How does God exercise his power?

Psalm 65:6You formed the mountains by your power and armed yourself with mighty strength.

Jeremiah 10:12The Lord made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens.

Colossians 1:15-20Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. . . . For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself.

Hebrews 1:3The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.

God exercises his power in creating and sustaining the universe and everything in it. That exercise of power is continual, a constant expression of Jesus’ eternal rule as our Creator and King.

Psalm 116:6The Lord protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and he saved me.

God uses his power to protect those who trust in him. Because his power is eternal, his protection is larger than life. It reaches into eternity.

Luke 12:5“But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.”

By his power God will carry out his judgment. There are limited powers of many kinds that can provoke fear in us, but if our greatest fear is the proper fear and awe of God, no other fear can come close. Our larger fear of God nullifies the smaller ones.

Revelation 20:10Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

By his power God has conquered our enemy, the devil. At a future time of God’s choosing, he will make his defeat of all evil permanent.

Matthew 9:6“So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”

God uses his power to forgive sins and to heal. When we think of physical healing as more impressive than forgiveness, we reveal a limited understanding of the greatness of God’s work of forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

John 10:28-30“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

By his power Jesus gives eternal life to his followers. Those who trust him have already been given eternal life and are simply waiting a short time on this earth to enter into what is already theirs.

John 6:44“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.”

God draws people to himself by the power of his Spirit.

2 Corinthians 12:9Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

God exercises his power most clearly through our weaknesses. Then we know it is his power working through us and not our own.