God’s Attributes (Part 9) He is an Emotional God
A story is told about the little Scottish boy who refuses to eat two nasty, shriveled prunes on his plate? His mother entices and pleads with him to eat them. Finally she tells him, as she has many times before, that if he doesn’t obey her, God will be angry. Usually it works, but this time the stubborn child holds out, and the mother, herself angry, sends him straight to bed. No sooner does he get there than a storm sets in, with lightning and thunder crashing around them. Feeling contrite and thinking that her child must be terrified, the mother sneaks to her son’s room to reassure him. She opens the door quietly, expecting to find him burrowed under the covers. But no, he is at the window, peering out into the night. As she watches, he shakes his head and says in an incredulous, reproving voice, “Such a fuss to make over two prunes!”
“Does God have emotions?” Of Course!
Over the past 2 months I’ve talked about some of the amazing attributes of God, from being all powerful, and eternal beyond the limits of time, to His perfect holiness and merciful nature. Today I would briefly like to touch on the fact that our God is an emotional being.
We can cite numerous passages of Scripture that speak to God’s emotions. Since God made us in His image, we should assume our emotions are a reflection of His.
Based on Scripture we know that God experiences: Joy, even laughter, also Anger, mercy, compassion, grief, hate, sorrow, love and jealously.
But since our God is holy and righteous, His emotions are not clouded or tainted by sin like ours. If anything, His anger, jealousy, sorrow, grief, and hate, are because of others who sin, yet He remains holy.
For Example in Genesis 6 it says this, “5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”
If you get anything out of this lesson today, I want you to see this one thing; Our God, God the creator and sustainer of this universe, the almighty, all powerful, eternal One is emotionally effected by what we say and do.
Like a loving parent who moved by what’s going on in their children’s life, God is just as linked to us. When our children do something bad it disappoints us. Likewise, when we sin, we grieve His Spirit.
When we feel bad about a sin and repent, God shows mercy and forgives us just like when a child goes to their mom in tears and says, “Mommy, I sorry.”.
God feels our pain when we share it with Him. Do you remember the shortest verse in the Bible? Two words; “Jesus wept.” Why because those who were around Him were crying. He actually felt their pain and cried with them. Remember, Jesus was God incarnate, or God in the flesh.
God celebrates our joys when we share them with Him; He glories in our prayers of praise and thanksgiving. He understands and feels with us….
But also I believe He wants us to learn how to handle our feelings and emotions properly because sometime they can get out of hand and lead to more sin.
And this is where we differ from our Heavenly Father. Even though we are created in His image and likeness and may experience some of the same emotions He does, because He is always Holy, He never sins, no matter what he is feeling. Unlike us who get carried away by our emotions sometimes. Consider Adam and Eves son. Genesis 4:2-8 “Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.”
This what can happen when we let our emotions get out of control. And so throughout scripture He does His best to teach us how to handle properly those emotions we have.
It’s ok to have emotions and feel things but we need to be careful. For example I like what the Spirit of God moves Paul to write in Romans 12:9ff. He says, “.
9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
“I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.
20 Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”
21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”
We have to be careful not to let our emotions get out of control. At times it’s reasonable to get angry, and upset, and even hate certain things that are totally disgusting and ungodly. God did, Jesus did, but what we do with those emotions is what get us into trouble. We can either act in a holy righteous manner like our Father in heaven or as Jesus did, or we can lose control and do or say something bad and end up in sin. – Like Cain!
“Peter writes in his first epistle, “prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” (1:13-16)
So on our part, it’s all about self control.
Isn’t amazing how much God cares for us, so much so that He even feels for us! How blessed we are to have a God and a Savior who loves us that much!
The Hebrew writer encourages us by stating, “14 Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (4:14-16)
Brethren, our God is an awesome God. He is all Powerful, Beyond the limits of time and space, All know, Ever present, Holy, Righteous and Just, Patient and Merciful, Caring and nurturing, and yes, He is an emotional being.
So I say, do your best not to grieve or disappoint Him. Make Him proud of who you are and what you have become. I say let us do our best to make Him proud and put a smile on His face!
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