norena Gonzales’ home was one of thousands that was severely damaged. Norena received a modest insurance settlement - and the repair work on her home began. But when the money ran out, so did her contractor. The contractor left her home without electricity. Norena lived without power in her home for 15 years. She had no heat when the winter chill settled over South Florida. And she had no air conditioning when the mercury climbed into the 90's and the humidity hovered at nearly 100%. Without money to finish the repairs, Norena got by with a battery-powered lamp and a small propane stove to cook on. Her neighbors never noticed she didn’t have electricity. Acting on a tip, the mayor of Miami got involved. It took only a few hours of work by a volunteer electrician to restore power to the house. Norena Gonzales said to CBS News, “It's hard to describe how happy I am to have electricity again.” Lorena Gonzales’ story made me wonder, “Where would we be without God’s power working in our lives?” This is week two in our series titled God is. We’re looking at what the Bible says about the nature and character of God – and how that impacts our lives in a personal and tangible way. I’d like to talk with you this morning about the omnipotence of God. By definition, the omnipotence of God means that God is all-powerful. God’s power is unlimited. As it pertains to God, the word omnipotent is most commonly reflected in the biblical word – Almighty. The word Almighty appears 345 times in the Bible and is used only to speak of God. One of the names ascribed to God in the Bible is El Shaddai – which means God Almighty. I’d like to draw your attention to the outline in today’s bulletin. What does the Bible say about the omnipotence of God? Here are a few key verses: 1 Chronicles 29:11-12: Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as 2 head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Job 42:2: I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. Psalm 89:8: O Lord Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you. Ephesians 3:20-21: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. A.W. Tozer wrote: “Since He has at His command all the power in the universe, God can do anything as easily as anything else. All His acts are done without effort. He expends no energy that must be replenished. His self-sufficiency makes it unnecessary for Him to look outside of Himself for the renewal of strength. All the power required to do all that He wills lies in undiminished fullness of His infinite being.” Broadly speaking, God’s omnipotence is demonstrated in three ways. I’ll touch on these briefly. First, God’s omnipotence is seen in: 1. Creation. Genesis 1:1 says: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the 5th century translation of the Bible called the Vulgate, it states that God created the heavens and the earth ex-nihilo – which means God created the heavens and the earth “out of nothing.” Paul wrote these words in Romans chapter 1: For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature— have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. When we examine creation, both the microscopic and telescopic worlds reveal evidence of the creative genius and infinite power of God Almighty. And God’s power is also revealed natural laws that continue govern the physical universe. Why don’t the planets collide? Why do objects fall to the ground instead of float off into space? Paul said in Colossians 1: For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and 3 invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Second, God’s omnipotence is also seen in: 2. Miracles. Even though God created natural laws that govern nature, He’s not bound or restricted by those laws. Time and time again in Scripture, God revealed His mighty power in performing miracles. In the book of Exodus, God used signs and wonders that resulted in the liberation of His people from their slavery in Egypt. In the 10th chapter of the book of Joshua, God caused the sun and the moon to stand still for an entire day – allowing the Children of Israel the time they needed to subdue their enemies as they took possession of the Land of Promise. In the New Testament, Jesus demonstrated power to heal the sick, calm stormy seas, walk on water, feed 5,000 people with one sack lunch, and even raise the dead back to life. The miracles of Jesus proved that He was (and is) the Son of God. I heard the story of a guy named Big Ed. Big Ed went to a tent revival. At the end of the message, the evangelist said that God is still in the business of performing miracles – so, he invited people to come to the front to receive prayer. Big Ed went forward. When it was his turn to receive prayer, the evangelist asked Big Ed what he needed prayer for. He said, “I’d like you to pray for my hearing.” So the evangelist stuck his fingers in Big Ed’s ears and offered a long, fervent prayer to the Lord. After praying, the evangelist removed his fingers from Big Ed’s ears and asked, “Tell me, brother – how is your hearing now?” Big Ed said, “Well, I don’t know preacher – my hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday at the county courthouse.” 3. Redemption. From Genesis to Revelation the Bible is the continuous story of God’s redemptive acts in history. In Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve fell into sin, God promised that a Redeemer would one day come into the world. In the book of Exodus, God redeemed His people from their slavery in Egypt – leading them to freedom in the Land of Promise. Throughout the Old Testament, when God’s people were taken captive by their enemies, God brought them back from the brink of extinction and restored them to the land He gave to them. 4 But the greatest demonstration of God’s redemptive power is seen in the cross of Jesus Christ. Paul said in Romans 4:25 that Jesus laid down His life for our salvation and raised again to life for our justification. Earlier in Romans, Paul said: I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. Hebrews chapter 2 teaches that the resurrection of Jesus destroyed Satan’s ultimate weapon – which was death. All of us who were dead in sin have been made alive by the life-giving power of Jesus Christ. Our God is a Redeemer. Now, choosing a text for this morning’s topic was challenging because there are so many passages in the Bible that speak of God’s power. But the passage I chose is found in Jeremiah chapter 32. Let’s take a moment to put that chapter into context. The prophet Jeremiah was called by God to proclaim a difficult message to the people of Judah. God told Jeremiah to tell them that they were about to be taken captive by the Babylonians because of their idolatry. Preaching this message to his own countrymen didn’t win Jeremiah any friends. But that’s what God told him to do – and he obeyed the Lord. At first, Jeremiah rejoiced when God spoke to him. He said: When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty. But soon, these words of Almighty God became a source of pain and suffering for him. As we come to the 32nd chapter – Jeremiah is in prison. King Zedekiah was angry because Jeremiah offered him some unsolicited advice. Jeremiah urged King Zedekiah to surrender to the Babylonians. Zedekiah was having none of this – even though Nebuchadnezzar and his troops were sitting outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem. In the midst of this impending doom, God told Jeremiah to do something very strange. God instructed him to buy a parcel of land from his cousin. On one level, this makes no sense - because the people would be carried away into captivity. Why would anyone in his right mind buy land he won’t be able to use? Are you ready for a profound answer to that question? Because God told him to do it.