God's Power in the Bible

It would be amazing if we could control the material world by ordering it to do what we want. Dinner dishes, be clean! Food, be prepared and cooked! Garden, be weeded! Corn, be harvested! Book report, be written! Car, go instantly to our destination!

It would also set the stage for colossal conflict. Football/soccer fans of one team would say, “Ball, find the net!” The fans of the other team would say the opposite! Farmers would say, “Rain, fall!” while picnicking people would say,” Sun, shine!” Chaos would reign. We are not ready to possess such power. God couldn’t trust us with it.

Only God has such power. When He willed it, the Red Sea parted to allow the Israelites to pass through it (Exodus 14), and the Jordan River dried up during the flood stage so they could cross it (Joshua 3:14–17). Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth!” (from the dead), and he did and walked among the living (John 11:43 KJV).

These are a few demonstrations of God’s power in the Bible. There are many others. God repeatedly manipulated the environment and His creation to benefit people and fulfill His good purposes.

Arguably, by contrast, mankind’s greatest power is the ability to destroy, not create. On October 30, 1961, the Soviet Union detonated a hydrogen bomb weighing almost 60,000 pounds equivalent to 50 million tons of TNT. It was ten times more powerful than all the non-nuclear bombs combined that exploded during World War II. It destroyed wooden houses one hundred miles away from the detonation altitude of 13,000 feet above ground.1

The Bible teaches that far more people are on the wrong than the right road (Matthew 7:13–14). They dwell in the dominion of darkness under the devil’s control (Colossians 1:13). His purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). No wonder people excel at destruction.

As a child and teenager, my impression was that my major Christian responsibility (I was not yet a Christian) was to “go to the altar” to accept Christ as my Savior and attend church services. I did both.

My responsibility was listening to Sunday school teachers, youth leaders, and preachers teach me about Christianity, but their talk didn’t change me. I later discovered some of them were living in sin while they were instructing me. The church was something I attended (a building), not something I was (a part of Christ’s body on earth by grace through faith).

So how does God’s power in the Bible change how we live? Are we like some of my instructors who immersed themselves in a Sunday morning performance, dried off, and lived the rest of the week as they pleased?

“For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power” (1 Corinthians 4:20 NLT). Where is it evident that we are living by God’s power?

“Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT). See https://www.christiangrowthresources.com/his-power-for-your-weakness

Living the Christian life is living by God’s power—the power of the Holy Spirit to be like Jesus (Galatians 5:22–23), to serve God and others with the spiritual gift(s) the Spirit has given (1 Corinthians 12:1), and to do the good things God planned for us long ago (Ephesians 2:10). See additional free spiritual growth resources for Christians. #discipleshipresources #evangelismresources #christianleadershipresources 

1.     Tsar Bomba - Nuclear Museum

See free spiritual growth resources for Christians at https://www.christiangrowthresources.com.

God has empowered me to write “His Power for Your Weakness—260 Steps Toward Spiritual Strength.” It’s a free evangelistic, devotional, and discipleship eBook. Pastors have used it in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to lead more than 3,196 people to Christ and teach the basics of Christianity to 9,019 people. I invite you to check it out. 

https://www.christiangrowthresources.com/his-power-for-your-weakness  

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