dwelling for God in us, as there is for all things on earth, all things in
heaven, and even for the things that are in hell. From God we get our
power, our will, and our ability to understand. There is no reciprocal
dwelling for us in God, though, unless we live by the laws of the divine
design given in the Word. Then we become images and likenesses of
him; then paradise is given to us for a possession, and the fruit of the tree
of life for food.
“The rest of us gather around the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, speak with the serpent there, and eat. Later we are expelled from
paradise. Nevertheless God does not abandon us; we abandon God.”
[ 4 ] The people in hats understood this and gave their approval, but
the people in caps denied it; they said, “In that case wouldn’t omnipo-
tence be limited? But limited omnipotence is a contradiction.”
I replied, “There is no contradiction in acting all-powerfully with
judgment in following the laws of justice, or the laws of wisdom inscribed
on love. The contradiction arises when you think God can act against the
laws of his own justice and love, which would not be acting with judg-
ment or with wisdom. Your belief entails a contradiction like that: on the
basis of grace alone, God can justify unjust people and bestow on them
all the gifts of salvation and all the rewards of life.
“I will briefly state what God’s omnipotence is. God used his
omnipotence to create the universe. As he did so, he built his own design
into each and every thing. God also uses his omnipotence to maintain
the universe. He forever guards its design and its laws. When anything
falls away from his design, he brings it back into the design and reinte-
grates it.
“God also used his omnipotence to establish the church. He revealed
the laws of its design in the Word. When the church slipped away from
the divine design, he restored it. When it fell completely out of the
divine design, he came down into the world. Through the human mani-
festation that he took on, he clothed himself with omnipotence and
reestablished the church.
[ 5 ] “God uses his omnipotence and also his omniscience to examine
us all after death. He prepares the just, the sheep, for their places in
heaven; by assigning them places he builds heaven. He prepares the
unjust, the goats, for their places in hell; by assigning them places he
builds hell. He arranges heaven into communities and hell into hordes
according to all the different loves their inhabitants have. In heaven there
are as many varieties of love as there are stars in the sky above the earth.
§74 god the creator & creation 99