Divine Names: El Shaddai. PT 4. Almighty God is Able!

Good evening to each of you dear people.

We have had a busy day. My wife is with her mom who had a surgical procedure done today, and I had my second cataract removed today. As I begin this post, my pupil is still very dilated. I pray you will be lenient with me if you spot a typo in this post:)

In this post, we are going to discover another wonderful meaning of the Divine Name, El Shaddai, most often translated God Almighty. He is also the God who is able. 

God is Almighty because He is able to carry out all of His varied purposes and plans. 

He is able to triumph over every obstacle and over all opposition. He is able to nourish, satisfy, or supply all of our various needs.  He is the God from whom all blessings flow, and He is the giver of all good and perfect gifts.   

God is able to subdue all things to Himself. He is able to save us from our sins.  Note a few verses from the New Testament that illustrate how “God is able” to accomplish great things.

God is able to raise up a people from stones.

The first example is from Luke’s gospel. He recorded the ministry of John the Baptist, who was charged with preparing the way for the Messiah, Jesus Christ. 

John’s preaching was fiery and direct. Evidently some Jews mistakenly put their trust in the fact that they could trace their ancestry back to Abraham. However, they did not have a relationship with God. They were not born again. They were still spiritually dead.

John dismissed their claims of self righteousness by being related to Abraham. Rather, he  offended their sensibilities when he declared that “God is able” to raise up children of Abraham from the stones in that place. John quickly deflated their ego and reminded us that, Yes, God could indeed raise up children from inert stones. After all, He made Adam from the dirt.

Luke 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

The word translated "able" is a Greek word found in the English language as "dynamite, dynamic, or dynamo." All three words express ample energy, excessive power, surplus strength and unlimited capability to make something happen, to accomplish a great task or to do the impossible. This gives us the sense of the phrase "God is able." 

God is able to take two different kinds of trees and make one new tree. 

The next example comes from the apostle Paul when he wrote to the church at Rome. Interestingly, Paul is also addressing the state of the Jewish nation. In chapters 9 to 11, he points out that God had a reason for the setting aside of the Jewish people for a season. God did this because He also intended to save Gentile people and bring them into His kingdom.

Paul borrows an idea from horticulture. He states that the natural branch (the Jews) was cut off, and the wild olive branch (the Gentiles) was “grafted in.” 

This is much like a horticulturalist who seeks to produce a hybrid tree that contains the best qualities from two different kinds of trees. This process is accomplished by grafting a branch from one tree into a different tree.  

The end result is a new type of tree. Grafting is often done with fruit trees in order to produce new and different varieties of fruit. He reminded his readers that at a future time “God is able” to graft the Jewish nation back into the olive tree. 

The olive tree was a symbol of the Jewish nation. The idea that Paul conveys repeatedly in his letters, is that God is going to take Jews and Gentiles and make them one, new body in Christ (Ephesians 2:14-18).

Romans 11:22-23 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.

Once more, we find Paul writing an inspired letter, this time to the church of Ephesus. He closes chapter three with a prayer from his soul for the people that he loved. He is talking about the One, True God of heaven "who is able to do exceedingly abundantly."

Paul's powerful prayer to the Lord was on the behalf of all saints in all times. 

First, he prays that we will be strengthened by the almighty power of the Spirit, in our inner man. The part of us that is a new creature in Christ, needs strength and it comes from God's Spirit. 

Second, Paul prays that because we are born again, Christ would dwell in our hearts by faith, so that we become rooted and established in the love of God. This is in order that we might gain an understanding of the wonderful things of God in all their glorious dimensions, and that we be filled up with the fulness of God.

This is a clear connection to the name El Shaddai, because God Almighty is able  to do all things. This is a big, spiritually ambitious prayer from the apostle on our behalf, but he reminds us that God is able to grant all these petitions exceedingly abundantly, even beyond what we ask.

God is able because He is God Almighty!

Ephesians 3:14-21 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

God is able to grant sufficient grace for our needs.

The last example for El Shaddai as the God who is able, is taken from the second letter Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. Paul loved this church and he poured himself out in ministry to them. He gave all that he had in an effort to help them live out the gospel in their lives as a church, and as individual Christians.

Paul spent some time addressing the failure of the Corinthians to follow up on a commitment they made, to take a special offering for the poor saints living in Jerusalem.  In this chapter, he urges them not to be grudging givers but to be cheerful givers. He reminds them that “God is able” to bring abundant grace to them as they give sacrificially.

The word “able” in the text below, is translated from a Greek word that means powerful, mighty, strong; excessive in wealth and influence; strong in soul to bear calamities and trials with courage and patience; strong in Christian virtue; to be able (to do something); mighty, excelling power for some great task.

2 Corinthians 9:8  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: ⁹(As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.

Points to Ponder....

God Almighty deserves a wholehearted response of faith from us because He is able.

The mighty, all-sufficient God demands and deserves our complete faith. He deserves a wholehearted faith response from each person that He has saved. The name El Shaddai introduces God to us as the unlimited source of all blessing and comfort. He imparts these blessings to all who trust Him and wait patiently upon Him. 

God Almighty is able and His power cannot be stopped.

The name El Shaddai teaches us that God is indeed “able” to meet our needs, if we seek Him in repentant faith. Another way to think about the fact that “God is able” is to look at how God answered Abraham when Sarah laughed about bearing a child when she was so old. God said “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” This is a rhetorical question that demands the answer of “No.”

Genesis 18:13-14 ¹³And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? ¹⁴Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. 

Since God Almighty is able, the impossible is possible!

Jesus had a visit from a wealthy young man. Upon engaging in dialog with him, Jesus found out that this young man had observed the law and was, from an outward perspective, a good man. Jesus then focused on the young man’s heart. 

This young man was selfish and or covetous. Jesus told him to sell all that he had and to give it to the poor. The young man was filled with sorrow because he had many possessions. He did not want to give it away in order to be part of God’s kingdom.

The Lord Jesus then explained this situation to His disciples as noted in Matthew’s gospel. The disciples reacted with astonishment when Jesus pointed out the difficulty of a wealthy person being saved. They said “Who then can be saved?” The Lord Jesus patiently reminded them that “with God, all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:23-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

The name El Shaddai teaches us that God is abundantly able to help us in every situation in our lives. He has no restrictions or limitations. His arm is not shortened. 

The name El Shaddai teaches us to depend upon God in the most impossible or difficult situations that threaten to overwhelm us. It also reminds us that God will not act if we have not confessed our sins and made an honest effort to forsake them. 

God is indeed, able. Will you surrender to Him today? Will you exercise repentant faith on God Almighty, because He will save you, transform you and make you a new creation in Christ, if you call upon His name!

Bob