About a year after Rachel and I moved to Romania, I learned that a friend of mine had recently moved to Moscow, Russia to be a missionary there. I obtained his email address and sent him a picture of my little girl. A day or two later he sent a picture of his little girl, about Jewell’s age, and wrote in his email: “My daughter is prettier than your daughter.” I try to be tactful; sometimes I am sure that I don’t accomplish that goal and I apologize if my words don’t come out kind and graceful. But I think I was tactful at that point because I wrote back and said, “I hope I never meet a dad who doesn’t think that his daughter is the prettiest in the world.”
What is your definition of “beauty”?
Here are a few words that I want us to keep in mind as we discuss the nature of our God: pleasing; appealing; excellent; delight. When it comes to describing God, I think we should get this very simple idea in mind: God is a Person we would want to be around. We would want to be in His presence. He is beautiful. In His appearance, in His nature, in His character. I like the personality of my surgeon who did my colon operation last October. He’s a person that I would like to just go have coffee with.
Let’s think more about God as a beautiful person…
GOD IS BEAUTIFUL:
Psalm 84 begins with these words: “How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts” (Psalm 84:1). The Hebrew word translated “lovely” here is used a total of 8 times and in the NASV, it is always translated “beloved” except here. So we could translate this verse: “How beloved are your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts.” Do you love being in God’s presence in worship?
Aren’t there places you love to be? Aren’t there people, with whom you like to just “hang out” with?
God is that type of Person. He is beautiful. Because of His character, we will want to be with Him, around Him, in His presence.
God’s beauty is a reflection of His perfection. Again, there is nothing sinful, wrong, bad or imperfect about God. Nothing in His nature has been touched by sin. That’s why God is beautiful. So all beauty comes from God. When you and I create something beautiful, we are only reflecting the nature of our Creator. If you paint, you are painting what God has already created. If you create a sculpture, you are only sculpting what God has already created. If you write poetry, you are only writing what God has already created. All beauty comes from God.
THE BEAUTY OF GOD IS REFLECTED IN JESUS CHRIST:
In 2 Corinthians 4:6, Paul wrote: “For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Since we have already seen that “beauty” when applied to God can be synonymous with “glory,” then we can paraphrase this verse to say that God has “shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the beauty of God in the face of Christ.”
Why would you say that Jesus is “beautiful?” As I mention just seven qualities we love in Jesus, remember that He reflects the nature of God…
#1 – His compassion.
#2 – His service.
#3 – His love.
#4 – His forgiveness.
#5 – His commitment.
#6 – His relationship with God.
#7 – His gentleness.
We know that Jesus was not “handsome” in the way that people tend to describe physical attraction. Isaiah the prophet said of the Messiah, He has no “appearance that we should be attracted to Him” (Isa. 53:2). But Jesus was and is a beautiful person, because He reflects the nature of our Creator.
OUR RESPONSE TO GOD’S BEAUTY:
We should praise God for His beauty.
We should honor God for His beauty.
We should stand in awe of God for His beauty.
We should also enjoy God’s beauty.
We should anticipate God’s beauty in heaven.
God is beautiful. He is delightful, pleasing, excellent, and adorable. Live for Him so you can one day live with Him.
Paul Holland
