When God promised Abraham and Sariah that they would have a son in their old age, they both expressed doubts. In response, He reminded them of His power with a pointed question: “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14).
When the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear a son, he also informed her that her cousin Elizabeth had “conceived a son in her old age” six months earlier. He assured her that “with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37).
While suffering through his extraordinary trials, Job declared to the Lord: “I know that thou canst do every thing” (Job 42:2).
The doctrine that God has all power is found throughout the scriptures. We have faith in Him because we know that He can do anything. In the Hebrew Old Testament, this truth is conveyed with the phrase El Shaddai (אֵ֣ל שַׁדַּ֔י), which is usually translated “God Almighty.” In the New Testament, the equivalent Greek word is Pantokratór (παντοκράτωρ), which is a compound word, from pas (πᾶς), which means “all,” and kratos (κράτος), which means “might” or “power.” The King James translators generally rendered this word as “the Almighty.” But in one passage (Revelation 19:6), they used a different compound word, with Latin roots: “omnipotent.” Omni means “all,” and potent means “mighty” or “powerful.” So “God Almighty” means the same as “the Lord God omnipotent.” It means the God who has all power, who can do anything.
About 125 years before the birth of Jesus, an angel appeared to a king named Benjamin with a message for his people. The angel introduced the news in these words:
The time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases (Mosiah 3:5).
The angel went on to explain that this all-powerful God would be known as Jesus Christ in mortality and that He was capable of saving all who believe in Him and humble themselves. Three more times, the angel referred to Jesus as “the Lord Omnipotent” (Mosiah 3:17-18, 21).
After hearing these words and praying for forgiveness, the people of King Benjamin testified that they knew the words they had been taught were true. They knew this “because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts” (Mosiah 5:2). In his final words to the people, Benjamin again reminded them of God’s power:
I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen (Mosiah 5:15).
Today, I will remember that Jesus Christ is capable of doing things which seem impossible to us. Like Abraham and Sariah, like Mary and Elizabeth, and like the people of King Benjamin, we can experience His power in our lives. He can do it. He is God Almighty, the Lord Omnipotent, the One who has all power.
Book of Mormon Study Notes 