September 14
September 14
Nothing is more miraculous and wonderful than the affection God has for you as one of his children.
It’s hard for me to express how much I love each of my children. They are all grown and married, but my love hasn’t waned. I get excited when we schedule time to be with them. The love I have for my children now flows over into a special affection for each of their own children. I pray for many people each morning, but my prayers for my children are different. Those prayers are infused with the affection and compassion of a father. Their burdens become my burdens. Their successes cause me to celebrate as though the achievements were my own. Although I know my love for my children is imperfect, I wonder whether it would be possible for me to love them more.
But then I consider the love our heavenly Father has for his children. We should never allow ourselves to forget, question, or devalue the miracle of God’s affection for each one of his children. God is not like an idol made of stone, incapable of emotions. Our theology reminds us that, although God the Father is without a body, he is a person. As a person, God has emotions, though his do not change like ours do. We know of God’s anger and his love, but maybe we have not thought enough about his fatherly affection that causes him to constantly look at us with tenderhearted compassion. Think about what it means that you have been chosen out of the mass of humanity to be the object of the affection of the one who sits on the throne of the universe in power and glory. This is who you are, this is your identity—not your job, marriage, university, friendships, or ministry. You are a child of the Father and the object of his perfect and eternal affection.
It is striking that this affection is powerfully expressed near the end of Hosea, which is essentially a prophecy of God’s judgment:
How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my burning anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a man,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath. (Hos. 11:8–9)
The affectionate love of God bleeds from these words. “How can I give you up? How can I hand you over?” His eternal love means he cannot help but look on his children with compassion. His eternal love means he cannot turn his back on them. He cannot treat them like the destroyed cities of Admah and Zeboiim.
God’s affection for his children is seen most clearly in the offering of his Son to pay the penalty for our sin. The Father’s affection drove Jesus to the cross. The Father’s affection drove Jesus out of the tomb. The Father’s affection placed Jesus at his right hand as our intercessor. Our hope is found in the Father’s affection.