The power of God is that ability and strength whereby He can bring to pass whatsoever He pleases, whatsoever His infinite wisdom may direct, and whatsoever the infinite purity of Hi will may resolve.…As holiness is the beauty of all God’s attributes, so power is that which gives life and action to all the perfections of the Divine nature.
How vain would be the external counsels, if power did not step in to execute them. Without power His mercy would be but feeble pity, His promises an empty sound, His threatenings a mere scarecrow. God’s power is like Himself: infinite, eternal, incomprehensible; it can be neither checked, restrained, nor frustrated by the creature. [Stephen Charnock, as quoted by A. W. Pink]
The power of God is not only the demonstration of God’s authority; by it God not only affirms His right to reign and rule, but the power of God is also a tremendous source of blessing and grace in the life of the believer.
Paul gives evidence of this fact in his own life:
- The power of God was the source of his message and preaching (1 Cor 2:4-5; this truth is affirmed in multiple places in Paul’s letters)
- Discipline and authority in the kingdom of God is not founded on the words and position of men, but on the power of God (1 Cor. 4:19-20)
- The so-called “foolish” message of the gospel is to demonstrate that the transformation that is wrought in the lives of believers is due only to the power of God and not the wisdom of Paul or of any man (2 Cor. 4:7)
- All of ministry and its difficulties — afflictions, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, sleeplessness, hunger — is sustained by the power of God (along with the Word of God and the Spirit of God, among other truthful realities; 2 Cor. 6:3-7).
- Weakness became a joy to Paul so that through it the power of God might be revealed (2 Cor. 12:9)
- All of Paul’s spiritual teaching and labors were in accordance with the power of God (Col. 1:29)
As one writer notes, “Everything Paul did was in the power of God, and in the power of God there was nothing within the Lord’s will that he could not see accomplished. That same power works in us by the presence of the Spirit.”
Yes, in His power God is authoritative and sovereign; but through His power He manifests in the life of the believer all His grace and kindness. His power is the source of the demonstration of His kindness to us. Give thanks this day that He is able and strong to carry out all His kind purposes towards us who believe.
Words of Grace 