Does Jesus have omnipotent and unlimited power?

I have already given reasons, from biblical perspectives, why I believe that Jesus had a beginning and entered time or “this side of eternity”, when He became part of the world He created. That happened when He was “slain from before the foundations”.

It means He crossed the margin between time and eternity and I postulate that the increments in space-time were such that he dwelt just in time, where yesterday almost coincided with today, and time moved almost infinitely slowly. That brings perspective to "a day is as a thousand years".

Well, whatever, I can’t prove that. All I know is that Jesus is called the ancient of days, has a white beard and logically had a discrete beginning as “the son of” God.

Now to another outlandish idea. I don’t mind if you disagree. I am battling with the idea as it is and I tackle it with all due care and reverence.

The postulate is that Jesus does not possess infinite power

In relativity, light is deemed the universal constant, because the power needed to even approach the speed of light would reach infinity and that in turn would require a machine and fuel of infinite or near-infinite mass. Everything breaks down at that point.

It so happens that the first evidence of creation was light. Could that have defined, from the outset, a constant that perfectly sums up Jesus. He is the light of the world and, as such, He is also the divine constant, the metronome that marks out the notches of divine advancement.

Revelation 5:1-3 describes a book with seven seals. Those seals initiate seven distinct epochs. It uses mystical language, so I am not going to get into it too deeply.

However, what is notable is that only the lamb of God, Jesus, could open those seals. In other words only He could usher in the dispensations that resulted.

That makes Him the divine constant. Time, as we know it, is marked relative to our frame of reference, but would differ for someone, say, at the center of the Milky Way.

Well, by that argument there is no such thing as absolute time, until our reference is externalized and set outside of the universe. But Jesus stood at the margin between time and eternity to become that universal absolute, the ultimate standard.

Now to whether Jesus has infinite power. Well, if light was laid down as the standard and if Jesus is that standard, then by that argument we cannot breach that limit and nor could He.

To do so would upend all the laws of this universe and God has never done that. It would require infinite power, which is self-defeating if the constant of light and its impact on space time is finite. Infinite power would be self-contradicting.

Is He powerful? No doubt. But is He omnipotent, as in of infinite power? Maybe not.

Let’s observe empirically then. Firstly, He raised an army of warrior angels to defend Zion and to watch over the saints. There is also evidence of war in heaven, which clearly was not simply decided by a divine wand. Indeed it demanded a very challenging resolution.

Further, does He order the weather, the formation of stars, the orbit of our planet and so on? No. They are all delegated their own autonomous prerogatives, bound by the laws of matter.

Thus the universe is changing on its own, without any further intervention from its creator. That is also supported in scripture. In Genesis 1-2, the Creator concluded the creation by ceding all ownership of it, because He could not judge what He could manipulate.

As such, in His infinite wisdom, the Creator, recorded in Colossians 1:16 as being Jesus, did not attempt to hold everything subject to His whim. He let it all be and created self-sustaining systems, like the body, the family, the church, the weather and so on.

Now, why would He delegate any of that if He can keep it running Himself? Well logically He can’t for the reasons given, as then His death would have been a contrived sham.

Proof of that lies in the image of God independently validating His cross by “looking away” and by assessing  the sacrifice only in terms of the law, not in deference to His son.

So whether He simply cannot, to ensure the objectivity of His redemptive work, or has limited capacity to do so, either way is satisfied by the notion of “limited power” as in limited legal power or limited physical power or both. 

Perhaps the truth lies somewhere between those poles. In 1 Cor 15:28, we see that "not all things are under His feet, but when they are, the Son himself will be subject to the Father".

That describes a divine mandate, delegated by the Father, which by implication is a subset of the power of God, for He who gives power must be greater than He who receives it and He who validates His work must be greater than He who is validated.

Jesus always deferred to His Father and said, "I cannot do anything without Him". So maybe Jesus was just limited by His terms of reference.

Now, I can exceed my capacity by building machines that extend my reach and capability beyond my human limitations. Maybe Jesus also used the universe and the momentum of history, as His “machines”, “bulldozers” and “earth-movers”?

Does that diminish Him? 

I have no less respect for my savior if He has limited power. On the contrary, it makes Him more accessible, but it also amplifies other virtues like wisdom and timing. I am far less comfortable with a wand-waving wizard who can make a universe in seven days. 

Physically disrupting life, risked a mistrial in the justice of the cross. Instead, He anticipated history and worked with that, as in the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah or the crossing of the Red Sea. He clearly also used His own to nudge history.

The AV says in Rev 19:6 that the “Lord God, the omnipotent reigns”, but the ASV says, “the Almighty reigns”. That might not mean infinite but supreme power. Besides Satan would never have tried to usurp infinite power. Finite, supreme power, maybe, or at least he would have coveted the instruments of power, namely the angels, His realm and so on.

That said, the limitation imposed on Jesus to enter the world and live by its laws, may not extend to God in the fuller sense, but I will say more about how the universe is held together.

(c) Peter Missing @ Bethelstone.com