El-Shaddai

Genesis 17:1

El-Shaddai

Purpose Statement: To build up the faith of the congregation by emphasis of God as the Almighty Powerful God.

Opening Statement: Sometimes the difficulties in this life can overwhelm us. We need to come to God and His Word. We need to remember the God who is above all our problems and in control over our lives. Our God is the God of the impossible. God is all powerful and He is still on His throne even when adversity strikes.

Implications of this passage:

1. He is the power that reigns over all creation. This name defines God as omnipotent or all-powerful.

A. God has stated His sovereign control over nature-When God questioned Job he asked him if he had been there when the foundations of the earth was

laid. He asked him if he showed the dawn it’s place. He asked him if he had walked in the recesses of the deep or seen the gates of death. He asked him if he knew where darkness had it’s dwelling or if he brought forth the constellations in their season. He said; “Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, “Here we are?” God is speaking to Job about things only God knows and reigns over. He is trying to get Job to see that he should not have doubted that God is in control. Job was having trouble understanding why. We all may come to that point in life where we wonder “why” about some things. God didn’t answer Job and He doesn’t answer us sometimes. He simply points to Himself as holy and good.

B. God has demonstrated His control over nature- He caused the waters to part in the Red Sea. Jesus walked on the water. The sun became still and

stopped rotating for a day; Jesus spoke and calmed the waters and walked on the water; Jesus spoke to the dead and raised them. Jesus spoke to illness

and cured it.

2. He is the source for all good things. He is the only one that can answer all prayers. It has been 24 years since God promised Abram a son. Sarai has

remained barren for 24 years. God is speaking to Abraham and calling him to trust Him even though he has waited long. In Exodus 6:3 it says that God

appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty. It’s easy to trust Him when prayers are being answered and the trial is over. It’s harder when your in the middle of struggle and doubt and fear. Consider what it says in Hebrews 11:8-12

“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith even Sarah herself received ability to

conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised; “

3. He is my enablement. God is the God of the impossible. I can say as Paul did “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” Phil 4:13. God doesn’t call you to do something you can’t do. In Christ, I can. Paul said in 1 Tim 1:12 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me

strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.”

Abraham didn’t have his prayers answered immediately. Scripture even says that he died without receiving the promises, but welcomed them

from a distance. When we must wait to hear from God or to see Him answer our prayers. It is good to reflect on the majesty and power of the God we

have. The patriarchs had a faith in a great and powerful, Almighty God. We would do well to remember who we serve.