The Source Of Power Series

SERIES: UNDERSTANDING POWER PRINCIPLES

TITLE: THE SOURCE OF POWER - LESSON 1

OBJECTIVES:

Upon completion of this lesson you will be able to:

• Identify the source of power.

• List eight ways God reveals His power on earth.

• Give a Scriptural reference which explains why God reveals His power on earth.

KEY VERSE:

God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. (Psalms 62:11)

INTRODUCTION

• To properly understand power principles we must start at the very beginning.

• We must discover the source of power.

• The source of something is its beginning or place of origin.

This teaching presents the true and living God revealed in the Holy Bible as the source of all power. David wrote: God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. (Psalms 62:11) When God repeats something it is because it is very important.

THE SOURCE OF POWER

Before anything else existed, there was God. Genesis l-2 records the beginning of the world and all living beings. God made the earth by His power:

He hath made the earth by His power; He hath established the world by His wisdom and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion.(Jeremiah 10:12)

I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, bymy great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom itseemed meet unto me. (Jeremiah 27:5)

For by Him were all things created, that are in Heaven, and that are in earth,visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities,or powers: all things were create by Him, and for Him. (Colossians 1:16)

Since God created all things, there is nothing beyond the scope of His power:

Ah Lord God! Behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy greatpower and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.(Jeremiah 32:17)

God is the source of power behind all things in their present state

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thouhast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.(Revelation 4:11)For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things; to whom be gloryfor ever. (Romans 11:36)

Who being in the brightness of His glory, and the express image of Hisperson, and upholding all things by the Word of His power . . .(Hebrews 1:3)

God has the times and seasons in His power:

And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons,which the Father hath put in His own power. (Acts 1:7)

The earth and all it contains belong to the Lord:

The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof; the world, and they thatdwell therein. (Psalms 24:1)

In Genesis 14:22, God is called the possessor of Heaven and earth. To possess somethingis to have power over it.There are many kingdoms and governments in this world. But God's Kingdom issovereign. This means He rules over all:

The Lord hath prepared His throne in the Heavens; and His kingdom rulethover all. (Psalms 103:19)Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and thevictory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the Kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to gives trength unto all. (I Chronicles 29:11-12)

Since God created man, only He has power over the spirit of man:There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neitherhath he power in the day of death . . .(Ecclesiastes 8:8)

God has power to preserve those appointed to die:

Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatnessof thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die. (Psalms 79:11)

God is the one who gives power to the faint:

He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increasethstrength. (Isaiah 40:29)

. . . The God of Israel is He that giveth strength and power unto His people.(Psalms 68:35)

God's power is not affected by the power or lack of power of man:

. . . Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with themthat have no power . . . (II Chronicles 14:11)

God has the power to deliver. The Bible is filled with records of how God supernaturallydelivered people in times of need. Two good examples are found in the book of Daniel.

Read how God delivered His servants from the furnace of fire in Daniel 3 and from thelions in Daniel 6.