Discovering What True Power Means in the Christian Faith
Power is something people everywhere strive to obtain. For some, it comes through education and expertise, for others through wealth, leadership roles, fame, or influence on social media. While power can be a force for good, history and current events frequently remind us of Lord Acton’s famous words: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Time and again, we’ve seen how unchecked power in human hands can lead to disaster.
But what if there was one being in existence whose power was truly unlimited—and yet, perfectly pure? In this post, we’ll explore the Christian understanding of God’s omnipotence. We’ll break down what omnipotence means, look at examples from the Bible, consider how Jesus Christ displays this attribute, and see what God’s power means for us today.
What Does It Mean for God to Be Omnipotent?
When we say God is omnipotent, we’re saying He possesses absolute, unlimited power. According to Merriam-Webster, omnipotence is “the state or quality of having absolute power over all,” while the Cambridge Dictionary calls it “unlimited power and the ability to do anything.” Philosophers wrestle with this concept—can an all-powerful being do even the logically impossible? Can there be more than one omnipotent being? If God is all-powerful, does that mean He can do evil, or is His power guided by His character? Some philosophers argue that omnipotence means being able to do anything; others think it means bringing about anything that’s possible. Most agree that even God can’t do what’s logically contradictory, like making a square circle or changing the past. Some argue that God’s moral perfection limits God’s power to do evil, but others respond that having moral limits still allows God to be more powerful than any other being. Despite these philosophical puzzles, the core idea remains: God is all-knowing and all-powerful.
From a theological perspective, God’s omnipotence means He has complete and perfect power, but He cannot do things against His own nature, such as sin, lie, act as a finite creature, or change His eternal plans. Open Theism, influenced by process theology, teaches that God’s power is limited to protect human freedom; instead of controlling everything, God guides and shares power with creation, letting people genuinely affect history. Supporters of this viewpoint say God works together with creation and faces an open future, rather than following a fixed plan, but critics claim this makes God dependent on human choices and less sovereign. The traditional view, held by the Early Church Fathers and Evangelicals, sees God as the all-powerful Creator who actively cares for the universe, always acting according to His character, and establishing a caring, providential relationship with creation. Overall, God’s omnipotence is not permission for impossibilities or immoral acts, but a perfect, holy power working in harmony with divine nature and human freedom.[1]
As Dr. Charles Stanley puts it, God’s omnipotence means, “He can do anything He wants to, anywhere He wants to, anytime He wants to, without any hesitation, reservation, or resistance from anyone.” Moreover, because God is self-existent, God’s power is self-generated and not reliant on anything or anyone.
God’s Omnipotence Revealed in the Bible
The Bible is filled with narratives that showcase God’s limitless power. The opening chapter of Genesis sets the scene: God speaks the universe into existence. Then, in Genesis 2:7, (AMP), we are given more details about how God created the first human. We are told that: “…the Lord God formed [that is created the body of] man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [an individual complete in body and spirit]. Job 26: 7 informs us that “God stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.” We also see God’s omnipotence on display in the account of the worldwide flood in Noah’s day. God caused the fountains of the great deep to break apart, and the windows of heaven to be opened and flooded the entire earth, destroying every human and land-dwelling, air-breathing animal not on the ark. Moreover, God brought all the animals who were to be saved on the ark to Noah (Noah didn’t have to collect them). The Bible informs us that God upholds the universe in an orderly way. This gives us confidence to study things in a scientific manner. As we look at the uniformity in God’s creation, science becomes reasonable. Apart from God, there is no foundational reason to think that the universe should behave in an orderly manner. Hebrews 1:1-3 describes Jesus, the Son of God through whom God now speaks to us and through whom the world was made as upholding all things by the word of His power.
Other examples abound: God controls droughts and rain, as seen in the days of Elijah, and demonstrates power over fertility—enabling one hundred-year-old Abraham and ninety-year-old Sarah to have a son. When foreign king Abimelech takes Sarah, God temporarily closes all the wombs in his household, only reopening them after Abraham’s prayer.
God raises up and removes leaders, performs wonders to deliver Israel from Egyptian slavery, parts the Red Sea, and brings His people safely through while their enemies are destroyed. Each act is a testament to His unmatched power.
The Omnipotence of Jesus Christ
Jesus’ ministry on earth overflowed with demonstrations of divine power. He healed lepers, restored sight to the blind, enabled the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. In response to John the Baptist’s doubts, Jesus pointed to His miracles as proof of His identity (Luke 7:22).
But the ultimate display of Jesus’ power came in what looked like the greatest weakness—His death on the cross. By sacrificing Himself, Jesus took on the weight of humanity’s sin, shame, and guilt, making reconciliation with God possible. The resurrection sealed His victory, defeating death once and for all and giving us the hope of eternal life. In Matthew 28:18, we read that the resurrected Jesus told His disciples that “All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth.” In Philippians 2:9-11, the apostle Paul writes that “God has highly exalted [Jesus] and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
What Does God’s Omnipotence Mean for Us?
After Jesus rose from the dead and met with His disciples, their excitement must have been uncontainable. Yet, before sending them to share the gospel worldwide, Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. He said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8).
On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled the believers, enabling them to speak different languages and reach people from across the world. Peter, once timid, now preached boldly—leading three thousand people to faith in Christ that day. The same Spirit worked through the apostles as they performed miracles and healings, just as Jesus had. For instance, we read in Acts 3:1-10 of Peter healing a paralyzed man and in Acts 9:36-41 we read about Peter raising a woman named Tabitha (Dorcas) from the dead. In Acts 19:11-12 we are informed that “God worked unusual miracles through the apostle Paul so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits went out of them.” We see the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit in this scenario because we read in v13-16 that “when some Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had an evil spirit, saying, ‘We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches,’ the evil spirit in a man answered and said, ‘Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you?’ Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them and prevailed against them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.”
Every Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised that the Spirit would be with us always, guiding and helping us (John 14:16). By His power, we’re able to do far more than we could on our own—sometimes even miraculous things, but always what brings honor to God.
So, how do we live out this reality? It starts with humble surrender: reading and meditating on Scripture, praying, building community with fellow believers, and even embracing suffering as a way to grow. The Spirit empowers us to act selflessly, respond to God’s promptings, and live lives that point others to Him. In other words, the Holy Spirit empowers us not for self-glorification, but for lives that reflect Jesus—lives marked by love, service, and courage.
As children of the all-powerful, loving God, we have no reason to live in fear, no matter what the world throws at us. Instead, we can love boldly and live confidently, knowing that there is no power greater than the God who is for us and lives within us.
[1] Harold, Godfrey, and Cape Town Baptist Seminary. “God’s omnipotence: a literary investigation.” Pharos Journal of Theology 103.1 (2022).
Living Water 