We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded by your direct support for ReKnew and our vision. Please consider supporting this project.

photo-1422513391413-ddd4f2ce3340

Is God All-Powerful?

I want to answer yes and no. God is all-powerful in the sense that God originally possessed all power. Before Creation, God was the only being who existed, and thus had all the power there was. He could do anything, and nothing opposed Him.

But with the creation of free creatures, I maintain, God necessarily surrendered a degree of His power. Or perhaps it is better to say God delegated some of His power. Our freedom is a little piece of “controlling power” lent us by God. In order to allow creatures to be free, then, God voluntarily gives us a portion of His power, and thereby surrenders His opportunity to “always get His way.” I don’t think it could be any other way, for freedom must entail that the free person can decide his own way—and it may not agree with God’s way. It is utterly impossible for God to be always in control and yet allow free beings to exercise some control. Thus, to the extent that God “lends” power away, He no longer utilizes it.”

However, what’s important to realize, is that this “surrender” of control is completely a voluntary act of God. If there is “limit” on God’s power, it is only there by His decision, not some power outside of Himself. If God at some point can’t do something (e.g., rid the world of a particular evil), it’s only because He decided to create a world in which there would be times when He could do nothing. Only if some power outside God limited God could He properly be said not to be omnipotent (all-powerful). Thus, in my view, God is in essence all-powerful, though He now chooses not to be. And the reason is because He desires a creation which is capable of love, and thus “must be free (have some “power” of its own).

A related question is: Is God in control? Again, yes and no. Since it is God Himself who delegates how much power each creature has, God is, in this sense, “in control.” He determines the parameters of our freedom within the flow of history which He directs, and in this sense God is always “in control.” For this reason there is absolutely no chance that God could ever lose this “cosmic battle.” As much power as Satan has, the ultimate purpose of God—to have a creation which shares love with Him—is never threatened.

However, God does not control each particular individual, for each person must be to some extent free. Hence, within the limits set by God, an individual may purpose to do things which are utterly at odds with God’s ultimate purpose. Thus, when an individual inflicts pain on another individual, I do not think we can go looking for “the purpose of God” in the event. Of course, God allowed the event to occur because His ultimate purpose includes having free agents, and this freedom must be irrevocable. But to “allow” something and to “purpose it” or “cause it” are two very different things.

While God has given humanity and other spiritual beings a great deal of freedom, He has not come close to surrendering all control to them. He is, even in this present still the most powerful being, even if He does not, by His own decision, exercise all power. God still exercises the dominating influence in the world, and He only knows what this world would be like without His constant, holy influence.

—adapted from Letters from a Skeptic, pages 57-60

Image by Josh Felise

Related Reading

How God is Glorified

Peter wrote, “[God] has given us … his precious and very great promises, so that through them … [we] may become participants of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4). With the coming of Christ, God has made a way for us to participate in the triune love that is the “divine nature.” We see this…

Does the Open View Undermine God’s Sovereignty?

A common objection to the concept of a risk-taking God is that it seems to undermine God’s sovereignty. If any particular individual can opt out of God’s plan, then every individual could conceivably opt out of God’s plan, and it seems that God’s entire plan for world history could ultimately fail. Some have argued that…

Is Longing for Justice Inconsistent with Love? A Response to Paul Copan (#3)

In a paper delivered at the Evangelical Theological Society in November, Paul Copan spent a good amount of time arguing that aspects of the NT conflict with the understanding of love that I espouse in Crucifixion of the Warrior God (CWG). For example, Copan cites the parable Jesus told in Luke 18:1-8 about a widow…

The All-or-Nothing of Kingdom Living

Nothing is more central to the kingdom of God than agreeing with God about every person’s unsurpassable worth and reflecting this in how we act toward them. Nothing is more important that living in Christlike love for all people at all times. In fact, compared to love, nothing else really matters in the kingdom. In…

Open2013 Speakers (Video)

Here’s all of the videos of the speakers and their Q&A’s from Open2013. Unfortunately, there was a mix-up and we didn’t get Jessica Kelley’s presentation taped. We’re working to get her to speak again so we can get that to you. Thanks for posting this on youtube T. C.! And now, without further ado… Greg…

Topics:

What is the significance of Ezekiel 33:13–15?

“[W]hen I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered…he will die. But when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness, if a…

Topics: