Monday: Pantokrator
Daily Lesson for Monday 17th of February 2025
Throughout Scripture, God’s amazing power is made manifest. The Bible includes countless narratives of His exercising His power and working miracles. And yet, despite this, many things happen that God does not want to happen.
Read Revelation 11:17, Jeremiah 32:17-20, Luke 1:37, and Matthew 19:26. Consider also Hebrews 1:3. What do these passages teach about God’s power?
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These texts and others teach that God is all-powerful and that He sustains the world by His power. Indeed, Revelation repeatedly refers to God as the “Lord God Almighty” (for example, Revelation 11:17; compare with 2 Corinthians 6:18, Revelation 1:8, Revelation 16:14, Revelation 19:15, Revelation 21:22) and the word translated “Almighty” (pantokrator) literally means “all-powerful.” The fact that God is all-powerful is not only affirmed in words but also manifest in the many amazing instances in which God uses His power to deliver His people or otherwise miraculously intervenes in the world.
However, to say God is “all-powerful” does not mean that God can do anything whatsoever. Scripture teaches that there are some things God cannot do; for example, 2 Timothy 2:13 declares, God “cannot deny Himself” (NKJV).
Accordingly, most Christians agree that God is all-powerful (omnipotent), meaning that God has the power to do anything that does not involve a contradiction—that is, anything that is logically possible and consistent with God’s nature. That some things are not possible for God because they would involve a contradiction is apparent in Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane. While Christ affirmed that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26), He also prayed to the Father as the crucifixion neared, “ ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will’ ” (Matthew 26:39, NKJV).
Of course, the Father possessed the sheer power to deliver Christ from suffering on the cross, but He could not do this while also saving sinners. It had to be one or the other, not both.
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Scripture also teaches that God wants to save everyone (for example, 1 Timothy 2:4-6, Titus 2:11, 2 Peter 3:9, Ezekiel 33:11), but not everyone will be saved. What does this fact teach about the reality of free will and the limits of God’s power with beings granted free will? |
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Luke 9 makes for interesting reading. It starts off with Jesus giving the disciples power to cast out devils and heal people. Then he sent them off to work. They made an impact. It even rattled the halls of the captains and the kings.
After they returned from their missionary experience it was almost immediately followed with another demonstration of miraculous power. Jesus fed the five thousand using five loaves and two fishes.
Just over a week later, Jesus took Peter James and John to the top of the mountain where they met Moses and Elias. That must have been a truly mind-blowing experience. On top of that they heard the voice of God!
Luke says:
And then they went to a Samaritan Village that "received him not". In other words they met with some opposition. Flushed with their experience of the power of God, James and John wanted to use that power and drop a heavenly napalm bomb on the rebellious village. That would show them the power of God and teach them a lesson. Nobody would question the power of God after that.
But Jesus rebuked them:
And that pretty much describes the limitation of God's power.
The Bible firmly states that God is Almighty (all-power). However, there are incidences where God decides not to intervene or delay His action. Below are a few such incidents and the lessons that can be learned.
1. The fall of man (Genesis 3) – God allowed Adam and Eve to exercise their free will. God knew the outcome but did not intervene. God respects free will and He does not compel obedience. He desires a loving relationship and not coerced submission.
2. Job’s suffering (Job 1-2) – God allowed Satan to torment Job. God wanted to provide Job with a refined understanding and revelation of Him. Suffering provides an opportunity for our spiritual growth.
3. The story of Joseph (Genesis 37-50) – God allowed Joseph to through terrible experiences to bring His divine plan to fruition. God at times delays his intervention because his timing is the best and He can turn evil for good (Genesis 50:20).
4. 400 years of suffering before God’s intervention (Exodus 2:23-25) – Good allowed the Children of Isreal to suffer in Egypt before God sent Moses to deliver them. God could have brought deliverance much earlier, but God had His divine plan. Who counsels God when to intervene? Our God is sovereign.
5. Arrest and crucifixion of Jesus (Matthew 26-27, John 19) – God allowed his begotten Son to suffer, but He decided not to intervene in order to execute the divine plan of redemption. We need to submit to the will of God which is superior to our will.
6. Paul’s thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-9) – Paul prayed to God to intervene, but God did not take away the affliction. However, God provided Paul with the strength and courage to endure. God’s grace is sufficient to carry us through the challenges that we face.
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing” – James 1:2-4 (NLT).
This truth powerfully illustrates the reality of free will—that God, in His love and justice, does not coerce salvation upon anyone. While His grace is available to all, He does not override human choice. The fact that some reject salvation despite God’s desire for all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) shows that true love requires freedom—the freedom to accept or reject Him.
It also reveals the self-imposed limits of God’s power when dealing with free beings. He is sovereign, yet He has chosen to honor human agency. His omnipotence is not diminished; rather, it is expressed through His willingness to allow people to make their own decisions—even if it means rejecting Him (Ezekiel 33:11).
This paradox—God’s universal offer of salvation and humanity’s ability to refuse it—demonstrates that love cannot be forced, and true relationship with God must be a choice. Free will is both a privilege and a responsibility, carrying eternal consequences (2 Peter 3:9).
Almighty, all-powerful, God is omnipotent. Yet, He cannot deny Himself. Neither force anyone to believe in Him. May we be instruments for His glory.
God’s power is truly awe-inspiring, as He created the universe with just His word, sustains all life, and orchestrates everything according to His divine will. Yet in His majesty, He grants us free will—allowing us to make our own choices. This freedom highlights His love and trust in us, as He desires a genuine relationship built on our willing response, not forced obedience. The beauty of free will is that, even with the ability to choose wrongly, God offers redemption and grace through Christ, showcasing His infinite mercy alongside His great power.
Hmm.. Does God have free will? Or is he constrained to acting purely in Love? Since Love is His character absolutely, can He act against Love? Is this free will then? Just something to think about. Please reply with your thoughts. I am very interested to hear them. Thank you and God Bless the Seventh-day Adventist church.
A very interesting question that you pose, Kenneth. I believe that indeed God has freewill and he uses it to show mercy and grace to his fallen creation. He could have taken out the celestial "eraser" when Adam and Eve failed in Eden, and blotted our world out of existence. However, God had a plan. In Noah's day when he was sorry that he made man, he could have wiped out all life including Noah and his family. God chooses to exercise mercy and grace because he is love. He chooses to mingle mercy and grace with his justice because he is love and has a plan. It seems that Satan has been trying to get God to come totally unhinged and totally blot out sin and sinners from his creation, but God has a plan. He is not capricious nor indifferent in dealing with the existence of evil in his creation. Calvary reveals God's plan, mercy, grace, justice, truth, and love. I don't see God as working outside of the parameters that he has established for his creation, therefore, I believe that he most certainly operates from freewill for that is what he gave to all created beings. His freewill is governed and directed by his character of love. Everything that God does is a manifestation of his love and righteousness, even when he has to exercise "tough love" and exercise judgment.
I would say He has free will, but within the bounds of His character. If He went against that nature, would He be God? But I don't see it as God being forced to act a certain way. It is His desire to be this way too. It's a paradox for humans that one day we will understand better.
I have been studying the healing of the leper in Matthew 8 for the last little while and it hit me that Jesus said He chose to heal the leper (or was willing, depending on the translation). That was something that stood out to me as it shows God has agency. He isn't a robotic God who just "has to" act. He chooses. It's His nature to love, forgive, and so on, but He chooses this too.
Thank you. I am beginning to understand this paradox more with your help. So, maybe it is such that God exercising His free will and acting in Love is exactly what creates that Love – the loving action. And much like us, if He were forced to love it would not be love at all. So maybe that is one of the ways we were created in His image. Pondering these deep questions is one thing that keeps me in contemplation of His character and drives me to seek more fully my knowledge of my Creator and Lord. I appreciate all of you, as well as this forum, and the opportunity to explore these greatest and most important issues as we use all our hearts and minds to love Him.