I wrote this last may. I was re reading it. I really just love to think about this...
What is beauty? How do we know what is beautiful in the world? Colors are beautiful. Sunsets are beautiful. People are beautiful. Loving people is beautiful. Love is beautiful. God is love, and God is beauty. It comes back to the whole absolute truth discussion. How can one know what truth is without there being a god? God is absolute truth and the only way we can know this absolute truth is from God and his Word. So, just as we only know absolute truth from our omniscient God, the only way we can know beauty is because of our glorious God who created all things to be beautiful. John Piper said it like this that made a lot more sense to me:
“Suppose that you were standing by the Grand Canyon at sunset with two other people. You become deeply moved and utter the words, "This is beautiful; this is glorious." The person beside you says, "Beautiful? It's just a big, ugly ditch." And the third person says, "I guess I hear what both of you are saying. And I think those are equally valid statements." And it is true that unless there is a higher aesthetic court of appeal than man, those two judgments are equally valid.”
I was reading in Exodus when God came to Moses to give him the old covenant. Moses came back down the mountain to the Israelites and his face was glowing from being in the presence of God. Not even the Israelites could look steady at Moses’ face because he saw a glimpse of the glory and beauty of God. (2 Corinthians 3:7). Well, I read a sermon by John Piper called “Jesus Is Precious Because We Yearn For Beauty”. (For some reason tonight I am fascinated by just the meaning of “beauty”.) John Piper got me thinking about the glory and beauty that Moses and the Israelites had witnessed because of God giving them the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was glorious to the Israelites for it was their way to experience and know God through sacrifices and the laws God had given them. But now, God has given us the greatest gift of all: the new covenant! We, as Christians, should be able to experience and know beauty more than ever before! 2 Corinthians 3:8-9 says “will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious (beautiful), how much more glorious (beautiful) is the ministry that brings righteousness!” This new covenant is of God sending his one and only son, Jesus, to die the death that takes away the sins of the world! This covers all the sins I have ever committed and will commit and the sins of you and everyone else that has ever lived and is still to come. God has given us his Spirit so that we may see the beauty of the Lord and have everlasting freedom. God is holding this everlasting and most beautiful gift ever out in front of us. All we have to do is accept it from Him (Ephesians 2:8-9).
God is beauty. Since I am a follower and have accepted his Spirit to live inside of me, I have the amazing and undeserved privilege to experience perfect beauty. I know that I am beautiful because Christ lives inside of me, and I just want to live for Him. Just tonight I made a list of what is beautiful in my life. The list just kept flowing. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1.
John Piper says this, “If there is no personal God, then the concept of beauty dissolves into personal idiosyncrasy.” And I believe this whole-heartedly.
“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to the end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
God sending Jesus down to earth to die for me has now given me a hope and joy that keeps me living for Him every day. People wonder why I am always smiling, laughing, or enjoying the stupid little things that might mean nothing to anyone else but me. The reason for this is because I find beauty in my Savior, Jesus Christ, and can’t help but be excited about it. :-)
