Can God Do Anything
By R. J. Gunter
I came to Christ as a teenager and opposition from the enemy began on a daily basis. For me it came in the form of a high school class mate that I will refer to as Tim. He was an atheist and a self proclaimed persecutor of Christians. He always dressed in black and insisted on sitting across the table from me at lunch in the cafeteria.
Tim bombarded me with questions that forced me to evaluate my faith. I began to identify with Jesus and his long ordeal of being tested by Satan in desert.
“Can God do anything?” asked Tim.
In my zeal to defend the creator of the universe, I quickly said, “Yes.”
“Can he build a wall that is so big he can’t jump over it?”
Without thinking, I again answered, “Yes.”
“Then can he jump over it?”
By that time I realized I was caught in a trap and wondered what Jesus would have said. Tim asked me many questions similar to that and many of them bothered me. Fortunately, I stood firm in my faith and that time of testing eventually passed.
After having a few years to mature in my Christian walk, I finally realized the truth. This may come as a shock to some of you, but there are a few things that God cannot do.
First of all, God cannot do something that is a contradiction. You cannot ask God to build a wall so tall he can’t jump over it, and then ask him to jump over it. The second part of the request contradicts the first part of the request. God cannot do something that doesn’t make sense. Before putting God to a foolish test, we should remember the answer that Jesus gave to Satan during his time of testing in the desert:
Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God’.”
Matthew 4:7 (NKJV)
I sometimes wonder how many of the prayers in our life go unanswered because it contradicts His will, or because it simply doesn’t make sense in light of the plan He has for us. The things we want so badly are sometimes not the best things for us.
The Bible tells us tells us many things that God cannot do. We know that God “…cannot lie” (Titus 1:2). He “…cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone” (James 1:13). In fact, God cannot sin. He cannot do anything that is unholy.
I once attended a baptism where a father was baptizing his young daughter. Just before dipping her under the water, he said, “Is there anything that God cannot do?”
Her answer stirred the Spirit within me: “Yes, He cannot remember my sins.”
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Psalms 103:11-12
“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 43:25 (NKJV)
I don’t know about you, but it comforts me greatly to know that God has a memory problem in the matter of sins that the blood of Jesus has taken away. It also comforts me to know that my Lord cannot break a covenant or any promise he has made:
“…For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
I am thankful to the Lord for the things he cannot do. I am thankful that He can never remember my sins, that He cannot break His promise, that He will never leave me and it is forever so. Even if I were lost in the darkest wilderness, or coldest expanse of space—if I were lost on the deepest sea; then He would find me there and I would not be forsaken. For I know the Lord Jesus promised to be with me always; even to the end.
Copyright © 2008 by Rick Gunter
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