But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)

God Is Not Limited

Words are important in language to convey a thought describing an idea that predicates the need of the speaker. Jesus was very surgical in the use of language to establish the teachings of His Father. When a wealthy ruler came seeking the answer to salvation, Jesus carefully instructed the man what to do but sadly it was not in the heart of the seeker to obey the will of God. He went away to the amazement of the disciples who had witnessed the encounter. Questioned what was required to be saved, Jesus defined the eternal difference between man and God. There are many things that are impossible for man but there is nothing impossible for the Creator. When something is impossible it is beyond the bounds or means of a man to accomplish. This would not be a matter that man is unable to do a thing today but at some future day invent a means to accomplish what seemed beyond reality. No one would have imagined a man walking on the moon but on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin accomplished what seemed for thousands of years as completely without certainty. In some small way, a man accomplished an impossible task but this is not what Jesus is telling His disciples. No matter what man can invent it is impossible for man to walk to the moon. Man will never be able to live on the moon or travel to Mars to establish colonies or touch the surface of the largest known star in the universe, VY Canis Majoris (4,900 light years away). The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.

Salvation is not a walk to the moon. There is no way to measure, define or understand the immensity of man’s place before a loving, graceful, wrathful and punishing God who has determined the habitation of man to dwell upon the face of the earth. Sin may be diminished in the mind of man but the very thing that separates him from his Creator is the one thing that it is impossible for him to bring to bear upon his soul. Adam and Eve could not find a means to change what they did in the garden and without the grace of God to allow them to live humanity would have been lost at the beginning. As the world grew corrupt and turned away from the love of God, only because mercy did the Lord speak to Noah and show him a way to save himself. Without the knowledge of grace from the mind of God telling the family of Noah what to do to be saved, all men would have perished and there would not have been eight saved in the ark. What separated Noah from all others is he believed the grace of God and through his faith justified himself in building a most unlikely means of salvation – the ark. Noah believed in something impossible: a flood that would cover the world more than twenty-two feet above the mountains. He also believed in the impossible: God would save Him if he obeyed. Abraham was tested by God to kill his only begotten son as an offering. The man of God took Isaac and told his servants they were going to the mountain to worship and the two of them would return. Abraham knew exactly what he was going to do with Isaac. He would take him, bind him, kill him and through the power of God his son would be raised from the dead – an impossibility – but Abraham believed in the power of God. David overcame the threats of the Philistine giant to defeat a nine-foot behemoth because he believed a young lad with a sling and a few stones could defeat such a champion. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah defied the king of Babylon who threatened to burn them alive in a fiery furnace because they believed in the impossible. The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.

The wealthy ruler came to Jesus wanting to know what to do to be saved. Jesus gave him a stark answer but one based on the reality of the man’s heart. He was unwilling to sell all he had and give to the poor going away sorrowful. The day came when he did give up his riches and left them for others to squabble over. What seemed impossible that day now seemed possible if only he had trusted in the word of the Lord. Nothing is impossible when a man allows God to work in his life, changing his heart and overcoming the wiles of the devil. No matter what life brings and no matter where a man finds himself, the God of possibilities stands ready to help in times of impossibility. Man is limited. God is unlimited. There are things a man cannot do because it is beyond his abilities and powers to accomplish because his Creator has drawn a line of declaration and determined he will go no further. There are no lines with God. He can walk on the water, raise the dead, heal any disease immediately and tell you the name of every star in the heavens. The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.