“There is a natural inclination in the creature, not only to the adoration of a glorious being infinitely superior, but to friendship, to love and delight in a fellow creature, one that may be familiarly conversed with and enjoyed; and virtue and holiness don’t destroy or weaken this inclination.That God therefore might also be the object of the exercise of this natural inclination of ours, of our love and friendship to a companion, God has come down to us, has taken our nature, and is become one of us, that he might be our companion; so that there is now provision made, that we may have sufficient vent for all our inclination and love, in God and towards him. (Christ conversed in the most mild, sweet, familiar, and humane manner with his disciples.)If this inclination in us be sanctified and governed and directed by a holy principle, as it ought to be, we shall need no other person to exercise it upon than Jesus Christ; but in him it can be immensely better satisfied, than in any other object. There is everything in him, in the highest perfection, that tends to answer this inclination of ours. He stands in a relation to us the most advantageous for this possible. He has those qualifications that are the most endearing and qualifying for a friend possible; and he hath done that for us which, above all things conceivable, tends to attract our hearts and unite them to him, in entire love and confidence.”Jonathan Edwards