DOES GOD CARE?
"Where have you put him?" he asked. "Lord, come and see," they replied, and at this Jesus himself wept. John 11:34, 35, Phillips.
On those few occasions when artists have attempted a portrait of God the Father, they seem to have been stuck with those sterner qualities of justice and power that describe the Almighty. And we who, as children, formed our first impressions of God from the pictures in our books, had trouble feeling close to Him in our tender moments. We didn't see Him as tender. We were comforted that at least Jesus had that capacity.
I, for one, am glad that when Jesus said He had come to show us the Father, He had clearer perceptions of His Father than most current artists. And I watch carefully the subtleties of Jesus' manner and style, grasping every shade and shape to add to my refining understanding of God. I have come to believe that had Jesus remained in heaven and had the Father come to earth to live and to die among men, the New Testament history we have would not be changed one bit.
And so I was warmed to read that when His close friend Lazarus died and Jesus was mingling among sorrowing people, His tears flowed with theirs. I am somehow both comforted and touched to realize that, should I be lost, my Father would weep for me. A Spirit-placed tug in my heart goes beyond mere lists of qualities about God that my intellect can appreciate. I am living in the presence of a whole Person, with sensitivities of the heart that answer to those which He Himself placed in my own heart. If He can weep with sadness, then can His eyes not also brim over with joy when His children come home?
We are not talking about a weak sentimental God--the kind some lightweight gospel music tries to glorify, who fawns over His children with maudlin gushiness. Rather He combines great strength with true kindness. He shows me that I can be a manly Christian, yet still feel the full range of proper human emotion. He presents a Christianity that affirms fully developed personalities, completely alive to others, able to "rejoice with those who rejoice, [and] weep with those who weep" (Rom. 12:15, R.S.V.). Though, in the new earth He will wipe away the tears of sadness, I suspect we shall more than once weep together for sheer joy.
"Where have you put him?" he asked. "Lord, come and see," they replied, and at this Jesus himself wept. John 11:34, 35, Phillips.
On those few occasions when artists have attempted a portrait of God the Father, they seem to have been stuck with those sterner qualities of justice and power that describe the Almighty. And we who, as children, formed our first impressions of God from the pictures in our books, had trouble feeling close to Him in our tender moments. We didn't see Him as tender. We were comforted that at least Jesus had that capacity.
I, for one, am glad that when Jesus said He had come to show us the Father, He had clearer perceptions of His Father than most current artists. And I watch carefully the subtleties of Jesus' manner and style, grasping every shade and shape to add to my refining understanding of God. I have come to believe that had Jesus remained in heaven and had the Father come to earth to live and to die among men, the New Testament history we have would not be changed one bit.
And so I was warmed to read that when His close friend Lazarus died and Jesus was mingling among sorrowing people, His tears flowed with theirs. I am somehow both comforted and touched to realize that, should I be lost, my Father would weep for me. A Spirit-placed tug in my heart goes beyond mere lists of qualities about God that my intellect can appreciate. I am living in the presence of a whole Person, with sensitivities of the heart that answer to those which He Himself placed in my own heart. If He can weep with sadness, then can His eyes not also brim over with joy when His children come home?
We are not talking about a weak sentimental God--the kind some lightweight gospel music tries to glorify, who fawns over His children with maudlin gushiness. Rather He combines great strength with true kindness. He shows me that I can be a manly Christian, yet still feel the full range of proper human emotion. He presents a Christianity that affirms fully developed personalities, completely alive to others, able to "rejoice with those who rejoice, [and] weep with those who weep" (Rom. 12:15, R.S.V.). Though, in the new earth He will wipe away the tears of sadness, I suspect we shall more than once weep together for sheer joy.
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