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This miniseries about what God is able to do is relevant to every human being alive on our planet! However, the fact that I in particular am writing this series is also relevant. What enables me to write about or to know what God is able to do? Why should you believe anything I say about God, His character, or His actions? What special insight do I possess that would prompt anyone to even consider my thoughts on the matter?

First off, I disavow the possession of any privileged information, or any special insight into the heavenly realm that is not commonly available to anyone else through the Scriptures. What I know on the subject, anyone can know through a diligent and prayerful study of God's word. The absolute and ultimate source of all spiritual truth is God Himself and He has revealed and confirmed that truth via prophets and messengers long since dead. If I or anyone else cannot cite biblical truth when we speak of God, we ought to hold our tongues and still our pens until such time as we are willing to allow Him to speak for Himself through His word!

Secondly, the previous paragraph implies that if God is limited at all, He is not limited by what I say; neither is he limited by what any other person says about Him. To put it bluntly, if every person under the sun joined hands with every other person and determined to influence or affect God's abilities, they would have no effect upon Him except as He permitted such to happen! In other words, as human beings we only have influence in the heavenly realm because He permits it. God exists in a separate and inapproachable sphere except as He grants access. Nothing can be more humbling that this recognition and it should cause us to fall to our knees in gratitude for the exalted privilege of speaking to or of Him!

What can God do? Answer: Anything He wills to do! What limitations are imposed on Him? Answer: If by imposed we mean put upon Him by an outside force, absolutely none! If by imposed we include self-imposed limitations, the answer becomes only those limitations that are implied by His righteous character and the fact that He is the ultimate source of all truth and correct reasoning. Since God is all powerful, can He create a rock so big that He cannot lift it? This is a foolish question which ignores the statement just made! God is truth and can do nothing that violates the principles of truth such as think or act in a self-contradictory manner. To state this as James did, God is “... the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1.17). There is simply no variation, nor even a hint of alternation or variation in Him or His righteous truth!

Therefore when we as frail human beings begin to speak of God, the language we use and the reverence we display ought to befit such a discussion! Like Moses of old, when we come into the Lord's presence, we walk on holy ground and should be impressed with the obligation that such an occasion demands! We return to previous affirmations: God is able to do anything that He wills to do, and He is limited only by His righteous character and truth. This implies that He cannot lie (though Paul expressly listed lying as one thing which God is incapable of doing; see Titus 1.2). It is also implied that He cannot do anything that violates His revealed will or which infringes upon that which He has previously said.

God is not a man (Numbers 23.19) and He is not limited as a man! God is God!

Questions:

1. Can any man know God apart from God’s revelation of Himself? Why or why not?

2. Can God vary in any way from His righteous character? Can He lie? Can He be unjust?

3. Why can God not act in a way that is opposed to reason and truth?

4. Why should we approach God in awe and reverence? When Moses said God was not a man, what was his point? When we say, “God is God!” what is implied by that statement?

"Today's Little Lift" from Jim Bullington

Comfort in Isaiah II (12-14-10)