The Only Valid Context for Omnipotence
The mutual exclusivity of God and all the evils of the world
If one believes that God is active in what Jesus referred to as “this world,” it implies that God is familiar with and tolerates the many ways evil is expressed in the human experience.
Such a belief is contrary to Jesus’ teaching of the God of Love and the teaching of Habakkuk, which states that “God is too pure to behold iniquity” (Hab. 1:13).
This problem should not exist. However, it can be resolved only by accepting that God does not function in “this world.”
I also believe that God is not aware of any evil. God cannot be aware of the opposite of Itself. No opposite could exist for an omnipotent God.
Omnipotence
Like many Christians, I believe the God of Love has three essential and unique characteristics: Omnipresence, Omnipotence, and Omniscience.
However, given the ample evidence of evil around us and its active nature in many forms, the idea of God’s Omnipotence is challenged.
First, let’s remember that omnipotence does not simply mean a lot of power but all existing power. Therefore, logic tells us that there cannot be omnipotence and any other competing power.
Omnipotence, by definition, excludes the existence of any other power.
The belief in God and the belief in evil are mutually exclusive. If we accept that God is Omnipotent, any form of evil, including Satan and Hell, cannot truly exist on their own.
This principle should be canon, as this article attempts to clarify.
The critical question about evil
Most of us, if not all of us, have friends or family members who have reneged on Christianity or might justify atheism because they suffer from various dramas that are contrary to the existence of a God of Love.
These Christians ask: “How could God, who is eternally perfect and loving, create and tolerate evil and anything that is not godlike?”
For many, they answer that God either does not have the necessary power or does not want to exercise divine power to eliminate Satan or any of the many manifestations of evil.
If we accept this answer, we are stuck in an eternal stand-off: God can’t or won’t do away with Satan and any other perpetrators of evil in this world. Likewise, Satan and any other anti-Christ do not have the power to do away with God.
In such a scenario, humanity is caught between two intractable sides — God and evil. Humanity seems victimized with no way out. Faced with this depressing predicament, it is not surprising that many say: “What is the use of religion?”
They do not return to church or other places of worship.
A false assumption
But this whole scenario is faulty. It entirely forgets Jesus’ teaching: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). This pronouncement should establish that God has not created and does not dwell in “this world,” but that God does dwell exclusively in “My Kingdom.”
“This world” is not an objective reality; it is not a stand-alone fact. It is a flawed human perception of God’s creation. It is flawed because of the limitations of our five physical senses and the false belief of separation from God entertained by collective consciousness.
Despite Jesus’ teaching about “My Kingdom” and “this world,” many Christians believe that Jesus is present in every aspect of their lives and meddles in our affairs. They imagine Jesus witnessing all our deeds while aware of all our thoughts and intent. I guess they assume that to conduct the alleged “Last Judgement,” Jesus presumably would need to have all this information about all of us!
God’s Realm
In Truth and Reality, the Realm of God is exclusively and entirely spiritual. Anything material and psychological stays contained in our minds and does not invade the spiritual realm of God or Jesus ascended to the right hand of God.
This knowledge is confirmed by Habakkuk, who revealed a most important aspect of God: “God is too pure to behold iniquity.”
In saying this, Habakkuk tells us that God and evil are mutually exclusive and do not exist or function in the same space. God is in His/Her spiritual Realm, and evil exists only in human beings’ mental realm. (See my article, Considering the Non-Reality of Evil.)
We can also postulate that God has no awareness of anything of an evil nature because God is too pure to consider anything ungodlike.
The context of Omnipotence
Now, let’s correct a possible misconception: By using the phrases “My Kingdom” and “this world,” Jesus did not mean that there are two worlds.
Human beings have a false conception of the Reality of God’s creation. Humans live in a mental creation of collective consciousness. It is only in that context that evil can seem to function.
Another way to think about this is that the nature of “My Kingdom” is Spirit, whereas the nature of “this world” is human mental activity.
You can see that Omnipotence only applies to “My Kingdom.” Divine omnipotence does not function outside of “My Kingdom.” This is also true of Omnipresence and Omniscience.
The presence of God fills God’s Realm and does not function outside of that Realm. Likewise, God is the fullness of wisdom and knowledge and does not exist outside the divine Realm.
In “this world,” there is chaos and irrationality because there is no grand purpose and no “ skipper “ at the helm. As a result, there is no moral compass. In contrast, in “My Kingdom,” there is harmony because the Spirit of God is at the helm, so a moral compass is a given.
A false conception of ourselves
As the Creator, God created in Its image. God’s nature is Spirit. God’s creation is necessarily spiritual by the principle of like begets like.
Yet, human history has proven that humans are very ungodlike and ungodly. Therefore, the human experience cannot be a creation of God. That experience exists only in human collective consciousness.
Humans have a false conception of themselves.
Yet, within each of us is a unique spiritual entity that is latent and awaiting recognition. It is the Soul that is not only a bridge to the Kingdom, but our spiritual guide and provider.
The Soul connection
The Soul is the realm of individual spiritual life. It is eternal life expressing love and consciousness. It existed before human birth and will continue to exist after human death.
Each Soul is like an extension of “My Kingdom.” Each Soul has a moral compass and is the connecting link between the Divine and each human being. The Soul is like a two-way radio that needs to be turned on and tuned in to the right frequency, which is the love of God.
The Soul is how each of us can receive God’s Grace. The more it is acknowledged, the more the Grace of spiritual Truth is revealed.
This is what Jesus meant when he said, “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4).
“This world” is not of God
“This world” is the result of a false perspective of collective human consciousness that is grossly ignorant of God and God’s creation.
Receptive Souls become the agents of positive and beneficial change in “this world” because when spiritual Truth is revealed in human consciousness, the false belief of separation between humans and God is lifted.
“This world” can only be improved as humanity understands that God is the life of every individual. Consequently, anything we do to others affects us and the rest of our fellow human beings.
The Soul is the spiritual Self. It is not subject to the ego, which is the psychological self. Nevertheless, following a spiritual path and its unfolding can uncover a sense of conflict between the spiritual Self and the ego-self. Mystics have called this struggle “the dark night of the soul.”
Evil has no power from God
God exists in God’s perfect and eternal spiritual creation — “My Kingdom.” The concept of evil exists only in the human mental realm and its projection into the material world or “this world.” One is Real and eternal, whereas the other is a mental human activity that lives only within the span of years of each one of our lives.
The belief in evil is a mental activity that has no power from God and no power of its own. Evil only exists with the power given to it by collective consciousness.
Evil affects individuals only to the extent that each individual embraces the beliefs of collective consciousness concerning each type of so-called ‘evil manifestation.’
Since an illusory mental activity powers evil’s nature, focusing on God’s omnipotence can disempower evil in our lives or at least mitigate its effects.
In conclusion
I recognize that for many people, no amount of explanation will change their thinking because they cling to the belief that God created the material and psychological, which includes everything from so-called ‘acts of God’ to pandemics, wars, suffering, and death.
There is a refusal to accept the premise that God does not directly function in “this world.” God directly functions only in Its Realm and indirectly through receptive individual Souls.
The belief in evil is sustained only by collective human consciousness and our acceptance of these beliefs concerning the ungodlike and ungodly.
Since our mental activity sustains evil, we should be able to mitigate that activity with the conviction that God’s Omnipresence, Omnipotence, and Omniscience is an absolute Truth with no possible exception.
We can refuse negative emotions stemming from a collective human consciousness of fear and anger. We can garner the courage to live in the cycle of positive emotions, such as caring for others and ourselves and finding ways to express respect, kindness, and cooperation.
Regardless of what our current experience may seem to present, we need to remember that the nature of God is unconditional Love.
Divine unconditional Love gives each of our Souls the power it needs. Then, we must rest in that Truth and allow our experience to unfold.
Jon Canas
Debunking false creeds. Reclaiming the Soul of Christianity.
Site: https://bio.site/ChristicSoul
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My book: Religion, Politics, and Reclaiming the Soul of Christianity: A Spiritual Imperative for Our Time and Our Nation
