The All Powerful God

Written by Corporal Nathan Chan of 10th Kuala Lumpur Company

“Our God is an awesome God. He reigns over Heaven and Earth with power...”

Every week we have a session of bible study during our respective company meetings. We often hear that God is powerful and almighty, and that we can depend on Him no matter how big a problem we have. Yet we wonder, exactly how powerful is God? And how can we actually rely on Him?

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16-17 NIV)

God has power over nature. We see Jesus calm the storm with a single word. We see Him cause a fig tree to wither. We see Him heal so many sick. Nature itself declares the presence of a intelligent creator. He created nature, so why shouldn't He be able to control it?

Yet if He can control nature, why are there so many natural disasters. Earthquakes, tsunamis, eruptions, landslides... The list is pretty long. Does God even have the ability to prevent such things from happening? Yes He does. In fact, sometimes God uses them as punishment for sins.

Yet not all natural disasters are punishment. Instead they are a reflection of the sins of humanity. When we sin, we affect everything around us - the people by our side, the objects around us, and even the world we live in. Everything on earth is influenced by sin, and thus subject to decay and deterioration.

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:19-21 NIV)

God has power over Satan. Yes, Satan is a powerful being. He was able to tempt Eve to disobey God directly. In Job, he was able to simply approach God and accuse someone of being insincere with God. When Jesus was on earth, He met a woman “crippled by a spirit [namely Satan] for 18 years”. Yet as powerful as Satan was, Jesus only had to put His hand on her and she was healed. Satan could only inflict boils on Job because God let him.