WHAT CAN GOD DO?

One of the more interesting debates within the philosophies asks the question “Can God make a rock that God cannot lift?” and thus in one fell swoop claims to shatter peoples belief in God, a god, or any supreme being.

My answer to this rather childish and ridiculous question is “He already has.”.  You see, in the person of God the Father, as described by the Bible, God has created all the rocks, not only on planet earth, but in the entire universe.  And he holds them in the palm of his hand (singular).  God, being God, holds all of creation together at once in the palm of his great hand.  However, God, in the person of Jesus Christ, also as described in the Bible, chose to limit himself to the form of a man and as a man, chose to limit himself to that human form which could not, and did not, lift the great mountains and hills that He created.

The rather childish question that the philosophers ask fails to recognize and understand the very nature and being of God.

But it does raise an interesting line of reasoning, that of “What can God do?”  You see, God, being God, is supreme in everything He does.  And He is limitless, and nothing is beyond his reach or his capability.  Whether or not he would (or could) chose to violate his very nature is another matter all together.

A much more interesting question the philosophers might ask (if they were actually serious about theology that is) is “Can God tell a lie?”  I would contend that the answer to that question is “No” (rather emphatically).  You see, God as the very embodiment of truth is incapable of misrepresenting that truth.  Because anything that proceeds out of God is truth by its very definition.  He is, after all, God.  And who can disprove God?  No one can, ergo, God is truth.

However, God can (and as a matter of fact did) create the father of all lies, Satan.  God, knowing full well that lies and mistruths would enter His creation (both spiritual and physical) still chose to create the angel Satan and thus allowed lies to come into being.

Why would God do this?  Why would the very embodiment of truth allow that which is not true to come into being?  You have read many times on this blog my references to Dr. Ravi Zacharias.  I had the great pleasure of hearing Dr. Zacharias speak on one occasion where he told a story of a lady in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. who suffered from a rare disorder that resulted in all of her nerve endings being dead.  She literally felt no pain.  At all.  Of any type.  And he told of the extremely careful and protected life she had to live.  She had to be careful in sports because she had no mechanism of distinguishing an injury.  She had to be careful when she cooked a meal because if she got close to a stove or a hot cooking utensil she had no warning mechanism to alert her if she was about to be burned (or if she had accidently burned herself).  When most people get to close to a hot flame, they have a tendency to pull away before they are burned.  Not so with this young lady.  Dr. Zacharias told of speaking with her mother and how she had told him that she prayed to God that her daughter would experience even one day of pain.  A very strange prayer for any mother.

Think about all the mothers in the world who pray that their sons and daughters would have their pain taken away.  And yet here was a mother whose daughter had no pain and still she prayed that God would give her pain.

I believe that God knows he could create any utopia he wanted to.  But without pain, how would we ever appreciate joy?  Without lies, how would we ever strive for the truth?  Without death, how would we ever appreciate life?

The fact that God did choose to create things that are the antithesis  of his very nature allows us to explore and learn his true nature like would never be possible without it.

Another more interesting question philosophers might ask is “Can God create another God greater than himself?”  And once again I would say “No” rather emphatically.  However, Jesus Christ himself said “Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?” (John 10:34-36).  Indeed, scripture tells us that one day the elect of the Lord will rule with him, alongside him.  We will be like him, but we will not be him.  God, by his very nature is God, how can he then go back and undo himself by creating something greater than himself?  He cannot.  Yet, God is infinite in all that he does.  He has created an infinite universe (something the evolutionists struggle with), and he has created family, us, mankind, and would allow us to take our place alongside him created in his own image.

Philosophers who ask silly questions about what God can and cannot do are not in pursuit of a Holy, Supreme, All Knowing, all Present, All Powerful, God.  Rather they are playing games within the very creation itself that God made and holds in the palm of his hand.  The true theologian will seek out God on terms that bring meaning and understanding to the very nature of God and to understand our relationship to him.

The next time you consider what God can or cannot do, may I suggest you ask yourself two questions in light of God’s capabilities (or lack thereof)?

The first would be “What can God do for me?”  That is a much more reasonable and personable question to ask.  I hope you find that God can love you as only God can love and that God can save you and keep you for all of eternity in his precious hand.

The second question would be “What can I do for God?”  And that is a very pointed and personal question that may very well lead to your own personal understanding of God.  Because I hope that you find you can seek after him, learn of him, know him, and give yourself to him.  For all of eternity.  Worship him.  Love him.  Allow him to sustain you.  Believe in him in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  Those are the pursuits that bring understanding to the question the philosophers ask and seek to mock the very existence of God with.

WHAT CAN GOD DO?  Anything God wants to do for His Honor, and for His Glory, and for His Praise, forever, and ever, and ever, amen.