Omnipotence
If you are familiar with the creed we call “the apostle’s creed” you will know that the first line of that creed goes like this: “I believe in god the father almighty. What is important to know, is that the Almightiness (=omnipotence in Latin) of God does not mean that God can do everything presently. God is omnipotent, and that means that he can do everything and anything, though that does not mean that he can do so at present (more of this as you read on).
God established an order
Once, a very long time ago, God created the earth and with it, the human race (according to Christian theology!). By doing that, he established an order of things which reflect a loving and righteous divine will. In short, it reflects the will of God. Important is that God chose to create the earth and the people that live on it. It was God’s divine choice to establish this order. And it is because of this, that that order will remain until the end of time (until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ ).
The Absolute and the Ordained power of God
Before God created the earth he had a power that we call “the absolute power of God”(potentia absoluta = term in Latin). In other words: God’s power was absolute. He had unlimited options and unlimited power. But God chose to create the world and by choosing to do this he put restrictions unto himself. For example: as you can see at least one option was closed to him now, for he could no longer choose not to create the world.” And so he now had/has a power called “the ordained power of God”(potentia ordinata).
Omnipotence in God’s power
So far it looks as if God is no longer omnipotent. To clarify that he is omnipotent:
God decided to create the world. He deliberately rejected the option of not creating it. So now God has limited options instead of unlimited. So does this mean that God is not almighty after all?? NO It does NOT mean that. God chose to create the world, He chose to limit his options. He committed himself to that course of action. And it is his divine will to stay committed to it.
I hope you can all see that God was, is and will always be omnipotent (or at least, if you’re not a Christian, understand what I’m trying to say). It was by his own divine choice that he limited his options. He acquired what we call “the ordained power” only because he wanted it to be so. At the end of time(only God the Father knows when that will be), that ordained power will have become the absolute power again, for the current world order will have been destroyed.
The last two paragraphs mean the same thing basically. But I wrote it differently to clarify the subject one last time.