October 2002

Christ:
The Landscape of Life

Part Twenty-six

“LO and BEHOLD”

(J)

“Omnipotence reigns!” [2]

         How many Attributes of God can you identify? Love, mercy, grace, faith, honor, humility, glory and power are but a few. Of these which would you say wields the greatest force and  impact? Most would say that power is the most respected and feared quality in this world of sin and death! However God cannot be subdivided into greater and lesser potency! He is OMNIPOTENT, that is, ALL-powerful and ALL-mighty! This does not just mean He possesses all power- which He does; but that ALL His Being and ALL His Substance, equally express His Power! ALL expressions of our Heavenly Father- even love, mercy, grace and faith, possess the full capacity of His Power!
          Those who have not yet heard or learned this truth, have spawned many misinterpretations and misunderstandings of the Holy Scriptures in today’s world, and imposed considerable chaos in organized religion! Half-truths and seducing speeches may titillate the hungry heart for a time- like being offered tiny canapes after you haven’t eaten for weeks; but they cannot substitute for bread, or fruits and meat! Jesus Christ says, “I AM the Living Bread which came down from heaven; if any man eats this Bread, he shall live forever! And the Bread I give is My flesh which I give for the LIFE OF THE WORLD!” (Jn 6:51) He also says in Jn 15:13, “Greater LOVE has no man than to lay down His LIFE for a friends!” Recently I heard of an organization established by a celebrity called L.I.F.E. which stands for: “LOVE IS FEEDING EVERYONE!” How gloriously relevant to the purpose for which Jesus Christ was sent to earth! By offering up Himself, this Son of Love committed Himself to FEEDING EVERYONE THE LOVE AND LIFE OF GOD!
          Every act of God- from the first Day of Creation, to the last day He rested from His Works- was a manifestation of His Power of Life and Love! Everything God says or does is an outreach of Eternal Life and Love! A dear brother, in a recent sharing, said that for Paul to ever be anything in God, “He needed more than Mercy; he needed...divine enablement”! But the Spirit of the Lord decries this misperception saying the mercy of the Lord, like every expression of OMNIPOTENCE is an equal-opportunity “enabler”! Consider the natural sun: are any of its rays less incendiary, or less combustible than the rest? Isn’t the magnitude of generated heat emitted from that gaseous ball the same throughout? So our God is ONE GOD whose attributes share and yield equal power!!
          It all depends on the particular work being done in our lives!
          Ro 11:32 says, “God shut up all men in unbelief, that He could render mercy to them all!” By this dispensation of Christ’s Mercy, man is “enabled” to believe unto his salvation!”(Ro 1:16) Then Jas 2:20 says, “Know this, O vain man, that Faith without works is dead!” Ro 10:17 adds, “Faith comes by hearing; and hearing comes by the Word of God!” Furthermore, Eph 2:8 says, “We are saved by Faith, through Grace!” Grace is another ray of the “Sun of Righteousness”! (Mal 4:2) We read in Eph 4:7, “Grace is given to every one of us, according to the measure of the Gift of Christ!” Then Ro 3:20-21 proclaims, “All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God; but ALL are justified freely by His Grace, through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus!” To this Ro 5:20-21 adds, “Wherever sin abounded, Grace did much more abound! As sin has reigned unto death, even so, through Righteousness, Grace shall reign unto Eternal Life by Christ Jesus our Lord!” Behold how each facet of God’s Being is interwoven and operates in perfect harmony! What of Love? 1 Co 13:13 says, “For now there abides...Faith, Hope and Love; but the greatest of these is Love!” 1 Jn 4:8 says “God IS LOVE!” So when we read in Jn 3:16-17, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son....not to condemn the world, but that the world, through Him, would be SAVED”...we can only conclude that:

LOVE HAS OMNIPOTENCE [ALL-POWER NECESSARY]
TO SAVE GOD’S LOST WORLD FROM SIN AND DEATH!

[TO BE CONTINUED]