The Almighty

The second major thing we confess in The Apostles' Creed about God is that he is Almighty. As the angel said to the Virgin Mary, "For nothing is impossible with God." (Luke 1:37) Thus, Christians serve a God who is both all-powerful and all-good. When we call God "Father" that speaks of his care. When we call God "Almighty" that speaks of his power; he is omnipotent.

The story is told of a man who was out hiking in the woods. He came to a campsite and stole some money from a man's backpack. As it turned out, the man he stole from was a Hell's Angel. The biker started chasing the man who had stolen his money. As the thief was running away he fell over the edge of a cliff. However, as he was falling he grabbed hold of a root and held on tight. He called out, "Is there anyone up there who can help me?"

Pretty soon, the Hell's Angel peered over the edge of the cliff, and with a scowl on his face he shook his big, burly fist at the thief.

The thief called out again, "Is there anyone else up there who can help me?"

A few moments later, a boy scout came along who was also hiking through the woods. He was a good young man who sincerely desired to help the thief get safely back up the cliff, but he did not have the strength in his puny little arms to pull the thief back up.

So the thief cried out a third time, "Is there anyone up there who can help me?"

Finally, the forest ranger came along and very compassionately, and powerfully, helped the thief get safely back up to the top of the cliff.

Some people think that God is like that Hell's Angel: he is powerful, but he is angry at us for our sin and so he won't help us. Other people believe that God is like that boy scout: he's good and caring but powerless to help us.

Christians believe that God is like the forest ranger: he's good, he cares about us, and he is powerful to save. That is what we are saying when we confess: "I believe in God the Father, the Almighty..."

Because God is both all-powerful and all-good, we can trust him. We can know that there is no problem too great for God's power and no person too small for God's love.

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Will Vaus

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