The Emotions
The greatest memory verse to memorize, we used to joke as kids, was the smallest verse in the Bible. “Jesus wept.” I would never imagine the impact that verse has on me today. Jesus wept!
But what is this? Does God have emotions? Is that what you are insinuating here? But God is immutable (unchanging), emotion is a weakness we humans have to suffer through, surely God does not have emotions he has to fight through. I mean sure, the Bible explains things better to us by use of emotions, but that is a literary form, like personification - attributing human characteristics to inanimate objects. We do this to better understand something, in the same way God expresses himself through emotions so we can better understand?...
We are made in God’s image, so unless we conclude that emotions are a part of the fall of man, emotions are a part of God’s image formed in us. Emotions are not evil, though they can lead us to sin, so I do not think we can say that emotions came about because of the fall. Emotions were affected by the fall, but emotions predated the fall of man.
So God has emotions? I think this is an important fact to think about, God feels anger when we do not heed his warnings. God feels sorrow when we fail to live up to his standards. God feels joy and laughs with us when we celebrate. He cries with us when we mourn and is indignant at injustice when we feel mistreated. And he loves us when we feel hopeless.
God’s emotions are in perfect balance with God’s will and purposes. They do not confuse him or alter his mind. There is no inner struggle with feelings or overwhelming tides of emotions that override logical thought. God has perfect control over His emotions, unlike us who many times find our emotions in control over us.
The implications that ‘God feels’ is immense. It means that He can relate to what we are going through, He can sympathize, He can understand, He is capable of feeling those same things, and it also means that we can trust Him with our feelings.
So many times people search for that feeling of closeness with God, many times God takes us through times of trial where we feel separated from His presence. We do not feel His presence or anything really. We feel....nothing. Does this mean God is not present? No. Our relationship does not and should not rest upon our feelings, for our feelings are fleeting and changes with the wind. God wants a relationship that rests upon something more foundational. We do not form friendships based upon how we feel in the moment, if that were the case we would not have friends for long. No it is based upon relationship, communication, trust, and vulnerability.
Our feelings, like the rest of our being, has been affected by sin, but God is the epitome of emotions. He is perfect in balance and unimaginable in application. We do not have to be afraid of a God who cannot relate to us, Jesus wept. He is truly an emotional God. That is not a weakness nor an imbalance that we should be afraid of. It is a beautiful wonder that should embolden us in greater love to Him.
Jared Williams
But what is this? Does God have emotions? Is that what you are insinuating here? But God is immutable (unchanging), emotion is a weakness we humans have to suffer through, surely God does not have emotions he has to fight through. I mean sure, the Bible explains things better to us by use of emotions, but that is a literary form, like personification - attributing human characteristics to inanimate objects. We do this to better understand something, in the same way God expresses himself through emotions so we can better understand?...
We are made in God’s image, so unless we conclude that emotions are a part of the fall of man, emotions are a part of God’s image formed in us. Emotions are not evil, though they can lead us to sin, so I do not think we can say that emotions came about because of the fall. Emotions were affected by the fall, but emotions predated the fall of man.
So God has emotions? I think this is an important fact to think about, God feels anger when we do not heed his warnings. God feels sorrow when we fail to live up to his standards. God feels joy and laughs with us when we celebrate. He cries with us when we mourn and is indignant at injustice when we feel mistreated. And he loves us when we feel hopeless.
God’s emotions are in perfect balance with God’s will and purposes. They do not confuse him or alter his mind. There is no inner struggle with feelings or overwhelming tides of emotions that override logical thought. God has perfect control over His emotions, unlike us who many times find our emotions in control over us.
The implications that ‘God feels’ is immense. It means that He can relate to what we are going through, He can sympathize, He can understand, He is capable of feeling those same things, and it also means that we can trust Him with our feelings.
So many times people search for that feeling of closeness with God, many times God takes us through times of trial where we feel separated from His presence. We do not feel His presence or anything really. We feel....nothing. Does this mean God is not present? No. Our relationship does not and should not rest upon our feelings, for our feelings are fleeting and changes with the wind. God wants a relationship that rests upon something more foundational. We do not form friendships based upon how we feel in the moment, if that were the case we would not have friends for long. No it is based upon relationship, communication, trust, and vulnerability.
Our feelings, like the rest of our being, has been affected by sin, but God is the epitome of emotions. He is perfect in balance and unimaginable in application. We do not have to be afraid of a God who cannot relate to us, Jesus wept. He is truly an emotional God. That is not a weakness nor an imbalance that we should be afraid of. It is a beautiful wonder that should embolden us in greater love to Him.
Jared Williams
