Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
according to his work.
(Psalm 62.11-12 ESV)
God’s word is sure, certain, and cannot fail
David the psalmist mentions two things that belong to God: power and steadfast love. But why would he say once God has spoken and twice he has heard? It is because God’s word is sure, certain, and cannot fail. So, I like the way the New Living Translation puts it. It says God has spoken plainly and I have heard it many times that power and unfailing love belong to God. This morning I want to announce to you that power belongs to God.
What is power?
For the purpose of our study, I will bring out two meanings of power. It is the ability or strength to perform an activity or a deed. It is the ability to do something or act in a particular way. It is the capacity to act. It is also the ability or capacity to produce effect. Thus, saying power belongs to God means God has the ability and strength to perform. He has the capacity to act and produce an effect. So, we are reminding ourselves that the God we serve has the power and the capacity to do whatever he wants to do and there is nothing in his will that he wants to establish that he cannot establish. In fact, whatever he has said he will do, he has the capacity and ability to do.
God is the source of power
God is the source of power. Every power belongs to him. What we mean by that is that he is the source of power. While all other persons depend on other things for power, God does not depend on anyone or anything. He is the omnipotent one, the all-powerful God who does not just have power but is power. So, we can say that power belongs to God by which we mean he is the source of power.
So, the scriptures have enough proof that God is powerful, and that he is power. 1 Chronicles 29.11-12 says,
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. (ESV)
This is buttressing the point that God is not just someone who has power, but he is the omnipotent.
Further, in Revelation 19.1 it is written,
After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God” (ESV)
Two facts about the power of God
We need to understand that we serve a God of power. There may be other gods but power belongs to our God. In my walk with the Lord, I have observed these two things about the power of God.
1. God’s power is infinite
The first is that his power is infinite. It is limitless. It is endless. It does not have a size—it is impossible to measure or calculate this power. The infinite power of God means that there is nothing that is called impossible with God because his power does not have any limitation.
I remember in the scriptures when the centurion came to Jesus to tell him his servant was sick and Jesus said he would come and heal him but the man protested that Jesus did not need to come. He knew the word of Jesus carried power so it was enough for him to just speak the word and his servant would be healed. The God we are serving is a God of power and this power has no limit and cannot be defined. Wherever you are, may the power of God touch you. The power of God can break through every situation.
2. Our weaknesses are not barriers to the power of God
The second thing I have observed about the power of God is that our weaknesses are not barriers to it. As human beings we may have our own limitations and weaknesses but our limitations as human beings cannot be barriers to the move of the power of God. I remember Abraham and his wife Sarah about whom the Bible says he knew his body was weak and he himself considered it as good as dead.
Sarah was old and advanced in years and the way of women had ceased to be with her. So, when she heard the angel say she was going to have a son in a year’s time, she laughed. What she didn’t know was that the power of God goes beyond your weakness and limitation. As you hear me, I pray in the name of Jesus that you will begin to encounter the power of God.
The limitless power of God was demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus
In the resurrection of Jesus, we see the power of God mightily demonstrated. When Jesus died and was buried and the devil thought everything was over, Jesus came back to life gloriously and majestically. In this resurrection of Jesus, we see the power of God demonstrated mightily.
1 Corinthians 6.14 says there was a kind of power that went into the grave and brought Jesus out. It broke through the grips of the evil one and the grips of death and brought Jesus out. In the resurrection of Jesus, we see the mighty demonstration of the power of God.
The great power of God lives in us
The good news is that that same power dwells in us. The Spirit of God lives in us. He comes to live in us with that power. The Sprit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. The Spirit is the power and the power is the Spirit. I came to remind you to take your position as a man of power for the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you and, just as he raised Christ from the dead, he will give life to your mortal body. If any part of your body is dying, may that spirit of power that lives in you bring life to your body. Thus, the child of God is not an ordinary person nor a weak person but a man or woman of power. The Bible says you shall receive power when the Holy Ghost comes upon you and you shall be witnesses. We serve a God of power whose power cannot be defined. His power transcends your human weakness. As you believe in him and give yourself to him, he comes to live in you.
We have been called into a kingdom of power
God has called us into a kingdom of power. Our king is powerful and since he is, the kingdom in which we find ourselves is not a weak kingdom but one of power. So, when you accept Jesus as Lord and savior, you are translated from a kingdom of darkness to one of power. You may have a weapon and not know how to use it but I want you to know that the whole of the power of heaven lives in us and what is left is for us to take authority and dominion and begin to exercise the power we have. With this power we should never walk in fear for we serve the God who has given us the power. With this power, we can begin to take the nations for Christ.
Exercise the power
Today, I want us to spend some time exercising the power God has given to us. Let us speak into the atmosphere. Let us lift our voices and begin to change things in the atmosphere.
Main references
Psalm 62.11-12, 1 Chronicles 29.11-12, Revelation 19.1