After Gabriel brought Mary the news that she would conceive and give birth to God’s Son, Mary asked how this could happen since she’d never been sexually intimate with a man (see Luke 1:34). Gabriel explained, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy One to be born to you will be called the Son of God” (v. 35). Then the angel added, “And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. For nothing will be impossible with God” (vv. 36-37, emphasis added). Gabriel’s statement regarding God’s omnipotence—His ability to do anything He chooses to do—is found early in Scripture, and it appears numerous places in the New Testament as well.
- God appeared to Abram (later known as Abraham) when he was 75 years old and told him He would make of him a great nation (see Gen. 12:1-5). Of course, this meant he would have to have a child—but years came and went and no child was born to the couple. Then, after Abraham had reached 99 years of age (see 17:24), God told him that a son would be born to him within a year (see 18:10). Abraham’s wife, Sarah, laughed; but God said, “Is anything impossible for the LORD?” (v. 14). Of course, it was a rhetorical question. When Isaac was born to the couple, Abraham was 100 years old, and Sarah was 90 (see 17:17; 21:1-5).
- Many years later, during Jesus’ ministry on earth, Jesus’ disciples had difficulty healing a young man who suffered from demon-possession and seizures. The father told Jesus if He could help in any way, to please do so. Jesus replied that anything is possible for the one who has faith in God (see Mark 9:23 [vv. 14-29 for the context]. After Jesus healed the boy, the disciples asked why they had had difficulty, and He told them, “Because of your little faith.” Then he added, “I assure you: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you’” (Matt. 17:20 [vv. 14-21 for the context]).
- On another occasion, Jesus explained to His disciples that it is difficult for rich people to enter God’s kingdom, even as difficult as it is for a camel to go through a needle’s eye! Jesus’ disciples then asked how anyone could be saved, and Jesus replied, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, because all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27 [vv. 17-31 for the context]; see also Matt. 19:26; Luke 18:27).
- In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will” (Mark 14:36). Of course, it was not possible for God to save any sinner apart from Jesus’ drinking the cup He so much wanted to avoid.
This last item underscores a point we need to clearly understand. While God specializes in doing the impossible, He cannot do that which is inherently impossible. We understand Jesus’ prayer, of course; but we also must affirm that questions like, “Can God create a rock too heavy for Him to lift?” are foolish questions, for they contain mutually exclusive elements. Things like “smooth wrinkles” simply don’t exist.
Copyright © 2015 B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations in this article are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.