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Showing posts with label nature of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nature of God. Show all posts

April 17, 2012

What God Can't Do

A Consideration of God’s Sovereignty
By Tony V. Hammack
Abundant Life Today Media
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Things Contradictory to the Nature of God;
*for God to lie
*to sin
*to die


God cannot lie
Numbers 23:19
“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

1 Samuel 15:29
“And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”

Malachi 3:6
“For I am the Lord, I do not change.”

Romans 3:4
“Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar.”

Titus 1:2
“In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.”

Hebrews 6:18
“It is impossible for God to lie.”

James 1:17-18
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

God cannot sin
James 1:12-13
that God is not tempted by sin, nor does God use sin to tempt anyone else.

Psalm 92:15
“To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”

God’s Sovereignty
God is an omnipotent being who can do anything that is logically possible and is consistent with his other attributes.


God prioritizes His word above His name
Psalm 138:2 (NKJV)
2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

In the Bible the name of a person is inclusive of their character so what God is saying here is that His activity in the Earth is bound by His character and even more than His character, He’s bound by His own word. (Because He can’t lie!)

God has exalted His word above His character. In this next example, we’ll see how God’s character includes justice and a need to judge sin. However, His word has limited His own character in the area of judgment.

Genesis 9:15-17
15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” 17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

So now a question can be posed. Can God destroy all life on the world again with a flood?

Yes and No. Yes he can, but he never will so in some ways the answer is no.

Well, if it were possible for God to lie, he could destroy the world again with a flood. So technically if God could lie He’s definitely got the power to unleash a flood again, however, He’s chosen not, and said so, therefore in some senses of the word God cannot do this now.

We’ve learned so far that God can’t lie, He can’t change His nature, He can’t die and He can’t flood the world again destroying all life.

God is bound to His character and His word. If He says it will be a certain way; it’s that way.

Some say God is in control of everything that goes on in the world. Others say that Satan is the God of this world. I would like to make the argument that mankind is in delegated control of the Earth. The battle for control of the Earth is being fought in the hearts of men.

If you’re going to say God is in control of everything that goes on, you’re saying God allows, by not intervening, some very ungodly things to go on.

  • Starvation of Children
  • Murder
  • Rape
  • Injustice

If Satan is in control how can there be any good in the world?


2 Cor. 4
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Amos 3:7
Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
Why?

Does God need or desire to flow through mankind? Can it happen if a prophet doesn’t declare it?

Spiritual Authority
It would seem that God prefers to operate through human beings on the Earth (save Judgment) when He intervenes in the affairs of mankind.

Ephesians 1:18-23
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

When the eyes of our hearts are enlightened we

  • Know the hope to which He has called us
  • Know the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,
  • Walk in the revelation of his incomparably great resurrection power and dominion establishing power for us who believe.

I believe there are many in the Body of Christ who do not have their eyes open to the glorious inheritance they have in the saints!

  • The hope we’ve been called to
  • Hope of the resurrection of the dead
  • Hope of a victorious life
  • Glorious Inheritance

Matthew 25:34
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

Hebrews 9:15
For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

Don’t sell your inheritance with immorality or Godlessness

Hebrews 12:16
See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.

Walking in Divine Authority

At first glance Ephesians 1:18-23 may seem like it’s all about the Lord Jesus and His positional authority. However, the way the passage is laid out, it ties the body to the head or the Church (you and I) to Jesus. So because Jesus has this authority, so does the believer. You have to believe!

Ephesians 2:6
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Conclusion
Jesus Christ, the second Adam, has overcome the enemy and thus re-established authority for the Church to exercise over the remaining dominions of darkness on the Earth.

Let’s pray, declare, decree and work so the Kingdom of God will be expressed on Earth as it is in Heaven!




Visit with us at Jubilee Family Church this Sunday at 10:15 AM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) and Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) If you can't be with us in person please visit via internet video on Jubilee T.V.
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Jubilee Family Church
45 Thunderbird Dr.
Batesville, AR 72501

(870) 793-9124

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