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Emphasis Mine In Bible Verses
God's Omnipotence
The word omnipotence means having unlimited or universal power, authority, or force; all-powerful. As a noun the word power means the ability or capacity to do something
Although the word itself isn't used, from beginning to end the Scriptures speak of the omnipotence of God. A few examples include,
But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. (Psalms 115:3 NASB)
Then Job answered the LORD and said, I know that You can do all things, And that no plan is impossible for You. (Job 42:1-2 NASB)
Even from eternity I am He, And there is no one who can rescue from My hand; I act, and who can reverse it?” (Isaiah 43:13 NASB)
All the inhabitants of the earth are of no account, But He does according to His will among the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can fend off His hand Or say to Him, 'What have You done?’ (Daniel 4:35 NASB)
God's power is nowhere more evident than creation
Oh, Lord GOD! Behold, You Yourself have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, (Jeremiah 32:17 NASB)
He sets the boundaries of the seas. As He asked Job,
...who enclosed the sea with doors When it went out from the womb, bursting forth; When I made a cloud its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling bands, And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, And I said, 'As far as this point you shall come, but no farther; And here your proud waves shall stop'? (Job 38:8-11 NASB)
An incident very similar to Jesus' miracle of the feeding of the five thousand occurred in the Old Testament. When, with very selective memory, the Israelites in the wilderness bemoaned their diet of manna and lack of meat the Lord was very displeased at their lack of gratitude and shortsightedness. However...
Now a wind burst forth from the LORD and it brought quail from the sea, and dropped them beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side all around the camp, and about two cubits deep on the surface of the ground. (Numbers 11:31)
The Father brought down numerous plagues on Egypt when the Pharaoh refused to let His people go (Exodus 5-12)
Even Satan was restricted from physically harming Job
Then the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not reach out and put your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD. (Job 1:12 NASB)
So the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.” (Job 2:6 NASB)
In the Old Testament He was instrumental in causing Sarah to have a child
Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” (Genesis 18:14 NASB)
Not only was Jesus conceived of the Holy Spirit,
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; (Luke 1:30-32 NASB)
but her relative Elizabeth who considered infertile and too old to have a child became pregnant with a son - John the Baptist.
And behold, even your relative Elizabeth herself has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called infertile is now in her sixth month. "For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:36-37 NASB)
Jesus
As God incarnate Jesus' power was seen in the miracles He performed. He calmed storms (Mark 4:37-41), healed numerous people, fed five thousand with five loaves and two fish (Matthew 14: 15-2. Also See Numbers 11 above) raised Lazarus and Jairus' daughter from the dead (John 11:38-44; Mark 5:35-43).
He also resurrected Himself from the grave.
When Pilate told Jesus that he had the authority to release or crucify Him, Jesus reminded Pilate that he would have no authority over Him at all had it not been given to him from above; (John 19:11 NASB)
The Challenges
One of the challenges to the idea of an omnipotent God is the oft repeated is "If God is all powerful why doesn't He put an end to all evil and suffering?" The charge being - if He could do away with all evil but doesn't, He is Himself evil. On the other hand if He cannot do away with evil He is not all powerful. See The Problem of Evil
And then of course there is the equally common "Can God create a stone so heavy that He cannot move it?"
Unfortunately, questions like these leave many Christians stuttering. They believe that their Heavenly Father is in control but not always being able to provide a logical and sensible answer to these questions gives the atheist the impression that the belief in an omnipotent God is unfounded.
So if God is omnipotent is there anything He cannot do? In summary the answer is yes.
What God Cannot Do
There is much a God of unlimited power cannot do for two reasons.
1.) He cannot go against His own nature
2.) He cannot violate the law of non-contradiction.
1.) God Cannot Go Against His Inherent Characteristics
Gods omnipotence means that He cannot do some things because of who He is. Everything He does has to be in keeping with His nature. For example, He cannot fail, lie, cheat, steal, sin, be wrong or mistaken, cannot go back on His Word etc, In other words, His sovereignty can only be exercised in accordance with His other attributes.
Take for example, His Holiness
Holiness
As an example, one of God's the primary attributes is holiness. The prophet Isaiah's vision of the "Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up" with His train filling the temple was accompanied by the cry of the seraphim who called out to another saying
"Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory." (Isaiah 6:3 NABS)
Revelation 4:8 tells us that
"the four living creatures never cease saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy Is The Lord God, The Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come."
In both cases the world 'holy' is repeated three times because it indicates strong emphasis.
Thus God's absolute holiness makes it impossible for Him to do evil, cause another to do evil, or even tempt anyone to do evil.
Tempting Others
James 1:13-14 says
No one is to say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. (James 1:13-14 NASB)
However, the King James version does say someone was tempted by God.
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt (Heb. nâsâh) Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. (Genesis 22:1 KJV)
Nâsâh has nothing to do with tempting to sin but means to test or prove. This s why more modern versions say "God tested Abraham". He was testing Abraham's faith and obedience.
Similarly the KJV faulty translation of nâsâh in other places leads one to believe that God can be tempted.
And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not? (Exodus 17:7 KJV)
Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; (Numbers 14:22 KJV)
Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. (Deuteronomy 6:16 KJV)
But a very different picture emerges when nâsâh is correctly rendered.
Then he named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us, or not?” (Exodus 17:7 NASB)
Certainly all the people who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, (Numbers 14:22 NASB)
You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah. (Deuteronomy 6:16 NASB)
In each case God was not being tempted to do evil - He was being provoked - His patience tested. In spite of numerous demonstrations of His foreseeing care and providence they were not willing to wait on Him to meet their needs but were demanding that God prove His love for them by giving them what they wanted in the here and now.
During Jesus' long fast in the wilderness Satan, quoting Psalm 91:11-12, "tempted" Him to cast himself from the pinnacle of the temple. He told the Savior that God would give his angels orders to lift Him up so that He would not injure Himself in the slightest.
Jesus' reply was to quote Deuteronomy 6:16 (above) telling Satan "it is written: 'you shall not put the Lord your God to the test."
Temptation Comes From Within
Temptation is the wish to do or have something that you know you should not do or have
When James said God doesn't tempt anyone he added "each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust".
It is our own desires that lead us astray
God was not tempting Adam and Eve to sin when He told them not to eat of a particular tree. Eve was tempted by the idea of not dying and being like God - knowing good from evil and being wise.
The serpent said to the woman, "You certainly will not die! "For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:4-6 NASB)
And not much has changed from that day to this. The idea of becoming god is at the heart of Mormonism. Much of the New Age movement teaches the same thing
Can God create a stone so heavy that he cannot move it? In other words, what happens when an immovable object meets an irresistible force?"
Can God make two plus two equal six?
2.) God Cannot Violate The Law Of Non-Contradiction
Here are a couple of examples of inane questions
The absurdity of these question should be apparent to all but are apparently not
When we assert that God is omnipotent we are talking about His power. These questions may seem to deal with "power" but are actually are actually asking if God can bring about a logically contradictory state of affairs.
The answer is no because power has nothing to do with it. An irresistible force and an immovable object cannot exist together in the same universe without creating a logical contradiction. This means two or more propositions within an argument cannot be true and false at the same time. Simply put - Power cannot bring into being a contradictory state of affairs.
And one has to ask exactly how much 'power' would it take to make two plus two equal six.
These absurd questions do not show that God does not have infinite power. Omnipotence has never meant what the detractors say it means - i is not the same as 'capable of anything'. Although God is neither limited by space or time, He can only do anything that it is logically possible for power to do and is consistent with his other attributes.
In summary, omnipotence does not mean that God can do anything, but it means that He can do with power anything that power can do. It is restricted to the realm of things that are logically possible and does not include anything self-contradictory. He cannot cause past events to have not occurred. He cannot make a shorter distance between two given points than a straight line. He cannot make a square a circle. He cannot cause an apple to be red and blue at the same time etc.
It is far more logical to say it cannot be done, rather than God cannot do it."
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