Philippians 1:8
For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.
With the affection of Jesus Christ.
We know of God’s love, how He so loved the world. We think of His compassion, as the Good Shepherd for his poor sheep. But his affection—that word connotes a closeness, a personal concern that somehow gets down to our level. The love of God for His creation, the pitiful compassion of Christ for His sheep, these are terms which, for all the comfort they communicate, can sometimes still convey the emotions of a still too-distant God.
But his affection, his “Hey, I’m concerned about how you are to-day” conveys a closeness, a real closeness that at first seems incompatible with our understanding of the way an infinite God should be. But this is not any god, you see. This is the God who, when His glory is finally, fully revealed, will receive such an explosion of praise and wonder that, as the psalmist said, even the trees of the forest will clap their hands…
