God’s Infinite Power
An all-creatures Bible Message

God’s Infinite Power
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
21 October 2018
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Job 38:12-33
Psalm 104:1-9

God’s infinite power is so far beyond anything we could achieve that we should never question it, but unfortunately at one time or another we believe that we all have done it.
 
If we ever doubt that God can do anything He chooses, including saying, “No!” then we are guilty of saying that God’s power is not infinite, but limited.
 
Many people get angry with God for letting a loved one die, but as we discussed previously, Job accepted the fact that God can give and that He can also take away, for His purposes and not for ours.
 
We are taught in the Bible that we are to love the Lord our God with every aspect of our being, which would include the whole of His creation, which includes every other human being, every other animal, and the world we all live in.
 
So, if we don’t love God in that way, then we are also doubting that God’s power in really infinite.
 
Job got angry with God, because of all the things that had gone wrong in his life, and in so doing he was really denying God’s infinite power, so as we look at Job 38:12-33, we see part of God’s answer, or rebuke of Job; let’s take a look.

12. "Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,
And caused the dawn to know its place;
 
13. That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
And the wicked be shaken out of it?

Of course Job couldn’t do this, and neither could any of us, because it’s God’s infinite power that established all of these things, when He created the heavens and the earth.

14. "It is changed like clay under the seal;
And they stand forth like a garment.
 
15. "And from the wicked their light is withheld,
And the uplifted arm is broken.

Unfortunately, from time to time, because of the evilness in the world, God does allow the forces of evil to prevail so that the people would return to the Lord and reject the forces of evil that continually corrupt creation.
 
The world is like this today, but the bulk of the people have not returned to living in the heavenly will of God, instead they have continued to live in the corrupt and evil ways of this world, which led to all the warring madness and killing that is causing millions of humans and billions of animals to suffer and die every year, so the suffering and death continues.
 
But even in the midst of this evil, there is always a remnant of people who follow the heavenly will of God, but we need to do even more; we need to live this way boldly and speak out as witnesses to the rest of the world around us, so that others will hopefully follow our examples and return to God with their whole being.

16. "Have you entered into the springs of the sea?
Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?

God is asking Job all these questions about nature and the things that happen upon the earth that He knows Job has seen and wondered about so that he would recognize God’s infinite power.
 
It really doesn’t matter if Job or we agree with everything that God does, but that we come to the point of acknowledging that God knows more than we do, and that He knows what He is doing and has a reason for it as well as the power to accomplish it.

17. "Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

We all have some experience with death, and we know that it occurs when the life forces within a body leave it, but we don’t really know what happens to those life forces such as our souls and spirits.
 
It is here that we must rely on our faith.
 
Furthermore there is no difference between the deaths of human beings and the deaths of other animals, for God created us as living beings with souls and spirits.

18. "Have you understood the expanse of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.

We are learning more and more about the earth every day, but no matter how much we learn, we will never be able to answer all the infinite details including where the physical laws came from, and we always will have unanswered questions with the only conclusion that it all came from God.
 
To us, this is proof of God’s infinite power.
 
And with all of this, we have still not learned to care for and protect this earth from harm including the millions of humans and billions of animals who suffer and die every year from our fellow humans’ lust for flesh and power.

19. "Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
And darkness, where is its place,
 
20. That you may take it to its territory,
And that you may discern the paths to its home?
 
21. "You know, for you were born then,
And the number of your days is great!

We may be able to answer more of these questions than Job, but none of us were there when God created the heavens and the earth.

22. "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

23. Which I have reserved for the time of distress,
For the day of war and battle?

We may know more about the weather than Job, but we have not learned to live as peacemaking children of God, but instead most people seem to prefer living in the corrupt and evil ways of the devil with all the violence, bloodshed, pain, suffering, and death that has plagued the earth since before the time of Job some 4,000 years ago.

24. "Where is the way that the light is divided,
Or the east wind scattered on the earth?

This is all part of God’s infinite power that He used when He created the heavens and the earth.
 
Then God returns to asking questions about the weather.

25. "Who has cleft a channel for the flood,
Or a way for the thunderbolt;
 
26. To bring rain on a land without people,
On a desert without a man in it,
 
27. To satisfy the waste and desolate land,
And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

Obviously no one can do this except God, but our pollution of our environment is causing or at least increasing global warming and intensifying adverse weather conditions.

28. "Has the rain a father?
Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

Again, it’s our Father who is in heaven, and God’s infinite power set all these systems in motion so that they react to harmful situations.

29. "From whose womb has come the ice?
And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

Obviously it’s God; however, if we keep increasing our air pollution with carbon dioxide and methane, we could shut down the Atlantic Ocean conveyer and trigger another ice age.

30. "Water becomes hard like stone,
And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

This can happen if we trigger another ice age.
 
Then God asks Job and us questions about the cosmos,

31. "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,
Or loose the cords of Orion?
 
32. "Can you lead forth a constellation in its season,
And guide the Bear with her satellites?
 
33. "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens,
Or fix their rule over the earth?
NASB

Obviously neither Job nor any of us can do any of these things; they all depend upon God’s infinite power.
 
In Psalm 104:1-9, we hear God’s infinite power being praised.

1. Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD my God, Thou art very great;
Thou art clothed with splendor and majesty,
 
2. Covering Thyself with light as with a cloak,
Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.

This is an example of God’s infinite power, and we need to remember as we are told in John 3:16 that “God so loved the world,” and not just humans; He also loved the other animals, and the world we all live in.

3. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;
He makes the clouds His chariot;
He walks upon the wings of the wind;
 
4. He makes the winds His messengers,
Flaming fire His ministers.

The word for wind, “roo-akh,” is the same as breath or spirit that God created in us and all the other animals.
 
And I can’t help but think that there is more to our understanding of the use of the word roo-akh than meets the eye at first glance; the whole of creation came from the spiritual realm and was made physical, and does this mean that everything that God created contains His spirit?
 
Perhaps!
 
And if this is true, then whenever we cause any pain or suffering to any other human being or to any other animal, or to the environment in which we all live, then we are likewise causing God to feel that same pain and suffering, which is a total betrayal of the way that God created us to be.
 
We are to be His peacemaking children, who live in the heavenly will of God, and who take a stand against the evil ways of this corrupt world.

5. He established the earth upon its foundations,
So that it will not totter forever and ever.
 
6. Thou didst cover it with the deep as with a garment;
The waters were standing above the mountains.

The psalmist is referring to the great flood or perhaps to the time of creation before the continental plates pushed up the continents and mountains, and as they rose, the space in between became the valleys and great depths that now contain the oceans.
 
Is this what we are told next?

7. At Thy rebuke they fled;
At the sound of Thy thunder they hurried away.
 
8. The mountains rose; the valleys sank down
To the place which Thou didst establish for them.
 
9. Thou didst set a boundary that they may not pass over;
That they may not return to cover the earth.
NASB

Is this also the covenant that God established with humans and animals after the flood?
 
We believe so!
 
We need to think more spiritually and less physically.
 
The ways of the Lord are spiritual, and the ways of this corrupt and evil world are physical, and we all need to rise above the physical.
 
We need to be the peacemaking children of God that we are called to be, and in this capacity we need to do everything in our power to free creation from its present corruption.
 
And we believe that when we live and act from the heavenly realm, we are also utilizing part of God’s infinite power to help accomplish our goals.
 
Amen?
 
Amen.

Return to: Sermons Archive