A Devotion from Thomas Boston
He spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. —Psalm 33:9
The power of God appears in preserving the souls of believers amidst the many dangers to which they are exposed and bringing them safely to glory. They have many enemies without: a legion of subtle and powerful devils, a wicked and ensnaring world. They have many strong lusts and corruptions within, and their graces are but weak, in their infancy while they are here. It [is a] wonder how they are preserved. But the apostle tells us that they “through faith are shielded by God’s power” until salvation (1 Peter 1:5). Indwelling corruption would soon quench grace in their hearts if that grace were not kept alive by a divine power. But Christ’s power moderates the violence of temptations, supports his people under them, [and] defeats the power of Satan.
The power of God appears in the redemption of sinners by Jesus Christ. Thus in Scripture Christ is called the power as well as the wisdom of God. This is the most admirable work that God ever brought forth in the world.
More particularly, the power of God shines in Christ’s miraculous conception in the womb of a virgin. The power of the Highest overshadowed her (Luke 1:35), and by a creative act framed the humanity of Christ of the substance of the virgin’s body and united it to the divinity. If God will accomplish that stupendous wonder, much more will he rescue his people from their adversaries.
The power of God shines in uniting the divine and human nature in the person of Christ, without any confusion of the two natures or changing the one into the other. One nature does not swallow up another and make a third distinct from both. But they are distinct and yet united; the properties of each nature are preserved entire. What a wonder of power that two natures, divine and human, infinitely distant, should meet together in a personal conjunction! Here the Creator and the creature are miraculously allied in the same being. Here a God of unmixed blessedness is linked personally with a man of perpetual sorrows. That is an admirable expression, “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Nothing less than an omnipotent power could bring about what an infinite and incomprehensible wisdom projected in this matter.