The following is excerpted from The Doctrine Which Ye Have Learned, available at the Courses section of www.wayoflife.org -

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God’s omnipotence refers to His almighty power and His rule over all.

“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect” (Ge. 17:1).

“for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted” (Ps. 47:9).

“But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation” (Jer. 10:10).

“I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me” (Jer. 27:5).

“Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jer. 32:19).

“Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding” (Da. 2:20-21).

“And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Da. 4:34-35).

“The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever” (Ps. 29:10).

“The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all” (Ps. 103:19).

“Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations” (Psalm 145:13).

“For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Ac. 4:28).

“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Eph. 1:9-11).

“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth” (Re. 19:6).

“There is no power but of God” (Ro. 13:1).

God is called “Almighty” 57 times in Scripture, beginning with God’s revelation to Abraham in Genesis 17:1. See also Ge. 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25; Ex. 6:3; Job 31:35; 33:4; 34:12; 37:23; 40:2; Ps. 62:11; 91:1; Isa. 13:6; Eze. 1:24; 10:5; Joe. 1:15. “Almighty” is from the Hebrew shaddai, which means “to be burly, i.e. (figuratively) powerful (passively, impregnable)” (Strong). “Almighty” appears nine times in the New Testament. “We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned” (Re. 11:17). See also 2 Co. 6:18; Re. 1:8; 4:8; 15:3; 16:7, 14; 19:15; 21:22). “Almighty” is the Greek pantokrator which is from pas (all) and krateo (to have strength). It is translated “omnipotent” in Re. 19:6.

That God is almighty refutes every pagan concept of a plurality of Gods. If God is almighty, there can be no other true gods. There are not two Gods, one good and one evil. The devil is called “the god of this world (2 Co. 4:4), but he is not actually God. He has no might except that which is given to him by God, and his might is strictly limited by God.

God’s omnipotence is seen in that He can do anything. “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee” (Jer. 32:17). See also Job 42:2; Mt. 19:26; Mr. 10:27; Lu. 1:37. We cannot begin to understand this, but we can believe it and we can rejoice in it, because the God who can do anything is also a good God who will only do that which is right. The only limit on God’s power is His moral character. For example, God cannot lie (Tit. 1:2) and He cannot deny Himself (2 Ti. 2:13).

God’s omnipotence is seen in that He created the universe from nothing by His spoken Word. “he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast” (Ps. 33:9). See also Ge. 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24; Heb. 11:3; 2 Pe. 3:5. The universe is so large and complex that it is incomprehensible to man. Scientists admit that they do not know how large the universe is, but they know that it is vast beyond comprehension. In 2011, a team of scientists at the University of Oxford led by Mihran Vardanyan estimated that the observable universe is at least 7 trillion light-years across. One light year is about 6 trillion miles (9 trillion km). There are thought to be several hundred billion to 2 trillion galaxies, each galaxy containing billions of stars. The universe is also infinitely complex. Yet God made all of it in one day by His Word, and it did not tax God’s power to create it. He does not faint nor grow weary (Isa. 40:28). God charged the universe with power from His infinite resources. Consider our sun, the source of energy for our earth. It is a nuclear reactor that converts hydrogen into helium. Consuming 657 million tons of hydrogen each second, it produces 386 billion, billion megawatts of energy each second or 6.4 billion Horse Power (HP) (“The Young Sun,” creationstudies.org). There are trillions of suns in the universe, and all of that inconceivable power is of God. This is omnipotence. God formed the earth and its complex, interrelated eco systems, such as the oxygen cycle (plant life using carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, while animal life takes in oxygen and breathes out carbon dioxide) and the water cycle (vaporization, buoyancy, condensation, precipitation, soil permeating, distribution) and the pollination system (75% of the earth’s flowing plants require pollination, and each requires a specific type of pollinator or pollination mechanism) and the fungi-root (myco-rhizo) system (one thimbleful of healthy soil contains several MILES of living fungal filaments that interact with plants). This is omnipotence. God formed the living creatures and man himself from the dust of the ground (Ge. 2:7, 19). John the Baptist said that God can make a man from a stone (Mt. 3:9). This is omnipotence.

God’s omnipotence is seen in that He rules over all things and controls all things according to His will and purpose. He is Lord over all. “But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased” (Ps. 115:3). See also 1 Sa. 2:6-8; 1 Ch. 29:11-12; 2 Ch. 20:6; Job 9:12; Ps. 29:10; 62:11; 103:19; 135:6; Pr. 16:33; 21:1; Isa. 14:27; 46:9-10; 47:2; La. 3:37; Da. 2:20-22; 4:34-35; Ac. 17:24, 26; Eph. 1:11. God’s omnipotence means that God is Head over all, reigns over all, is King of kings and Lord of lords. “Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all” (1 Ch. 29:11-12). “... the Lord sitteth King forever” (Ps. 29:10). “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Ps. 46:10). “For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth” (Ps. 47:2). “For God is the King of all the earth” (Ps. 47:7). “... for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted” (Ps. 47:9). “The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all” (Ps. 103:19). “For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth” (Isa. 47:2). “And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings...” (Da. 2:21). “... he is Lord of heaven and earth” (Ac. 17:24, 26). He is “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” (1 Ti. 6:15).

God’s omnipotence means that God is the source of all authority. Men think that power comes from inheritance, family ties, human networks, wealth, education, science, politics, and force. Mao said, “Power comes from the barrel of a gun.” He knows better now. “For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God” (Ro. 13:1). “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God”(Ps. 62:11). “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Ps. 75:6-7). “By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth” (Pr. 8:15-16). “I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me”(Jer. 27:5). “And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (Da. 2:21). “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (Da. 4:32). “the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will” (Da. 5:21). “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever” (Mt. 6:13). “Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above” (Joh. 19:11).

God’s will and power cannot be withstood. “And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?” (2 Ch. 20:6). “Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?” (Job 9:12). “But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased” (Ps. 115:3). “Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places” (Ps. 135:6). “For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” (Isa. 14:27). “I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isa. 46:9-10). “Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?” (La 3:37). The Bible teaches that there is a sense in which God’s will cannot be resisted (as we have seen), but there is a sense in which God’s will can be resisted. The Holy Spirit’s testimony and conviction can be resisted (Ac. 7:51). The truth can be resisted (2 Ti. 3:8). Man can only operate his will against God within the parameters that God has ordained. He can reject salvation (Ac. 13:46), because God has sovereignly purposed that the gospel be preached to all men and that “whosoever believeth” shall be saved and whosoever believeth not shall be damned (Mr. 16:15-16; Joh. 3:15-18, 36; 12:46; Ac. 10:43; Ro. 9:33; 10:11; 1 Jo. 5:1). God wills that all men repent and commands all to repent (Ac. 17:30; 2 Pe. 3:9), but He warns that those who do not repent will perish (Lu. 13:3, 5). Obviously God has given men liberty of will whereby they can believe or not believe, repent or not repent. By this men are not thwarting God’s will, they are fulfilling God’s will. Throughout the Bible we see that God has ordained that men have a certain freedom of will that can be exercised against Him and for which they are accountable, but God’s eternal purposes cannot be withstood by men or devils. No one and nothing will ever overthrow God from His throne or stop His eternal plan from being accomplished.

God omnipotence means God controls life and death, riches and poverty. “The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up” (1 Sa. 2:6).

God omnipotence means God is in control of the nations, of their times, of their rulers; He has appointed the bounds of their habitation. He is the great King over human history. Every history book must be interpreted from this perspective. “... for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted” (Ps. 47:9). “God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Ps. 75:7). “And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings...” (Da. 2:21). “... he is Lord of heaven and earth, ... And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation” (Ac. 17:24, 26). “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing” (Isa. 40:15).

God omnipotence means God is in control of the hearts of kings. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will” (Pr. 21:1). We see this throughout the Bible. God gives kings a measure of liberty to make decisions and they are responsible to Him for their decisions. But God is in ultimate control. God said to Pharaoh, “And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth” (Ex. 9:16). Toward this end, God overruled Pharaoh’s very heart. “And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so” (Ex. 14:4). We see this in the case of the Persian king Cyrus. “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom” (2 Ch. 36:22). We see this in the case of the kings of the last days who will support the antichrist. “For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled” (Re. 17:17). All rulers, past and present, are instruments in God’s hand. They make decisions by their own wills, and everything they do is not God’s will, but everything they do is under God’s ultimate control toward the working out of His eternal plan.

God omnipotence means God has power over every turmoil on earth, regardless of how great. “The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King forever’ (Ps. 29:10).

God omnipotence means God is in ultimate control of every event on earth. “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father” (Mt. 10:29). “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD” (Pr. 16:33). God gives men a measure of freedom to act out their own wills, but He remains in control. See also Ps. 36:6; 104:28-30.

God omnipotence means God is working all things together toward His eternal purpose in Christ. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Ro. 8:28). This is one of the greatest descriptions of God’s almighty power. It tells us that every detail of men’s lives, all men, all at once, are under God’s ultimate knowledge and control. He knows what men are planning and what they will do and what effect that will have on everything, and He has all things under control! God’s eternal plan is revealed in Ephesians 1: “Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Eph. 1:9-11). This is the great divine plan of the aions or ages or times. This is the plan which God purposed in Himself before the worlds were made. It is the plan purposed by and carried out by the eternal Triune God. To this end God made the first creation, the angels, and men; God allowed Satan’s rebellion and man’s fall; God allowed Cain and his seed to act out their own wills for 2,300 years; God destroyed the antediluvian world by a global flood and saved Noah and his family to repopulate the earth; God allowed the rebellion at Babel but confounded the tongues and scattered the nations; God made Israel as the preparation for the Messiah; God made the Church as an eternal trophy of His grace; God will Rapture the Church from the world and will bring the day of the Lord upon the nations; Israel will be converted and Christ will return and establish a one thousand year kingdom; God will judge the unsaved and cast them into the lake of fire; and God will make the New Heaven and the New Earth in which all things will be in Christ, all will be submitted to Christ, all will be like Christ. That is the dispensation of the fulness of times. This is the glorious plan that God has been working out in human history over the past 6,000 years, and nothing can stop it. The power and wisdom required to work all events everywhere together for God’s ultimate glory is too high for man to comprehend, but it teaches us how great and omnipotent God is. This is implied in Philippians 4:6, which exhorts the saint to be careful or anxious about nothing, but rather to pray about everything. In a world filled with trouble, the command to be careful about NOTHING is a far-reaching matter, and it teaches us that there is an all-knowing, all-powerful God who is in ultimate control in every situation and who can be trusted implicitly.

God’s omnipotence is seen in that He upholds all things by His power (Heb. 1:3). Compare Col. 1:17, “by him all things consist.” “Consist” is sunístemi, “from sun, together with, and histemi, “to place together and here to cohere, to hold together” (Robertson’s Word Picture), “to set together, to put together, to constitute” (Strong). “The concept is dynamic, not static. ‘All things’ is ta panta, the totality, the universe considered as one whole. Nothing is excluded from the scope of the Son's sustaining activity. The author pictures the Son as in the first instance active in creation and then as continuing his interest in the world he loves” (Frank Gaebelein). Christ upholds the atoms and the unseen elements. He upholds the laws such as gravity and thermodynamics. Scientists are searching today for the “God particle,” the fundamental element of the universe, that which holds things together. Man will never find this in a particle accelerator or an electron microscope, because it is not a particle or a thing at all; it is the living Creator God. Henry Morris, Ph.D. in hydraulic engineering, said, “The atomic structure of our very bodies is being held together by mysterious nuclear forces or binding energies that keep the atoms from disintegrating into chaos. Scientists do not yet understand such energies or their origin—they merely name them. The fact is that we (and all things) are being upheld by the out-radiating energy of the Son of God” (Henry Morris Study Bible). Christ upholds the great forces of the universe that keep the stars and planets in their proper spheres. In the words of Job, Christ commands the morning, binds the influences of Pleiades, guides Arcturus (the constellations), and knows the ordinances of heaven (Job 38:12, 31-33). This describes Christ’s control of the intricate movement of the sun and the earth and the vast galaxies. Christ upholds the eco systems that allow life to exist on earth, such as the water cycle and the oxygen cycle and the “interconnectedness between soil, microbes, plants, pests, and human health.” The Bible teaches that God is in direct control of “nature.” He controls snow, light, lightning, rain, ice, frost, water, clouds (Job 37:6, 9-13; 38:19-30, 34-35). See also Am. 4:7; 5:8; Jon. 1:4; Na. 1:3. God sustains the living creatures. He fills the appetite of the young lions and provides the raven his food (Job 38:39-41). See also Ps. 50:11; 104:27-28; 145:15-16; 147:9; Mt. 6:26; 10:29. Christ not only created all of these things by His great wisdom and power; He intimately upholds them. He is directly and perpetually involved in the creation. Christ upholds life itself. “He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things” (Ac. 17:25). “In him we live, and move, and have our being (Ac. 17:28). “In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:10). Life is not in DNA, which is a chemical element. The “living cell” is alive because of Christ, who is “the life” (Joh. 14:6). God breathed life into the first man, Adam, and he became a living soul (Ge. 2:7). Well does the redeemed saint sing, “This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears, all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres. This is my Father’s world; I rest me in the thought, of rocks and trees, of skies and seas, His hand the wonders wrought. This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise, the morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise. This is my Father’s world; He shines in all that’s fair; in the rustling grass I hear Him pass, He speaks to me everywhere” (“This Is My Father’s World,” text by Malthie Babcock, music by Franklin Sheppard).

God’s omnipotence is seen in that Satan is subject to Him (Job 1:12; 2:6; Lu. 22:31; 1 Jo. 4:4). Satan is called “the god of this world” only because most men follow him (2 Co. 4:4). Satan is merely a fallen angel. He is on God’s tether. When God is finished with Satan, he will be bound for a thousand years and then cast into the lake of fire (Re. 20:2, 10).

God’s omnipotence is seen in that He restrains man’s evil according to His will and even man’s wrath will ultimately result in His praise. “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain” (Ps. 76:10). We see this in Joseph’s life. God was in control of the troubles that Joseph endured at the hands of his brothers and by the Egyptian authorities, and everything worked for God’s glory (Ge. 45:4-8). We see this in Pharaoh. His rebellion to God merely set the stage for a display of God’s almighty power (Ro. 9:17). We see this in Israel’s unbelief in refusing to enter the promised land (Nu. 13:13-33). God used this to provide 40 years of examples for His people in the book of Numbers (1 Co. 10:1-11). We see this in Israel’s rejection of Jesus. This became the means of salvation for the Gentiles (Ro. 11:11). We see this in the wickedness of Babylon the mother of idolatry (Jer. 51:7). Babylon was a cup in the Lord’s hand to make the nations mad in their idolatrous rebellion. We see this in Christ’s crucifixion, which was done according to God’s determinate counsel for the redemption of God’s creation (Ac. 2:23; 4:27-28). God took the most evil act in man’s history and turned it to man’s salvation and God's glory. As the hymn writer said, “The very spear that pierced Thy side, drew forth the blood to save.” We see God’s omnipotence in His control of the “mystery of iniquity” (2 Th. 2:6-8). Throughout the church age, the devil has been endeavoring to place his man on the throne of this world, but his program has been restrained by the omnipotent Spirit of God, and the devil’s program will be restrained until God is ready and God’s plan for the church age is accomplished. We see God’s omnipotence in the day of the antichrist when the whole world is under the rule of evil and yet God is in ultimate control in the midst of the terrible darkness. “For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled” (Re. 17:17). God’s omnipotence does not excuse men from responsibility for evil. Pharaoh perished in his rebellion. The generation of unbelieving Jews perished in the wilderness for their unbelief. Of Judas Jesus said, “Woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born” (Mt. 26:24). God gives men freedom to make choices; their choices are important and they make a difference; and they must give account for those choices; but God is in ultimate control of all things toward the working out of His purpose (Ro. 8:28).

God’s omnipotence is seen in that He knows infallibly what each saint can handle and He controls life’s experiences with this in mind. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Co. 10:13).