The Emotional Nature of God's Love in Scripture
The emotional nature of God's love is a profound theme in Scripture, characterized by intense affection, compassion, and sacrifice. The biblical writers describe God's love using various terms that convey deep emotional resonance, such as "loving-kindness" [3], "affection" [1], and "love" (agapē) [4].
In the Old Testament, God's love is depicted as passionate and zealous, as seen in Zechariah 8:2, where the Lord's "passion" or "jealousy" is described as a fundamental aspect of His character [7]. This passion is not merely a figurative expression but a genuine emotional response to His people's faithfulness or unfaithfulness. The Psalmist's longing for God is another example, where David's "soul panteth, thirsteth, for God" (Psalm 42:1-2), illustrating the deep emotional yearning that arises from a loving relationship with God [8].
The New Testament further develops this theme, particularly in the context of Christ's love. Ephesians 3:19 speaks of "Christ's love which surpasses knowledge," emphasizing the boundless and incomprehensible nature of God's love [2]. This love is not merely an abstract concept but a tangible reality that is experienced through faith. The apostle Paul describes Christ's love as a sacrificial love, demonstrated through His offering of Himself as a sacrifice for humanity (Ephesians 5:2) [6].
The characteristics of God's love are also enumerated in 1 Corinthians 13:4, where love is described as "long-suffering," "kind," and not "envious" or "puffed up" [5]. According to John Gill, this passage highlights the various properties and characters of the grace of love, portraying it as a personified entity that reigns in the hearts of believers [11]. The believer's experience of God's love is thus not just an intellectual understanding but a deep emotional and spiritual reality that transforms their life.
The Puritan tradition, as represented by Matthew Henry, emphasizes the believer's affection for God's word as a manifestation of their love for God. Henry notes that David's love for God's law is an expression of his inner devotion, demonstrating that true love for God is accompanied by a deep affection for His word [9, 10].
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Affection — Feeling or emotion. Mention is made of "vile affections" (Rom. 1:26) and "inordinate affection" (Col. 3:5). Christians are exhorted to set their affections on things above (Col. 3:2). There is a distinction between natural and spiritual or gracious affections (Ezek. 33:32).”
- Ephesians “and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. -- Ephesians 3:19”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Loving-Kindness of God, The — Is through Christ -- Eph 2:7; Tit 3:4-6. Described as Great. -- Ne 9:17. Excellent. -- Ps 36:7. Good. -- Ps 69:16. Marvellous. -- Ps 17:7; 31:21. Multitudinous. -- Isa 63:7. Everlasting. -- Isa 54:8. Merciful. -- Ps 117:2. Better than life. -- Ps 63:3. Consideration of the dealings of God gives a knowledge of -- Ps 107:43. Saints Betrothed in. -- Ho 2:19. Drawn by. -- Jer 31:3. Preserved by. -- Ps 40:11. Quickened after. -- Ps 119:88. Comforted by. -- Ps 119:76. Look for mercy through. -- Ps 51:1. Receive mercy through. -- Isa 54:8. Are ”
- I John “I John 4:16 (ASV) — And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him.”
- I Corinthians “I Corinthians 13:4 (YLT) — The love is long-suffering, it is kind, the love doth not envy, the love doth not vaunt itself, is not puffed up,”
- Ephesians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ephesians 5:2: 5:2 Christ’s love is shown especially in his offering himself as a sacrifice for us (cp. 5:25; John 15:13; Rom 5:8). Christian love is motivated by and modeled after Christ’s sacrificial love (see Phil 2:5-8). • Paul draws on Old Testament imagery, where the smell of a burning sacrifice was a pleasing aroma to God (see Lev 1:9; 2:2; cp. Rom 12:1).”
- Zechariah (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Zechariah 8:2: 8:2 Passion (or jealousy, zeal) is a basic element of the Old Testament concept of God (see also 1:14). God’s passion identifies him as a personal deity, not an abstract natural force. God is passionate for his word and for the people of his covenant. His passion results in punishment for sin, restoration for repentance, and reward for the pursuit of righteousness.”
- Psalms (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Psalms 42:1: Holy love to God as the chief good and our felicity is the power of godliness, the very life and soul of religion, without which all external professions and performances are but a shell and carcase: now here we have some of the expressions of that love. Here is, I. Holy love thirsting, love upon the wing, soaring upwards in holy desires towards the Lord and towards the remembrance of his name (Psa 42:1, Psa 42:2): "My soul panteth, thirsteth, for God, for nothing more than God, but still for more and more of him." Now observe, 1. When it was that David thus expre”
- Psalms (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Psalms 119:97: Here is, 1. David's inexpressible love to the word of God: O how love I thy law! He protests his affection to the word of God with a holy vehemency; he found that love to it in his heart which, considering the corruption of his nature and the temptations of the world, he could not but wonder at, and at that grace which had wrought it in him. He not only loved the promises, but loved the law, and delighted in it after the inner man. 2. An unexceptionable evidence of this. What we love we love to think of; by this it appeared that David loved the word of God that ”
- Psalms (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Psalms 119:140: Here is, 1. David's great affection for the word of God: Thy servant loves it. Every good man, being a servant of God, loves the word of God, because it lets him know his Master's will and directs him in his Master's work. Wherever there is grace there is a warm attachment to the word of God. 2. The ground and reason of that affection; he saw it to be very pure, and therefore he loved it. Our love to the word of God is then an evidence of our love to God when we love it for the sake of its purity, because it bears the image of God's holiness and is designed to ”
- 1 Corinthians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Corinthians 13:4: Charity suffereth long,.... The apostle, in this and some following verses, enumerates the several properties and characters of the grace of love; and all along represents it as if it was a person, and no doubt designs one who is possessed of it, and in whose heart it is implanted and reigns; such an one is said to "suffer long", or be "patient", as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read; not only under afflictions by the hand of God, which such an one considers as arising from love; but under the reproaches and persecutions of men, for the sake of Christ”