It cannot be bought. It cannot be perverted. It cannot be misused. God wields His power as the Father of the fatherless and the protector of widows, orphans, and outcasts. The One who binds up the hearts of the broken-hearted. This is ultimate power.

God has often been said to be “omnipotent,” meaning, literally, “all-powerful,” “almighty.” If you listen to Handel’s “Hallelujah” chorus, it’s the most repeated line: “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”

But someone raises the question, Is God really omnipotent? Can God make a rock so big that He can’t lift it?

Ohhh, clever. If you say yes, then it sounds as if you’re denying God’s omnipotence, because you’re saying He can’t lift it.

But if you say no, then again it sounds as if you’re denying His omnipotence, because you’re saying He can’t make a rock that big.

It’s trying to be a “gotcha.” But it’s based on a misunderstanding of what God’s omnipotence is. Does omnipotence mean God can do literally anything—anything at all?

Well, you can certainly line up individual Scripture verses which seem to support that idea. In the Old Testament, for example, Job says to God: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

In Luke 1:37, the angel Gabriel says to Mary, “Nothing will be impossible with God.”

In Matthew 19:26, Jesus says to His disciples: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

In fact, you could take any verse which refers to God as “almighty,” because it’s saying the same thing: God is all-powerful.

It certainly sounds like God can do anything He wishes. But does that mean God can go against His own character? No. God cannot—and I’m very glad of this fact—be unjust, or lie, or act with evil intent. He’s not all-powerful if by “all-powerful” we mean “able to do things which go against the goodness of His nature.”

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