The Affection of Christ

For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:8 NKJV).

Since the word “affection” jumped off the page at me, I decided to look it up in Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary.  The definition was quite revealing:

1. The state of being affected;

2. Passion;

3. A bent of mind towards a particular object, holding a middle place between disposition, which is natural, and passion, which is excited by the presence of its exciting object. Affection is a permanent bent of the mind, formed by the presence of an object, or by some act of another person, and existing without the presence of its object.

4. In a more particular sense, a settle good will, love or zealous attachment;

5. Desire; inclination; propensity;

6. An attribute, quality or property, which is inseparable from its object.

The distilled results of these definitions give us the following understanding of what Paul is saying – He has a heart that is excited and zealous for the Philippian believers and that is inseparable from who they are.  What is even more amazing is to think that Paul compares how he feels about these believers to how the Lord feels about us. 

The “affection of Jesus Christ” towards us is a bent of mind that is permanent, exists whether we are together or apart, and is excited by our very presence.  Now, that is not at all how most of us would think Jesus would feel towards us.  Even on a good day, we often consider him a bit aloof – loving and approving, but somewhat distant.  We can often let the holiness of God and the all too, ever present, reality of our sinfulness keep our relationship with God in a sterile place that has nothing to do with feelings and affection.  We can view His love as generic and central to who He is, rather than in this way of personal and up close affection and connected to who we are.  And we certainly don’t think of His feelings towards us as being zealous, passionate, and influenced by us. 

As uncomfortable as this term “affection of Jesus Christ” might make us on the one hand, there is a very real humbling of the heart that takes place when the truth of this principle actually permeates our minds and informs our souls.   Christ is our fiancé whose heart, like any other human fiancé’s heart, jumps when He sees His bride.  How awkward and awesome; how uncomfortable and comforting, how sobering and exciting.  How weird that one little term out of an entire book can breathe fresh life into our understanding of the relationship we are so privileged to enjoy with God.

I will spend today contemplating the fact that God is excited about me, passionate, zealous, and permanently affected by just being in my presence.  I knew that was true for me about Him, but never even considered that was true for Him about me.