Scripture Reading: 2 Chron. 16:9; 2 Kings 13:18-19; Matt. 13:22; 23:37-38; Mark 1:45; 6:5; John 5:19, 30; Luke 12:49-50; Num. 14:22-24; Isa. 50:2; Mal. 3:10-12; Eph. 1:22-23
The Lord has been speaking to us these days on the limitations of God. God's limitation is a solemn thing to consider. We talk a great deal about the power of God, but we seldom think of the limitations of God. There are many things He cannot do today. Have we thought about the seriousness of this situation? The fact that God cannot do something is not because He is impotent. He is omnipotent, yet He has His limitations.
The Word of God is a mighty thing; it will not return to Him void. Yet in the Lord's parable in Matthew 13, we read that it is possible for man to "choke" the word of God. The Lord Jesus said, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem,...I desired...and you would not" (23:37). The result was, "Your house is left to you desolate" (v. 38). There was nothing wrong with the Lord, but there was a limitation to the Son of God. There is something in man that is so powerful as to limit Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament Jehovah swore that the land should be given to His people, but eventually they could not enter. God could bring them in, He could chase out the enemies, but in Numbers 14 we see that they had the power to deflect and defeat the purpose of God for them.
Isaiah 50:2 says, "Is My hand so short that it cannot redeem?" No! Then why did He not work? It was because of the people's sins and iniquities. This verse shows us that the omnipotent hand of God is limited by the sins of His people. He is not limited because He cannot do something; rather, man limits Him. Blessings have been delayed because of something in man.
Second Chronicles 16:9 says, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." Think of this! God is looking for a man whose heart is perfect, to whom He can show Himself strong. He is limited by an imperfect heart. He is looking for one where there is no limitation.
Mark 6:5 says, "He could not do any work of power there." Why could our Lord not do anything? Verse 6 gives the answer: "Because of their unbelief."
In Mark 1:41-45 the Lord healed a man and then told him not to say a word about it. But the man was disobedient and the result was that the Lord could not go into the city. He was limited to the deserted places because of the natural zeal of man in witnessing.
God is omnipotent, but His omnipotence is subject to limitation because He must have certain conditions suitable for His working. The question is whether or not we are in the position for Him to show forth His power. I know that I cannot help God; I cannot further anything of His. But it is possible that something of me can hinder Him. Sin, unbelief, natural energy, etc., will hinder the very power of God. The Lord has to give us light to see what He can do, and He has to give us light also to see what we can hinder Him from doing. We can put Him into a position where He cannot do what He wants to do. The Creator of heaven and earth can be limited by us. May the Lord search our hearts and deal with us in a drastic way. Is there anything in us that is hindering Him? Are there props in our Christian life? Is there a leaning to sight or feeling or are we walking by faith? Is only God in our lives? He is our life and power, but are there plans, programs, that substitute for Him? Are we trusting Him to bring something out of nothing? Are we trusting Him to bring the dead back to life? He is always the God of resurrection. If we abide in Him, we will see light. It is not by self-examination that we find out what is hindering; it is by being before Him.
Luke 12:50 speaks of the limitations of the Lord. The Lord spoke of being "pressed," that is, cramped. This word means not having a free way. The Lord said He was going to cast fire on the earth by being baptized with a baptism. "How I am pressed" means that the power was confined in Himself. There was a limitation by the condition of being in the human body. He could not be in two places at the same time. He was limited by being in a body on earth, and so He looked for the day of baptism, the day when He would die on the cross. By His death and resurrection He would have a spiritual body, and through the Holy Spirit His life could be given to His people. John 12:24 is a parallel passage. Life — the power to produce — was encased in a grain, and release could only come when it fell into the earth and died. Before the Lord's death He was the only begotten of the Father. But on the morning of His resurrection, He said, "My Father and your Father." At this point, the matter of the church comes in. We are His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.
The body is for the full expression of a person's personality. What is the Body of Christ? The Body of Christ is that which expresses Christ. The Lord Jesus expresses Himself through each member, and the whole of Him is expressed through His church. The Body can either be for His expression or His limitation. On earth He moved in a limited body of flesh; today He moves in a spiritual Body — His church — to express and manifest Himself. He is moving within His Body in the Spirit. On earth He manifested Himself in His body, and today He is doing the same. We are the members of this spiritual Body, and we are either being used to express Him or we are limiting Him. It will be a great day when the light dawns and we realize how great our responsibility is. We are the only expression that Christ has. The Body is the way for Him to express Himself. Outside of our bodies, what expression do we have? None. In the same principle we are in the position to give Him a full expression or to limit His expression. For this reason the complete sovereignty of Christ is of supreme importance. In order to bring Him to bear on evil situations in the spiritual world and to express Himself, we must not limit or restrict Him in any way. How can it be that omnipotence is limited by man? Will it continue throughout eternity? God is El Shaddai — in eternity past and also in eternity future nothing can limit Him. In the two eternities nothing can stop, hinder, or delay Him. However, God has a will. He has a Son, but He wanted many sons — a people who would share His life and manifest His Son. For this reason He created heaven, earth, and man. But herein lies the trouble: man was created with a free will. The limitation of God began at this point. From the time of the garden of Eden until now, three wills have been at work — God's, Satan's, and man's. God will not abolish the human will. He wants the human will to be on His side; therefore, He accepts the limitation that this desire entails. God will not compel man to do anything as He works toward His goal. In the two eternities God's omnipotence is absolute; today His omnipotence is relative, for He is subject to certain limitations. In creation God put His almighty power under the limitation of the human will. This will can be on the divine side, or it can be on its own side or Satan's side to limit God. If this will is set for God, then there will be something much more for the glory of God than before creation. Thus, the omnipotence in eternity future will be much greater than in eternity past. It will be possible to be limited, but there will be no limitation because we will have been brought to a place where we stand for everything that is of God. God will therefore have far greater glory. There will always be a separate will, but it will become so subject to God that it is a glory to God. God has run a risk to bring this about. Our capacity will be the capacity of the power of God; God will be as great as our capacity allows Him. This is the measure in the earthen vessel. If we enlarge our capacity, we will enlarge the power of God. Today the power of God is limited by our capacity, and it is subject to our will, submission, obedience, and faith. The power of God takes the shape of our faith in Him. We are the meter, the measure. The divine almightiness today is subject to us.
The One whose will is absolutely identified with God's and the One in whom God has no limitations is the Lord Jesus. God can do what He likes with Him and through Him. Through His death and resurrection a Body has been formed by the power of the Spirit, and God is looking and seeking for members who will be fully responsive to Him and in whom His will's limitations will be forever done away with. God is limited only in this creation in time; He is not limited in eternity. The church secures for Him the abolition of limitation. We are entrusted with a great vision! God almost entrusts us to restore His own omnipotence! He entreats us to abolish His limitation. For this He must have a free way with us before we can bring in the eternal purpose. This is the meaning of the kingdom. The kingdom means that God can do what He wants, that He has His own way, that He is unhindered, and that He has authority and power and therefore glory. He has a sphere in which He is supreme. The church has to bring this in. One day the church will be the vessel of all that He wants, but it must begin today. God is waiting until we are fully obedient; this is the principle on which God works. We expect God to work but God says, "What can I do with you?" We cannot expect God to show forth a greater measure than what we afford Him. He is absolutely limited. The power of God today is utterly subject to our measure. God is in many ways no more powerful than we are. He has put Himself into us and made us His channels. We can shut Him out or we can release Him. The whole matter of the divine purpose is at stake.
Today this is the secret of service. How can we really serve the Lord? It is not by doing things or by being zealous, but by coming to a place of real submission. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Whenever there is much sacrificing, it is doubtful that there is much obedience! It was easier for Abraham to put Isaac on the altar than to take him back. The Lord must bring us to a place where we have nothing to hinder Him, where we are pliable in the hands of the Lord. He must bring us to a place of utter responsiveness to Himself so that He can have a free and unhindered way. Then there will be nothing that He cannot do. "The Son can do nothing from Himself" (John 5:19). That is the secret. Oh, this tenacious nature of ours! "Lord, from today may I have grace not to trust in myself, not to use my own power, nor to think highly of myself. May all that is hindering You be put under the blood."
The church is the firstfruit of God's creation. What is going to be true in the kingdom age should be true among the overcomers in the church today. "Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth." This means that no human will should come in to limit Him. When the matter of authority is settled, the matter of power will also be settled. In the kingdom God will be unlimited. We should pray, "Lord, what is there in me that undermines Your lordship?" Jesus is Lord. This has never been a matter of power on God's side, but because of the nature of the present age, where the "will" is a determining factor, there are limitations on our side. Our eyes have to be opened to see God's limitation and to see how we should cooperate with Him.
