GOD OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
Michael Tan
Christians believe that God is omnipotent. That is, God is all- powerful. Both the Old and New Testaments have articulated this with great conviction, backed up by stories of the miraculous, the supernatural, the spectacular, and the impossible.
Jesus was the epitome of the impossible. He remarked to His disciples in Matthew 19:26 when they were puzzled about the salvation of the rich, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” God alone can take the love of the world out of the human heart. The salvation of the rich and famous is represented as possible only to Him through His death on the cross and indeed the words seem to intimate that it requires more than common exertions of omnipotence to save the person trapped by wealth, fame, and success.
So can God do anything? A teacher once asked a Sunday School class, “Is there anything God cannot do?” One smart alec replied, “Yes. He can’t please everybody!” In fact, the Bible points out things that God cannot do. God cannot commit sin (James 1:3). God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). God cannot stop being God. God cannot step out of character. God cannot do anything that is contrary to His holy character. However, God can do anything that He determines to do. This is a true meaning of omnipotence – the ability to do anything that one sets out to do.
Leslie Weatherhead, in The Will of God, writes: “The omnipotence of God does not mean that by a sheer exhibition of His superior might God gets His own way. If he did, freedom would be an illusion and moral development would be made impossible. When we say, then, that God is omnipotent we do not mean that nothing can happen unless it is God’s will. We mean that nothing can happen which can finally defeat Him.” 1
God is really the God of the Impossible, whatever that is impossible for human beings to effect. The real question is why would God do anything that is impossible for us? When the odds are stacked against us, why would He intervene? I can think of three reasons.
Firstly, God wants us to trust Him more than anything else in life. More than talents, ambition, drive, material security – all the good stuff! When the angel told her that nothing is impossible with God, Mary believed Him. In spite of her poverty, humble station in life, the fact that she was a virgin, she still believed that God could do exactly what He said. God works through people who have faith in Him. Nothing else about them matters.
Secondly, God wants to make a difference in us and it often requires the miraculous. Do you ever notice that when God wants to do something big, He starts with something very small. And when He wants to do the miraculous, He starts with the impossible.
The disciples thought Jesus was in over His head that day when He set out to feed a multitude of 5,000 men and perhaps a greater number of women and children with only five loaves of bread and two fish.
Often God is asking us to do something that we feel totally inadequate to accomplish. What is it that God has asked you to do that you can’t do? We yearn to believe that there is more to life than constantly running like a hamster on a wheel. But do we believe that God has the answers for our life? “For nothing is impossible with God.”
Thirdly, God wants to accomplish His purposes through us and that often seems impossible for mere humans to do. John Haggai was credited to have said that we should attempt something so great in life that unless God is in it, we will bound to fail.
It matters not how big or small that task may be. If God tells us to go out and feed a hungry world, is that impossible? If He tells us to make disciples of all people, is that impossible? No task undertaken at God’s command is impossible. God is a God of miracles. God can take a lump of clay and transform it into a diamond. God can take the same lump of clay and fashion into a living human being. Nothing is impossible to God.
—
1 Weatherhead, Leslie, The Will of God, Nashville: The Abingdon Press, 1954, p 34
MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTS
The Future of Learning
In partnership with SkillsFuture Singapore Agency, we aim to encourage individual ownership of skills development and lifelong learning. All Singaporeans aged 25 and above have received an opening credit of S$500. Go to www.skillsfuture.sg to check your credit.
Here are our eligible courses and course bundles you can claim with your credit:
FOUNDATIONAL – First Line Manager / Senior Supervisors
INTERMEDIATE – Middle Management
ADVANCED – Senior Management
Claim with your credit today at www.nexleaders.com/skillsfuture
GOD OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
Michael Tan
Christians believe that God is omnipotent. That is, God is all- powerful. Both the Old and New Testaments have articulated this with great conviction, backed up by stories of the miraculous, the supernatural, the spectacular, and the impossible.
Jesus was the epitome of the impossible. He remarked to His disciples in Matthew 19:26 when they were puzzled about the salvation of the rich, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” God alone can take the love of the world out of the human heart. The salvation of the rich and famous is represented as possible only to Him through His death on the cross and indeed the words seem to intimate that it requires more than common exertions of omnipotence to save the person trapped by wealth, fame, and success.
So can God do anything? A teacher once asked a Sunday School class, “Is there anything God cannot do?” One smart alec replied, “Yes. He can’t please everybody!” In fact, the Bible points out things that God cannot do. God cannot commit sin (James 1:3). God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). God cannot stop being God. God cannot step out of character. God cannot do anything that is contrary to His holy character. However, God can do anything that He determines to do. This is a true meaning of omnipotence – the ability to do anything that one sets out to do.
Leslie Weatherhead, in The Will of God, writes: “The omnipotence of God does not mean that by a sheer exhibition of His superior might God gets His own way. If he did, freedom would be an illusion and moral development would be made impossible. When we say, then, that God is omnipotent we do not mean that nothing can happen unless it is God’s will. We mean that nothing can happen which can finally defeat Him.” 1
God is really the God of the Impossible, whatever that is impossible for human beings to effect. The real question is why would God do anything that is impossible for us? When the odds are stacked against us, why would He intervene? I can think of three reasons.
Firstly, God wants us to trust Him more than anything else in life. More than talents, ambition, drive, material security – all the good stuff! When the angel told her that nothing is impossible with God, Mary believed Him. In spite of her poverty, humble station in life, the fact that she was a virgin, she still believed that God could do exactly what He said. God works through people who have faith in Him. Nothing else about them matters.
Secondly, God wants to make a difference in us and it often requires the miraculous. Do you ever notice that when God wants to do something big, He starts with something very small. And when He wants to do the miraculous, He starts with the impossible.
The disciples thought Jesus was in over His head that day when He set out to feed a multitude of 5,000 men and perhaps a greater number of women and children with only five loaves of bread and two fish.
Often God is asking us to do something that we feel totally inadequate to accomplish. What is it that God has asked you to do that you can’t do? We yearn to believe that there is more to life than constantly running like a hamster on a wheel. But do we believe that God has the answers for our life? “For nothing is impossible with God.”
Thirdly, God wants to accomplish His purposes through us and that often seems impossible for mere humans to do. John Haggai was credited to have said that we should attempt something so great in life that unless God is in it, we will bound to fail.
It matters not how big or small that task may be. If God tells us to go out and feed a hungry world, is that impossible? If He tells us to make disciples of all people, is that impossible? No task undertaken at God’s command is impossible. God is a God of miracles. God can take a lump of clay and transform it into a diamond. God can take the same lump of clay and fashion into a living human being. Nothing is impossible to God.
—
1 Weatherhead, Leslie, The Will of God, Nashville: The Abingdon Press, 1954, p 34
MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTS
The Future of Learning
In partnership with SkillsFuture Singapore Agency, we aim to encourage individual ownership of skills development and lifelong learning. All Singaporeans aged 25 and above have received an opening credit of S$500. Go to www.skillsfuture.sg to check your credit.
Here are our eligible courses and course bundles you can claim with your credit:
FOUNDATIONAL – First Line Manager / Senior Supervisors
INTERMEDIATE – Middle Management
ADVANCED – Senior Management
Claim with your credit today at www.nexleaders.com/skillsfuture