One of the greatest displays of God’s omnipotence in human history was manifested during the incarnation of the Son of God. It is recorded in the Bible regarding our Lord Jesus, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). This profound statement means that all the attributes of the Godhead were manifested in the Son.

Fully man and fully God, Jesus Christ was all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise, and eternal. When He dwelt on earth, He willingly “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). Jesus chose from time to time to display His divine power on earth to manifest His Father’s glory.

Jesus gave His disciples a declaration of His Own omnipotence right before He ascended again to His Father’s throne: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). Over and over throughout the years of His earthly ministry, Jesus had demonstrated His omnipotence. He did so in dramatic demonstrations of power that those who witnessed these stirring events could never forget.

The Apostle Peter wrote, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (II Peter 1:16).

Let’s look at a few of the many demonstrations of the omnipotence of Christ manifested in the days of His earthly ministry.

Power over Disease

Jesus the Great Physician had the power to heal “all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people” (Matthew 4:23). When He touched Peter’s mother-in-law when she was “taken with a great fever; . . . he [Jesus] stood over her, and rebuked the fever,” the fever immediately left her (Luke 4:38–39).

Leprosy was well-known to be an incurable disease. Yet Jesus, Who has power over disease, cleansed lepers on numerous occasions in Galilee and in Samaria.

Luke, a physician himself, noted of the woman with the issue of blood that she had “spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any” (Luke 8:43). Yet, this woman with faith touched the border of Jesus’ garment, believing the words of the prophet Malachi that the Sun of Righteousness would arise with “healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:2).

Other demonstrations of His power over disease included His healing those with the dropsy (swelling) (see Luke 14:2–4). According to Matthew 15:30, “And great multitudes came unto him, and having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them.”

Jesus restored a man’s withered hand (see Mark 3:1, 5). He straightened the bowed back of a woman, speaking to her, “Woman, thou art loosed from thy infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God” (Luke 13:12–13).

The result of these miraculous healings was that God was glorified in the hearts of all that saw these dramatic demonstrations of God’s omnipotence. “Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel” (Matthew 15:31).

Jesus is still the Great Physician today. Are you or a loved one struggling with sickness? Look to the Lord in prayer. Search His Word for truth about health and healing. Ask for the earnest prayers of God’s people and trust Him to do what is best for you.

Power over Sin

Even more remarkable than Jesus’ power over disease was His power over sin. When the crippled man was lowered into the crowded room where Jesus was preaching, the Lord astonished all present by announcing to him: “Man, thy sins are forgiven thee” (Luke 5:20). The scribes and Pharisees reacted immediately to this statement, as recorded in the next verse (v. 21), “Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

Jesus confidently answered their skeptical inquiry. “But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house” (Luke 5:22–24).

In Luke 5:25, Luke the physician recorded the astonishing result. “And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.” The visible miracle of healing proved the invisible one of forgiveness of sin. Repeatedly in His time on earth, the Son of Man demonstrated His power to forgive sins.

Christ still has the power to forgive and to defeat sin. If you are burdened with guilt, know that the Son of Man has power to forgive! If you are struggling with a besetting sin, know that the Lord Jesus has the power not only to forgive sin but also to set you free from sin.

Power over Satan

One of the first miracles that Jesus performed in the village of Capernaum dramatically demonstrated His power over Satan. While Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, a demon-possessed man interrupted the service, crying out, “Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24). Jesus responded by speaking directly to the demons: “Hold thy peace, and come out of him” (v. 25).

Similar events followed in the coming weeks and months where Jesus’ power over Satan was demonstrated. When a father brought his tormented son to Jesus, “the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming” (Mark 9:20). When Jesus told the desperate father that “all things are possible to him that believeth,” the father tearfully cried out, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24). Jesus then rebuked the demon and ordered him to leave the boy. Despite the demon’s struggle to remain, he was powerless against Jesus. The boy was restored again to his grateful father to the astonishment of all.

On the rugged eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, the demoniac of Gadara was a wild, naked man who dwelt among tombs and could break the iron fetters placed upon him. Yet after Jesus commanded the demons possessing him to leave, he was found by the townsmen “sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind” (Luke 8:35). Christ’s mighty power over Satan had been demonstrated when the demons were cast into the herd of pigs, which then violently ran over the edge of a cliff to be drowned in the lake below.

But Christ’s power was greater than that of the evil one. Witnesses always testified after such confrontations: “What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out” (Luke 4:36). After twenty centuries, Jesus still has power over Satan, and He is able to cleanse any man, woman, boy, or girl who seeks freedom from demonic oppression.

Power over the Sea

On numerous occasions, the Lord demonstrated His omnipotent authority over the winds and the waves. Not only did He walk upon the water, demonstrating His power over the natural elements, but He verbally rebuked the sea and the wind, calling out, “Peace, be still” (Mark 4:39). These fishermen who had lived their lives on the unpredictable lake “feared exceedingly and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41).

Do you fear the storms of life? Jesus is still the Master of the sea and He is willing to say to you, “It is I. Be not afraid.”

Power over Death

Christ manifested His omnipotence again in His victory over death. In the village of Nain, He stopped a funeral procession. Approaching the casket, He touched it and commanded, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise” (Luke 7:14). The people were amazed as they watched what happened next: “And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother” (v. 15).

At the bedside of Jairus’s recently deceased daughter, Jesus commanded, “Talitha, cumi,” which in Aramaic means, “Damsel, I say unto thee, arise” (Mark 5:41). At the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43). Finally, Jesus personally defeated death forever on the day that He rose from the grave and showed Himself alive to His disciples with the words, “It is I myself” (Luke 24:39).

How can we fear death when Christ has conquered our last enemy? We have a sure hope that Jesus is the Lord of life!

After His statement of universal dominion, Jesus gave this command to His disciples for then and through the ages: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:19–20). Because we serve an omnipotent Christ, how can we fail to do what He has commanded us?