Daily Affirmations - Day 6 - The Father Himself Loves You - The Father of Compassion

Day 6: The Father of compassion

So in Christ Jesus we are children of God through faith

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him… (Psalm 103:13)

O Lord, in all the matchless, inimitable ways that You are God; in all the innumerable attributes that set You apart, You chose to reveal Yourself again and again as "the God, the Father of compassion" (Exodus 34:6, Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 103:8, 2 Corinthians 1:3).

It was Your compassion that provided covering for the first humans in the Garden of Eden when they brought destruction and misery into their own lives and into human posterity by willfully opposing the God who loved them. In mercy You covered them, as woefully and dangerously exposed, they struggled to hide under the pathetic patchwork of fig leaves they had cobbled together (Genesis 3:1-13, 21).

Their attempt to hide—to shield themselves from the consequences of sin was futile. The heinous nature of sin can only be cleansed by sacrifice, for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22). And even then You explained that Your covering of animal skins was temporary—It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Hebrews 10:4).

Only God Himself could provide the power and the purity to cover completely and to eradicate the evil unleashed in the world. Full expungement of evil could only be accomplished by one sacrifice that alone could make perfect forever (Hebrews 10:14).

In compassion, You sent Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God to be that sacrifice (1 Peter 1:19, 1 John 4:10). In compassion He tended to all the obvious ravages of sin on bodies, minds, and emotions as He ministered to the sick and the harassed and the helpless (Matthew 4:24, 9:36). But He also reached into the deeper human need for cleansing, and forgiveness; for He knew that sickness and disease were only symptoms of the greater problem of pervasive sin.

In compassion He befriended the lonely, the despised, and the outcast (Matthew 9:10-12). In compassion He mourned over death—brought into the world by sin; He wept over its toll on loved ones (John 11:35). And in compassion He grieved deeply over a people who rejected His goodness, His shelter, His safety, and His tender love (Matthew 23:37).

In compassion He told the good news about the kingdom of God (Luke 9:11)— the kingdom He would give to all who would accept it (Luke 12:32). And in compassion, He opened wide the door to the kingdom, bearing the penalty for sin and removing forever the scourge that had trampled humanity since that terrible decision made by the first humans in that once-perfect garden... Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering... (Isaiah 53:4).

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion!... (2 Corinthians1:3).

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