COMMUNITY GROUP/FAMILY AND DAILY STUDIES BASED UPON OUR PREACHING SERIES AT COMMUNITY CHURCH PUTNEY
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COMMUNITY GROUP/FAMILY STUDY
COMMUNITY GROUP/FAMILY STUDY
Just imagine
if you could do anything that you wanted or could conceive of. This is the kind
of thrilling idea that drives people to try to get rich with it’s deceptive
offer of freedom of the will. In this study we will be looking at God’s
infinite power and ability to carry out everything that He so wills.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR GOD TO BE OMNIPOTENT?
‘The
power of God is that ability and strength whereby He can bring to pass
whatsoever He pleases, whatsoever His infinite wisdom may direct…’ (S.Charnock)
God had
promised that Abraham’s descendants would be 'like the dust of the
earth’ (Gen. 13:16). But having
waited a quarter of a century they still had no children and Abraham was now
ninety-nine!
Ø Now God comes to them again. How does He
reassure them in Genesis 17:1? In particular, what does He name Himself?
It’s the
weak, the waiting, the worrying, who need to hear that God is Almighty! We are
weak but He is strong!
Ø How does God reveal Himself to Moses in Exodus
6:2-3?
This meeting
happened after Moses seems to have failed as Pharaoh refuses to let the
Israelites go from slavery, ordering them to make bricks without straw. ‘The LORD’, means, “I am who I am” and speaks of His unlimited, infinite, omnipotent
and present nature.
Ø How was this revelation to encourage Moses?
LET’S RESPOND TO WHO GOD IS
Ø Read Isaiah 42:12-15. How does or should an
awareness of God’s infinite power inspire us in our worship and our lives?
Ø Read Romans 4:18-21. A conviction of God’s omnipotence gives us deep hope
in God, even if we are weak. How does such faith effect our praying?
As we
finish studying the power of our God, a good question to ask ourselves is that
which the LORD asked Abraham and Sarah, as they doubted God’s power to give
them and child in their old age,
"Is
anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis
18:14)
GOING DEEPER PERSONAL DAILY STUDIES
Monday: God rules over all things
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Wayne Grudem summarises God’s sovereignty under 3 headings: ‘God is continually involved with all created things in:
1. Preservation-Keeps things existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them
2. Concurrence-Cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do
3. Government-Directs them to fulfil his purposes’
Tuesday God is ruler or is ruled
Daniel 4:34-35 His dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”
Only two alternatives are possible: God must either rule, or be ruled; sway, or, be swayed; accomplish his own will, or be thwarted by his creatures. Accepting the fact that he is the "Most High", the only Potentate and King of kings, vested with perfect wisdom and illimitable power, and the conclusion is irresistible that he must be God in fact, as well as in name. (A W Pink The Sovereignty of God)
Wednesday: God’s will of Command (Revealed will)
God has revealed much of His will in the bible in the form of teaching and commands. Often called ‘God’s will of command’. This can be defied; for example the first of the Ten Commandments,
Exodus 20:2-3 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.
We all break this command; we violate God’s will, incurring just condemnation which required the death of Christ to gain our redemption.
Tuesday: God’s will of Decree (Secret will)
Another form of God’s will is ‘God’s will of decree’. This is God’s plan for all things (including people’s free choices). God wills (decrees) many things that we don’t know about. For example, if you are a Christian it is because God willed it. None of us, however, know whom God has predestined. All that happens in local and world politics, is ultimately governed by God. God’s will of decree cannot be defied. His omnipotence and sovereignty work together to perfectly fulfil all that God wills.
James 4:15 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
Ephesians 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.
Thursday: God’s permissive will
God’s Permissive will is that by which He allows people to make free choices, even evil, whereby they are responsible. Yet, all things are still under God’s rule as He allows and uses them for His ends. A good example of this is as both God and Pharaoh are presented as hardening Pharaoh’s heart.
Exodus 4:21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. (7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17)
Exodus 7:14Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. (7:13, 14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34, 35; 13:15)
God hardened his heart in permissively allowing Pharaoh to act; Pharaoh also did it as he chose to act according to his tyrannical heart. God is in control no matter what. The end of the story is that God’s people are released from slavery.
Friday: God redeems our mistakes
It’s easy to wear our mistakes like scars. They become a permanent part of our identity with debilitating power over us. God the omniscient ruler knew and made provision for all of your mistakes. Their condemning power is nailed to the cross and its negative consequences are being used by God for good and bring Him glory; to say otherwise is to dethrone God and give the devil a foothold. Peter’s denial is a good example,
John 13:37-38 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
Peter’s worst day has become riches for us as every struggling and failing Christian find hope of restoration in this failure.
Saturday: Let’s act because God reigns
A weak understanding of God’s sovereignty will render us passive as we wait for God to act. God’s reign is designed to cause us to prayerfully take action, trusting that He will lead, empower and make clear when we are taking the wrong path. It is Jesus’ authority that is the source of our confidence for mission and everything else.
Matthew 28:18-20 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
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