#29 On the Nature of God: How does God the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit feel?

How do you feel today? Good? Sad? Uneasy? Angry? All of us have feelings which vary every day. Our feelings govern which actions we take. Sometimes we raise our voice to our mates and/or our children when we are frustrated with what they do or say. At other times, our mates and/or children do wonderful things for us, and we laugh aloud in our pleasure.

But what about the three parts of the Godhead? Do They have feelings? Are They ever happy or angry? Many of us picture the Trinity as stoic Beings, not laughing or crying. But is that how They are? What can we learn about Their feelings?

The first point to realize is that They are unlike humans. They never let feelings drive Them into sin. Despite being crucified by the Jews, Jesus did not commit sin, 1 John 3:5:

“You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.”

So…They never let emotions get out of hand and commit sin.

Several Bible passages indicate that the Lord can be happy. Consider Psalms 104:31-32:

“May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works…”

The Lord rejoices in His creative works which give Him glory.

The Lord can be pleased with the actions and words of men. When Solomon offered 1000 sacrifices in worship, the Lord asked in a dream what He could give Solomon. Solomon answered with a request for an understanding mind so he could do the job of governing God’s people as king.

Note the response of the Lord, 1 Kings 3:10:

“It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.”

Solomon received more than he asked for—wisdom and riches and fame.

This shows the Lord is conscious of how people worship and how they respond to His will in their lives and is pleased with good behavior and attitude.

Jesus had feelings, Matthew 14:14:

“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

His compassion continued until the evening when He miraculously fed them.

Jesus also could feel sadness, John 11:33-36:

“When Jesus saw her weeping… he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?”…“Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

Jesus saw the weeping and felt deeply. He then raised Lazarus from the dead. He knows how we feel.

The Lord certainly shows the emotion of hatred, Proverbs 6:16-19:

“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”

The Lord hates sin. In fact, continual unrepentant sin causes a negative reaction, Genesis 6:5-6:

“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.”

The Lord was so unhappy that He decided to destroy all of mankind except Noah in the flood.

Note how the Israelites were warned, Exodus 34:14:

“…for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God…”

The Apostle Paul warned about the feelings of the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:30:

“…do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed…”

We can ignore the Holy-Spirit-inspired word of God, turn to sin and disbelief, and grieve the Spirit.

Jesus knew about hard hearts. Although He did miracles and helped people, the Pharisees did not believe, Mark 3:5:

“And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart…”

When Jesus then healed a man, they plotted to kill Him.

Note the response when Moses did not want to obey the Lord and speak to Pharoah, Exodus 4:11:

“Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well.”

Years later, when the children of Israel turned away from God and worshipped idols, the Lord sent prophet after prophet to bring them back. Although they would not repent, Hosea expressed how God felt, Hosea 11:8:

“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.”

God still loved them despite the awful sin of idolatry and continued to send prophets to turn them back to Him.

By New Testament days, most of God’s people had gone astray. But God still acted to save the faithful and obedient, John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

This knowledge of God’s feelings should lead us to control our feelings, Ephesians 4:26-27:

“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.”

Anger in itself is not a sin unless it drives us to commit some sin or is carried on day after day.

Part of knowing about the nature of God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is to realize that they have feelings.

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