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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Describe God? No man can! Yet there are many descriptive phrases in the Bible which speak to some of His attributes or aspects. Today’s message addresses one such passage. Abraham had dealings with God which are chronicled in the Old Testament, some of which are repeated in the New Testament. Paul wrote somewhat extensively about Abraham in the book of Romans; one descriptive phase describing God is contained in the focus text of today’s message.
“For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations"’) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’” (Romans 4.14-18).
The passage of interest is “…God, who gives life to the dead and calls things which do not exist as though they did.” This text deals with several aspects of God, the most notable being His omnipotence. God is able to do more than humans can even imagine! In fact, He is the source of all power [energy] and as such, possesses more power than the combined energy contained within the entire universe. This statement is absolutely mind boggling when one begins to contemplate this reality. Think of the energy of the sun as well as the energy of a hydrogen bomb; multiply those two powerhouses times one another and then multiply the product by a billion-billions and you will not have begun to approach the might of Almighty God. He is the God who gives life to the dead and calls things which do not exist as though they did.
The psalmist addressed this same attribute when he wrote, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” (Psalm 33.6-9). God brought every aspect of the physical universe into existence by the word of His mouth. From nothing (physically) came everything! The act of creation of something from nothing is a Divine act; it cannot be duplicated by mankind.
Beyond God’s ability to create something from nothing is His ability to give “life to the dead.” In fact, life as we know it is wholly the product of God’s handiwork. Moses wrote, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2.7). The inanimate became animate at God’s behest. Not to belabor the point, but man cannot do that! One of my favorite hymns says, “Secure, is life from mortal mind, God holds the germ within His hand; though men may search, they cannot find, for God alone does understand.”
Questions:
1. How does Genesis 1 and the creation show God’s great power?
2. Why can man not create something physical as God did? Are there “laws” that prohibit such?
3. When did man become a living being?
4. What is the “germ within His hand?” Is it true in this arena that “God alone does understand?” Why or why not?
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