THE BEAUTY OF GOD Written and edited by Glenn Pease

I�TRODUCTIO�

Much of the material here is a part of my commentary on Psalm 27:4, but I have

done this study too because many will not find it in the study of the Psalm. It is more

conspicuous as a separate study. The beauty of God is so vast that even these two

studies do not scratch the surface of it. I intend to do more study of other Scriptures

that exalt the beauty of God. It is a subject more important than we realize, for

beauty is the key to true worship, and all of us need all the help we can get to

worship our Lord and Savior in a manner that is worthy of his majesty and grace.

1. Many years ago when my grandchildren were young, I wrote a song that they

sang at a Spring banquet. It is based on the words of Eccles. 3:11 “He has made

everything beautiful in its time.”

I PRAISE YOU LORD FOR ALL OF THESE,

THE BUZZ OF BEES, THE BIRDS I� TREES;

THE SOFTLY BLOWI�G EVE�I�G BREEZE;

EVE� POLLE� THAT MAKES ME S�EEZE.

�OTHI�G OF SPRI�G CA� ME DISPLEASE.

LORD I THA�K YOU FOR ALL OF THESE.

I PRAISE YOU LORD FOR ALL OF THOSE,

THE SU� THAT GLOWS O� CRIMSO� ROSE;

THE CROPS FROM WHICH THEY MAKE MY CLOTHES

THE LOVELY SMELLS THAT REACH MY �OSE

BEAUTY THAT I�SPIRES RHYME A�D PROSE

LORD I THA�K YOU FOR ALL OF THOSE.

I PRAISE YOU LORD FOR ALL OF THIS

THE PEACEFUL BLISS, THE MOO� LIGHT KISS

THE BUTTERFLY FROM CHRYSALIS

FLOWERS BRIGHT FROM DARK ABYSS.

ABSE�CE OF THE PESSIMIST

LORD I THA�K YOU FOR ALL THIS.

I PRAISE YOU LORD FOR ALL OF THAT

THE FRISKY CAT, THE FRIGHT�I�G BAT.

THE SIBLI�G THAT CA� BE A BRAT;

COWS THAT EAT TILL THEY GET FAT.

GREAT THI�GS ARE EVERYWHERE YOU’RE AT

LORD I THA�K YOU FOR ALL OF THAT.

I PRAISE YOU LORD FOR EVERYTHI�G

YOUR LOVE CA� BRI�G, I� TIME OF SPRI�G

THE THI�GS THAT CRAWL, THE THI�GS THAT SWI�G

THE THI�GS THAT SWIM OR GO BY WI�G.

THEY ALL JOI� I� A�D WITH ME SI�G

LORD I THA�K YOU FOR EVERYTHI�G.

2. The author of all beauty is Himself the very essence of beauty. There would be no

beauty if God was not a beautiful being who loves beauty, and who desired that

those made in His image should have a world of beauty to enjoy. The Scripture is

very clear that God is beautiful, and the world he created is an expression of that

beauty. Man loves beauty and creates beauty because he is made in the image of

God, and, therefore has a thing for beauty just like God does. Someone put it this

way, "We are made in God’s image, and the result is we too have an appreciation of

beauty and can, like God, create beauty. We are one of, if not the highest, of God’s

artistic creations. Adam and Eve were perfect specimens of the human body and

mind, and artists have all through history tried to portray them in the fulness of

their beauty. We love the beauty of the naked body because of its erotic appeal, but

also because of its aesthetic appeal. It is just a pleasant site to behold the ideal body

of the male or female. It is a work of art that came directly from God. The beauty of

man tells us something of the beauty of God." Dante said, "Heat cannot be

separated from fire, or beauty from the eternal."

3. It is one of our greatest pleasures in life to enjoy the beauty of what God has

created. It is a fallen world, but even as defective as it is, it is so beautiful that man is

compelled to reproduce it in paintings and art of all kinds so that we can bring it

inside our homes, churches and other buildings to enjoy when we are not outside to

see it. But as awesome as all the beauty that God created is, our focus needs to first

be on Author of all that beauty. Augustine said, “�ow all things are beautiful

because You have made them, but behold, You are inexpressibly more beautiful,

who made them all.” Someone else said, “The beauty of God is vast. To enjoy

flowers for their loveliness is good, but far greater it is to see behind their purity and

beauty the face of God.” Because it is so, I want to call your attention to what the

Bible says about the beauty of God. Four key texts that actually refer to his beauty

directly are:

Ps 27:4* One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may

dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the

LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

Ps 90:17* And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou

the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Isa 28:5* In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a

diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

Isa 33:17* Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that

is very far off.

4. Though it is true that we all love beauty, the fact is we do not love beauty the way

David did, for seldom to never have we made it our primary prayer, as he does in

Ps. 27:4, that we be allowed to behold the beauty of God. I confess that it is not a

prayer that I have offered often if ever before I studied the beauty of God. Maybe it

would be a step in the right direction of spiritual growth to add God’s beauty to

your prayer list. I have a hunch that we all miss a great deal of spiritual beauty

because we are not really seeking it. �otice that it is just the one thing that David

wants at this point in his life, and he is going to seek after it as well as ask God for it.

He knows that God demands human cooperation in getting answers to prayer. We

have to put forth an effort to help our prayers to be answered. He will not only ask

it but seek it. He will not just wait but go for it. He pursues that for which he prays.

"The reason David was compelled to "seek after" this attribute of God was simply

because he was a child of God. "The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all

them that have pleasure therein." (Ps. 111:2) If we truly are children of God, should

we not have pleasure in seeking out the works of the LORD?" And this is specially

so when seeking out the beauty of God himself.

5. Scholars tell us that David wrote this Psalm when his son Absalom had rebelled

against him and sent him on the run from his throne. His own son was his enemy,

and many of his people followed him, and David was in exile. There was much

ugliness all about him in his circumstances, and he longs for the house of God where

all is peace and beauty. He longs for escape from the ugliness of his circumstances.

Beauty is a great escape, and that is why winter weary people flee to Florida or hop

over to Hawaii. That is why they flee the city to go to the beauty of the woods and

lakes, or possibly the mountains. Beauty has healing power to restore the tired and

weary.

6. Victor Frankl is famous for his writings about soldiers in Hitler's concentration

camps, and on this issue he wrote, "As the inner life of the prisoner tended to

become more intense, he also experienced the beauty of art and nature as never

before…we were carried away by nature's beauty, which we had missed for so long.

"In camp, too, a man might draw the attention of a comrade working next to him to

a nice view of the setting sun shining through the tall trees of the Bavarian

woods…Standing outside we saw sinister clouds glowing in the west and the whole

sky alive with clouds of ever-changing shapes and colours, from steel blue to

red…Then, after minutes of moving silence, one prisoner said to another, 'How

beautiful the world could be.'" David is weary and need restoration, and he seeks it

in the house of God and in gazing on the beauty of God. Of course the house of God

itself is a thing of great beauty. The worship of God has always been surrounded

with the beauty of expensive jewelry and gold and silver, and art work by skilled

workmen. Solomon’s temple was greater than what David could imagine, but there

was much beauty already in the house of God.

7. Spurgeon wrote, “Under David's painful circumstances we might have expected

him to desire repose, safety, and a thousand other good things, but no, he has set his

heart on the pearl, and leaves the rest. That will I seek after.” His focus is narrow,

and he wants to specialize at this point, for beauty is his top priority, and especially

the beauty of God. Long before Paul made his great statement about his single

minded goal, David makes his, “This one thing I do” statement. They are both along

the same line, for Paul says, ““Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold

of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is

ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ

Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14. When you are striving for eternal and spiritual goals,

you never fully get there until you are taken there by God, but it makes the journey

of life so much more fulfilling when you have a supreme goal that is pleasing to God

and fills you with passion to achieve. You are willing to part with all else to get that

Pearl of great price. Alexander Pope put it, “One master passion in the breast. Like

Aaron fs serpent, swallows up the rest. h

8.Dr. B. B. Warfield writes about how we tend to look at windows rather than look

through them when it comes to nature. “A glass window stands before us. We raise

our eyes and see the glass; we note its quality, and observe its defects; we speculate

on its composition. Or we look straight through it on the great prospect of land and

sea and sky beyond. So there are two ways of looking at the world. We may see the

world and absorb ourselves in the wonders of nature. That is the scientific way. Or

we may look right through the world and see God behind it. That is the religious

way. The scientific way of looking at the world is not wrong any more than the

glass-manufacturer’s way of looking at the window. This way of looking at things

has its very important uses. �evertheless the window was placed there not to be

looked at but to be looked through; and the world has failed of its purpose unless it

too is looked through and the eye rests not on it but on its God.

9. The author of Genesis has not written the creation account for the glass maker.

Rather he urges us to look through the glass of his account to the Creator behind it

all. In Rom 1 we are said to be judged by what is revealed in nature, for it points to

the reality of God, and so those who do not see beyond nature to God are blind to

the light of nature." All beauty is a window, and so when you see it, do not stop at

just looking at it, but look through it to the Beautiful One who made it so beautiful.

Albert Camus the famous French atheist could see that beauty was real and spoke of

something beyond man, but he could not see through the window, and he wrote, "At

the heart of all beauty lies something inhuman, and these hills, the softness of the

sky, the outline of these trees at this very minute lose the illusory meaning with

which we had clothed them, henceforth more remote than a lost paradise... that

denseness and that strangeness of the world is absurd." Beauty was absurd, for he

could not see the mind behind it all. It was just meaningless order and harmony of

material. Such is that which they see who have no God. Confucius was right when

he said, "Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." W. Somerset Maugham

said, "Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be

said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all." But he

was wrong, you can say thank you Lord for making this rose smell so pleasant. All

beauty leads us back to God if we are aware of his presence as the author of the

beauty and one standing along side of us enjoying it with us.

10. Lin Yutang died in 1976. He was one of the greatest scholars and authors in

China. He became a Confucius convert and wrote many books. His most famous is

The Importance of Living, which became a runaway best seller. He wrote in it the

chapter Why I Am a Pagan. He spent his last decade in �ew York and one Sunday

his wife persuaded him to go to Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church. He was

overwhelmed by the beauty of the teachings of Jesus. He wrote, “God as Jesus

revealed him, is so different from what men thought him to be. There is a totally

new order of love and compassion in Jesus’ prayer from the cross, ‘Father, forgive

them; for they know not what they do.’ That voice, unknown in history before,

reveals God as forgiving, not in theory, but visibly forgiving as revealed in Christ.

�o other teacher said with such meaning, ‘In as much as ye have done it unto one of

the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.’ The ‘me’ in this context is

God sitting on the Day of Judgment with a first concern for the downtrodden poor,

the humble widow, the crippled orphan. There, I said to myself, Jesus speaks as the

Teacher who is Master over both life and death. In him, the message of love and

gentleness and compassion becomes incarnate. That, I say, is why men have turned

to him, not merely in respect but in adoration. That is why the light which blinded

St. Paul on the road to Damascus with such a sudden impact continues to shine

unobscured and unobscurably through the centuries.” The beauty of Jesus has led

many to adore Him and trust Him as their Savior.

11. Some attributes of God and Jesus are not moral, but are called natural.

Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipresence, and eternity have no moral value. But

when they are used in way consistent with the moral attributes like goodness,

kindness, mercy, love, justice, faithfulness, compassion and the like, they are part of

the beauty of holiness. All that God is, is beautiful because all he is, is good, and we

can love and appreciate it. God never does anything that is not consistent with his

moral beauty of love and justice. Abraham said, “Shall not the God of all the earth

do right?” And the answer is yes he will always do what is right. Only those who get

a vision of who God is in the beauty of holiness can truly worship Him in Spirit and

Truth. It is the beauty of art that enables us to enjoy it, and the beauty of music, and

so on with all that people enjoy. When we do not study a subject deeply enough to

get a vision of its beauty we will not enjoy it. And so it is with God. We need to know

His beauty to adore Him, and this calls for study and time spent in getting to know

God. If you never listen to classical music, or country western you will never learn

to love and enjoy them, and so it is with God. Those who know him best enjoy him

most. You can go to a concert or art show and see and hear the beauty and not

know how to enjoy it because you do not grasp why it is beautiful to people who do

grasp it. Only those who can hear and see the beauty get the pleasure of it.

I. THE BEAUTY OF HIS PERSO�

1. Let me read again, Ps 27:4* One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I

seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to

behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple." Beauty is hard to

define, for it can be so different to different people. The gist of it is easy to grasp,

however, for it menas that which gives pleasure to the mind and senses. It has

unusual harmony, balance, form and color that appeals to our sense of what is the

best of its kind. The Amplified version says, “To behold and gaze upon the sweet

attractiveness and the delightful loveliness of the Lord” b) Young’s literal

translation says, “To look on the pleasantness of God.” c) �ew Living Translation

says, “Delighting in the Lord’s perfections”

2. David grew up in the country and spent a major portion of his life out in nature

and so he had a great appreciation of the beauty of God’s creation, but he wants to

go deeper into beauty and gaze on the beauty of God. It is spiritual beauty that is

the highest, and which does most to change us from within. Augustine regretted

spending so much of his life focusing on the beauty of the creation and missing the

beauty of the Creator. He wrote, “Too late I have loved you, O Beauty, so ancient

and so new, too late have I loved you. Behold, you were within me, while I was

outside: it was there that I sought you, and, as a deformed creature, rushed

headlong upon these things of beauty which you have made. They kept me far from

you, those fair things which, if they were not in you, would not exist at all.” He let

the good rob him of the best, which is a major problem in all of our lives if we are

honest. The fact that he went on to behold the beauty of God and become one of the

greatest Christian leaders and authors of history indicates it is never too late to

behold the beauty of the Lord.

3. The implication of this verse is obvious; God is attractive in his very being. He is

the kind of person we enjoy hanging out with, for he is appealing in his character in

a way that makes us love him, for we know he loves us. People with great physical

beauty can still be very mean and disagreeable people, but God’s beauty is both

external and internal. God is light, and light is the source of all the beauty that can

be seen by man, and so externally he is beautiful. But he is also internally beautiful,

for his attributes cover all that we love about a person. He is love, kindness,

goodness, truth, mercy, forgiveness, and a host of qualities that we appreciate in

people that we love to be with. Andrew Gray comments on the ultimate

representative of the beauty of God as he wrote, “Again the beauty of the Lord is

seen in Christ. It is seen in Christ, for he is the brightness of the Father's glory, and

the express image of his person; and he that hath seen Christ, hath seen the Father.

The beauty of the Lord is seen in Christ, when we consider him as the Father's gift,

and when we look to his offices, and to his character. The character of Christ was

the finest spectacle of moral beauty which men or angels ever set their eyes on.”

4. This being the case we have a better chance to gaze on the beauty of God than

David did, for we have the beauty of God in Jesus Christ in a way that he could not

imagine. We will study the beauty of Jesus at another time, but for now we are

focusing on the Father, and the beauty that David longed to gaze upon. Old

Testament saints were limited compared to us, but the fact is, they had a great deal

more than we realize. He says in verse 4 that he wants to behold the beauty of the

Lord. And the word for behold is chazah, which means to examine in detail. He

does not just want a quick glimpse of God’s glory. He wants to go over every detail

like a girl sitting before her mirror before the prom. And then David says he will

"inquire of the Lord." And this word is used in Lev. 13:36 for a doctor examining

his patient to discover what ails the patient. So David said I want to behold God, I

want to examine Him, I want to discover more about God's character What this

means is that there are endless possibilities in studying the beauty of God’s person.

5. An unknown author wrote, "...it is not in nature that I find the highest revelation

of the "beauty of the Lord." For that I turn to the gospel. You remember that

passionate psalm in which the singer expresses his love for God's house—"One

thing have I desired of the Lord," he cries, "that will I seek after, that I may dwell

in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." And why did he desire this

perpetual abiding in God's house? He himself supplies the answer: "To behold the

beauty of the Lord." That was the attraction, the compelling fascination of the

sanctuary—in it, as nowhere else, the psalmist beheld the pleasantness of the Lord,

the delightsomeness of the character of God in all its perfection and completeness.

And to the psalmist there was no vision comparable to this vision of the divine

pleasantness; everything else was dust and ashes compared to this; like St. Paul, he

counted all things but loss if only he could gaze upon God, and so he would fain

dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, that he might behold the

beauty of the Lord. For it is in the sanctuary that the "pleasantness," the "beauty"

of God's character is most clearly revealed. The heavens declare the glory of God—

yes, but His Holy Word declares it more plainly still. And it is declared most plainly

of all in the Incarnate Word—in Jesus Christ. If you want to behold the "beauty of

the Lord," you can do better than study the book of nature; come and study Jesus

Christ, for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and He and the

Father are one."

6. You and I are persons, and how many things could we study about you. You have

many characteristics both external and internal. You are a complex creature, for

you are made in the image of God, and so you are loaded with complexity. You may

not be as complex as God, but it would take a lot of pages to describe all that you are

as a person. For a quick illustration consider this:

Body:

Agility, Aim, Appearance, Balance, Brawn, Build, Constitution,

Coordination, Deftness, Dexterity, Endurance, Fatigue, Fitness, Health, Hit

Points, Manual Dexterity, Muscle, �imbleness, Quickness, Physical, Reflexes,

Size, Smell, Speed, Stamina, Strength, Wound Resistance, Zip, and so on.

Mind:

Cunning, Education, Intelligence, Knowledge, Learning, Mechanical,

Memory, Mental, Mental Strength, Perception, Reasoning, Smarts,

Technical, Wit, and so on.

Soul:

Charisma, Charm, Chutzpah, Common Sense, Coolness, Disposition, Drive,

Ego, Empathy, Fate, Honor, Intuition, Luck, Magic Resistance, Magic

Potential, Magical Ability, Power, Presence, Psyche, Sanity, Self Discipline,

Social, Spiritual, Style, Will, Wisdom, and so on, and so on.

7. This is complexity, and it does not even cover gifts and skills, and so how much

more complex is it when we try to study all the attributes of God? It is endless, and

that is why it is a goal we never cease to strive for. �o matter how much you know of

God now, you have much to learn that will enhance your vision of his beauty. This

should be the desire and prayer of all believers, for to gaze on the beauty of God is

to grow in love, and become more beautiful in being, and thus, more like God.

Seeing beauty at its highest transforms us into more beautiful people. We should

crave beauty on the spiritual level. Physical beauty can stimulate desire to possess it,

and we call it lust, which we say is bad, but lust for beauty is not bad. We should

lust, which is strong desire to possess, after the beauty of holiness. Strong desire or

lust is a good thing when the object is a good thing to possess. Paul lusted after the

knowledge of God’s Word and so should we all. One of our primary prayers should

be that we be able to see more and more clearly the beauty of God, for the more we

do the more we will fulfill our very purpose for living. It will lead us to a greater

self-image and a greater life of praise, which means a greater life of joy and service.

8. Many song writers have written on some aspect of the beauty of God. One we

have sung here is by Keith Green.

Oh lord, you’re beautiful,

Your face is all I see,

For when your eyes are on this child,

Your grace abounds to me.

Oh lord, you’re beautiful,

Your face is all I see,

For when your eyes are on this child,

Your grace abounds to me.

I want to take your word and shine it all around.

But first help me to just, live it lord.

And when I’m doing well, help me to never seek a crown.

For my reward is giving glory to you.

Oh lord, please light the fire,

That once burned bright and clean.

Replace the lamp of my first love,

That burns with holy fear.

I want to take your word and shine it all around.

But first help me to just, live it lord.

And when I’m doing well, help me to never seek a crown.

For my reward is giving glory to you.

Oh lord, you’re beautiful,

Your face is all I see,

For when your eyes are on this child,

Your grace abounds to me.

Oh lord, you’re beautiful,

Your face is all I see,

For when your eyes are on this child,

Your grace abounds to me.

9. Beauty is not just the experience of the eyes, for the word for beautiful also means

pleasantness, or the delight of God. Richard Sibbes, the old Puritan writer wrote,

"It may be the object of all senses, inward and outward. Delight is most

transcendent for pleasantness; for indeed God in his ordinances, is not only

"beauty" to the eye of the soul, but is ointment to the smell, and sweetness to the

taste, and all in all to all the powers of the soul." What he is saying is that beauty is

experienced by all the senses. I have been shopping with my wife when she will

pause at one of the clothes racks and say to me, "Feel this material." I will feel it

and be impressed with it smoothness and softness. It is beautiful to the touch, and

would feel good on the body. It did not look much different than other material, but

its unique beauty was in the texture that made it feel beautiful.

10. We cannot touch God the Father, but God incarnate in Jesus was touched, and it

was an experience of beauty. The Apostle John, whom Jesus loved more deeply than

others, and the one leaning on his shoulder in the painting of the Last Supper

includes the touching of Jesus as part of the beauty of knowing God in the flesh. In I

John 1:1 he wrote, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard,

which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have

handled, of the Word of life." He experiences the beauty of Jesus by the sense of

seeing, hearing and touching. Peter adds the beauty of tasteing in I Pet. 2:2-3 "As

newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:If so

be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." Ps. 34:8 says, "O taste and see that the

LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." The point is, all of the

senses are involved in experiencing beauty, and the spiritual experience of knowing

the beauty of God includes all of the senses. It was pathetic God said to go off and

worship gods who had no senses. Deuteronomy 4:28 says, "There you will worship

man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell." Psalm

115:6says of idols,".. they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell.."

11.The beauty of God is that he is a person, and a person like us in that he

experiences the reality he created like we do. He mocks the man made gods who

cannot see, hear of smell, and he can do that because he does hear, see and smell,

and experiences all of the senses we do, and possibly many more that we may have

in our redeemed bodies. God loved the sacrifices in the Old Testament because they

were like the odor we get when grilling. Aroma is mouth watering, and he loved the

incense for it was sweet smelling. He could enjoy the praises of his people, for he is a

God who hears, and he could enjoy the beauty of the worship in the temple because

he is a God who can see. Heaven is portrayed as so beautiful because God loves

beauty, and he loves his people to love and enjoy it as well.

12. The point I am getting at is that God wants us to see him as a real person, for

that is the way he inspired all of his Bible writers to portray him. �ow we know God

is Spirit and not locked into a body and physical form as we are, but the fact is,

when he makes physical contact with people all through the Bible he becomes a

person in a body just like we have as people. And over and over he is revealed to

have all the body parts that we have. A partial list with texts to support them is here

before me-

6. Countenance (Ps. 11:7)

7. A head (Dan. 9:7)

8. A face (Deut. 34:10; Gen. 33:10; Ex. 33:11)

9. Hair (Dan. 7:9; Rev. 1:14)

10. Eyes (Rev. 1:14; Ps. 11:4; 18:24; 33:18)

11. Ears (Ps. 18:6; 34:15)

12. Hands (Ps. 102:25-26; Heb. 1:10)

13. Fingers (Ex. 31:18; Ps. 8:3-6)

14. Arms (Ps. 44:3; Jn.12: 38)

15. Loins (Ezek. 1:26-28; 8:1-4)

16. Feet (Ps 18:9; Ezek. 1:26; 24:10; 1 Cor. 15:27; Heb 2:8; Rev. 1:15; 2:18)

17. Back parts (Ex. 33:23)

18. A mouth (�um. 12:8; Isa. 1:20)

19. Lips (Isa. 11:4; 30:27)

20. A tongue (Isa. 30:27)

21. A voice (Ps. 29:1-9; Heb 12:19, 26; Rev 1:10; 10:3-4; Rev. 14:2l

22. A heart (Gen. 6:6; 8:21)

23. Breath (Gen. 2:7)

13. GOD HAS FEELI�G A�D AFFECTIO�S ... such as love (Jn. 3:16) This is

important, for most of Christian history has denied the reality of God having

emotions. This is a modern discovery that has changed the way theologians see God,

and write about him. It is a radical change in Christian theology that has made God

seem more like a real person. Much theology of the past made him seem more like a

machine, or a robot.

25. Hate (Pr. 6:16)

26. Pity (Ps. 103:13)

27. Anger (I Ki. 11:9)

28. Repentance (Gen. 6:6)

29. Jealousy (Ex. 20:5; 34:14)

30. Pleasure and delight (Ps. 147:10)

31. Fellowship (I Jn.1:1-7)

32. Joy ( �eh. 8:10; Gal. 5:22)

33. Peace (Gal. 5:22)

34. Longsuffering (Gal. 5:22)

35. Gentleness (Gal. 5:22)

36. Goodness (Gal. 5:22)

37. Faith (Gal. 5:22)

38. Self-control (Gal. 5:22)

40. GOD HAS SPIRIT FACULTIES... He has mind (Rom. 11:34)

41. Intelligence (Gen. 1:26)

42. Wisdom (I Tim. 1:17; Ps. 119:130; Ps. 51:6; 1 Cor. 1:30)

43. Knowledge (Isa. 11:2; Rom. 1:20)

44. Discernment (Heb. 4:12)

45. Will (Rom. 8:27; 9:19)

46. Righteousness (Ps. 45:4)

47. Faith (Rom. 4:17; 12:3)

48. Faithfulness (I Cor. 10:13)

49. Hope (I Cor. 13:3)

50. Truth (Ps. 91:4; Jn. 17:17)

51. Power (Eph. 1:19; 3:7,20; Heb. 1:3)

52. Immutability (Heb. 6:17)

53. GOD DOES... sit on a throne (Isa. 6:1; Dan. 7:9-11; Rev. 3:21)

54. Wear clothes (Dan. 7:7-9; Rev. 1:13)

55. Dwell in a city (Jn. 14:1-3)

56. Walk (Gen. 3:8; 18:1-8)

57. Ride (Ps. 18:19; 68:17; Ezek. 1)

58. Rest (Gen. 2:1-4; Heb. 4:4)

59. Eat food (Gen. 18:1-8)

60. Drink wine (Jud. 9:13; Mt. 26:29)

14. All of these are called anthropocentric qualities of God, which he demonstrates

when he enters history to deal with man face to face. But the greatest beauty of God

is in his spiritual and moral nature and not in his physical nature. Jesus also was an

attractive man, but his greatest beauty was his spiritual and moral character. Look

at what the Bible says about the holiness of God. Psa 29:2 (KJV) Give unto the

LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

15. "Holiness refers to the majestic transcendence of God by emphasizing the

Creator/creature distinction. Second, it means that God is separate in His being

from all that is evil, impure, and defiled. God's own nature defines beauty rather

than mere human subjectivity, and there is no trace of darkness in Him. Holiness is

God's self-affirming purity. �othing outside of God, Himself, can define it. In the

sheer weight (glory) of God's almighty presence men are commanded to worship

God in the majestic beauty of holiness. Beauty is defined by God's being. Therefore,

in an ultimate sense, beauty is not simply in the mind of the beholder. It exists first

and foremost in the mind of God. Man, having been created in the image of God, is

obligated by his creaturely existence (vis a= vis ACreator@) to reflect the beauty of

God in holiness, righteousness, wisdom (the skilled application of God's truth), and

knowledge. Beauty must be defined by the objective character of God and not by the

subjective impulses of unregenerate men who have resisted the common grace of

God." Author unknown

16. "God is beautiful in His perfections. God's attributes unite in perfect harmony.

There is no greater variety than God's infinite perfections, nor a more intensive

unity. Though holiness governs all of God's attributes (Isa 6), the Bible does not

exalt one attribute of God to expense of the others. They form a glorious,

harmonious whole without any inherent contradiction. The absence of chaos or

monotony in His divine attributes amplifies His absolute beauty. They also mutually

contribute to God's purpose and performance manifesting the splendor to which

man should respond." Author unknown

1B. THE BEAUTY OF HIS PERFECTIO�

A. This is a part of the beauty of his person, but gets specific about the reality of the

perfection of all that make God who and what he is. Davon Huss has put together

this list of the perfections of God. He wrote, (Mat 5:48 �IV) "Be perfect, therefore,

as your heavenly Father is perfect." The Lord is attractive, beautiful because he is

perfect. He is perfect in:

1. Knowledge. (Isa 40:14 �IV) Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and

who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed

him the path of understanding?

2. Holiness. When it is said that we are holy it means that we are set apart for God.

When we talk about the Lord being holy it means that he is pure, free from

anything that taints, impairs, infects, free from defects, faultless, free from sin or

guilt, blameless. (Rev 4:8 �IV) Each of the four living creatures had six wings and

was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never

stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to

come."

3. Power. (Rev 1:8 �IV) "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who

is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

4. Righteousness. He is always right. (Psa 119:142 �IV) Your righteousness is

everlasting and your law is true.

5. Justice. (Psa 98:9 �IV) he (God) comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world

in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

6. This could all be frightening, but the Bible says more about God. He is perfect in

wisdom. (Dan 2:20 �IV) Daniel said: "Praise be to the name of God for ever and

ever; wisdom and power are his.

7. Perfect in love. (Psa 100:5 �IV) For the LORD is good and his love endures

forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

8. In mercy. Don’t get what we deserve. (Psa 25:6 �IV) Remember, O LORD, your

great mercy and love, for they are from of old.

�ot even the possibility of imperfection can be found within His being. To say that

God is perfect is to say that there is no way in which God can be better."

B. Huss then goes on to show that these perfections are found in Jesus Christ who is

the perfect image of the Father. He wrote,

1. Perfect in wisdom, knowledge. (Col 2:2 �IV) My purpose is that they may be

encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of

complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely,

Christ,(Col 2:3 �IV) in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and

knowledge.

2. Holy. (Heb 7:26 �IV) Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy,

blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

3. Power. (John 13:3) Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his

power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; (1 Cor 1:24 �IV)

but to those whom God has called Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

4. Righteousness. At Jesus’ crucifixion. (Luke 23:47) The centurion, seeing what had

happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man."

5. Justice. (2 Tim 4:1) God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the

dead,

6. Perfect in love. John 3:16 and (1 John 4:9 �IV) This is how God showed his love

among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through

him. (1 John 4:10 �IV) This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and

sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

7. Perfect in mercy. We don’t get what we deserve, but we do get what we don’t

deserve, that is grace. (John 1:14 �IV) The Word became flesh and made his

dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who

came from the Father, full of grace and truth.(John 1:16 �IV) From the fullness of

his grace we have all received one blessing after another.(John 1:17 �IV) For the

law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."

II. THE BEAUTY OF HIS PRESE�CE

1. This is David's point in verse 4 where he says he wants to dwell in the house of the

Lord all his life, and to seek him in his temple to gaze on his beauty. David wants to

be in the presence of God, and the temple was the house of God where God made his

presence known to Israel. If you are going to see God's beauty you have to go where

he reveals that beauty, and that is the temple. We are no longer so limited, for God

can reveal his beauty anywhere, and at any time, for God does not limit his presence

to any temple, but can, and does manifest his presence through the Holy Spirit, who

can make his beauty come alive anywhere. It may be in church, or in your home, or

out in nature. People have amazing spiritual experience with God in every

imaginable situation.

2. �igel Hemming wrote about feelling the beauty of God's presence.

You are warm like the sunshine

On a bright summer day

You are clear as the blue sky when the clouds have rolled away

You are gentle as the evening breeze

That blows against my face

And I love to be with You, Beautiful God

Oh I love to be with You, Beautiful God

You protect me with Your arms of love

And You take away my fear

I’m reaching out my hands to You

’Cause I know that you are near

Lord I’ll whisper words of tenderness

Which only You can hear

And I love to be with You, Beautiful God

Oh I love to be with You, Beautiful God

As my love for You grows strong

Close to You is where I long to be

As I gaze into Your eyes

Such a look of pure delight I see

Lord You’re smiling at me

3. Robert F. Williams writes about a rare experience of seeing beauty. "Fairweather

Mountain is one of the most spectacular mountains in �orth America. Located off

the southeast coast of Alaska, the mountain reaches 15,000 feet above sea level.

Massive granite walls with deep ravines cut by cascading glaciers create an

inspiring view. This view, however, can only be seen about 20 days a year when the

weather is fair. The mountain is called Fairweather because you can only see the full

glory and beauty of the mountain when the fog clears." Unfortunately, many people

think of God as a fairweather mountain experience, which is only to be felt and seen

a few times a year such as Christmas and Easter and special events. The fact is, God

is more like the one a day vitamin, for he is availabe every day to be experienced as

present in our lives. His beauty or his favor, as some versions have it, can rest upon

and establish the work of our hands daily so that every day we produce something

lovely in life. If you pray each day as you head off to work that the beauty of God

will rest on you, and establish the work of your hands, you may think to be more

loving with your hands in helpfulness, and at greeting, and in just being kind and

loving to others all day long. That is beautiful living and it is Christlike.

4. It is hard for most of us to be conscious of God's presence all the time, but the

more we are aware of his presence the more likely we are to do acts of love and

kindness, and stifle the old man who loves to come out and spoil our witness with

ugly behavior. We need to have the thinking we read of in Ps. 139, "O Lord , you

have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you

perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you

are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it

completely, O Lord. You hem me in-behind and before; you have laid your hand

upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where

can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the

heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the

wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will

guide me, your right hand will hold me fast."

5. Because God is ever present it is always at all time a valid prayer to make to God,

which we have in Ps 90:17* And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us:

and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands

establish thou it." The word for beauty can also be translated favor, and some

versions use favor, but the prayer is that we might have God's beauty rest on us so

that we produce beauty in our lives. Another version has it, "And may the

pleasantness of the Garden of Eden be upon us from the presence of the Lord our

God, and the works of our hands will be established by him." A paraphrase goes-

And let the beauty of the Lord

Upon us still remain:

Lord, prosper thou our handy-work,

and still the same maintain.

5B. Here is a prayer, not for the joy of seeing God's beauty, but for having his

beauty rest upon us. It is what the �ew Testament theology calls the imparted grace

of God, which is the work of the Holy Spirit in changing our nature to one of

Christlikeness. It is Christ in us, and the Spirit in us giving us a new nature that

fights with the old nature to bring beauty where once there was ugliness. People who

have lived a godless life of sin are ugly people, but when they ask Jesus into their

lives they become beautiful people. I think of Mike who was so godless and wicked

who now is a servant of God reaching out to youth and to those in the inner city.

From ugly to beautiful. There are still elements of his old ugly self that come out

once in awhile, but over all he is beautiful. To become more like Jesus is to become

more beautiful as a person. Beauty is really a major goal of life, for that is what God

wants of us, to become more like Jesus.

6. An unknown author wrote, "This great prayer ends with a request that the work

of human hands be established. In other words, that the beauty of his labor might

be honored, and that it would be a valid and valuable gift to posterity, and to God as

well. It is a double request, for he asks for it twice that his works be established. It is

beautiful that God will cooperate with man in working to produce beauty in the

world. This is the prayer of all artists and poets, and all who build what is beautiful.

They want God’s blessing on their labor so that it fulfills His purpose as well as

their own. Life is short and fleeting, but with God’s help we can do what will last in

significance, and establish what is a beautiful legacy. We can please God and do

what is beneficial to man. We can fulfill the great commandments of loving God

with our whole being, and our neighbor as ourselves. With God’s cooperation we

can live a successful and fruitful life even though it is short and so much must be left

undone."

III. THE BEAUTY OF HIS PLA�.

1. The beauty of God's plan is that he intends to use beauty to produce beauty until

the final chapter of history is concluded with a universe as beautiful as he wants it to

be, and with all its living beings as beautiful as the Son he so dearly loves. Beauty

can bring people to Jesus, and they become beautiful when they receive him as

Savior, but the extreme makeover is not complete with the first step of salvation

called justification. �ext comes sanctification, and finally glorification. We have no

part in the final glorification, but we have a major role in sanctification, which

refers to the becoming more and more saved, or more and more like Jesus, or more

and more beautiful. Dr. John Stott, the famous British author, wrote, "I remember

very vividly, some years ago, that the question which perplexed me as a younger

Christian (and some of my friends as well) was this: what is God’s purpose for His

people? Granted that we have been converted, granted that we have been saved and

received new life in Jesus Christ, what comes next? Of course, we knew the famous

statement of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: that man’s chief end is to glorify

God and to enjoy Him forever: we knew that, and we believed it. We also toyed with

some briefer statements, like one of only five words – love God, love your neighbour.

But somehow neither of these, nor some others that we could mention, seemed

wholly satisfactory.

2. So I want to share with you where my mind has come to rest as I approach the

end of my pilgrimage on earth and it is – God wants His people to become like

Christ. Christlikeness is the will of God for the people of God." The bottom line is,

God is beautiful, his Son is beautiful, and the Holy Spirit is beautiful, and all the

creatures around the throne of God are beautiful, and all the environment of heaven

is beautiful, and he gave man a blueprint to make the temple beautiful, and he

created all the beauty of the universe, and so he wants his earthly children to

conform to all that God is and makes, and be beautiful. And since love is the highest

and greatest virtue the Bengali hymn has truth when it says, "Dive deep, O mind,

dive deep in the ocean of God's beauty! If you descend to the uttermost depths, there

you will find the gem of love." In other words, the more we study the beauty of God

the more we will, like him, be love. God is love, and if his beauty rests upon us we

will be love as well, and all we do will be loving, and thus beautiful.

3. Plotinus said we all need to be sculpture makers of our own lives. He wrote,

"Withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not fine yourself beautiful yet, act

as does the creator of a statue that is to be made beautiful: he cuts away here, he

smoothes there, he makes this line lighter, this other purer, until a lovely face has

grown his work. So do you also: cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is

crooked, bring light to all that is overcast, labor to make all one glow or beauty and

never cease chiseling your statue, until there shall shine out on you from it the

godlike splendor of virtue, until you see the perfect goodness surely established in

the stainless shrine."

4. The beauty of having God's beauty rest upon us is not only does it make us more

loving, but it make us more loved. Christians often feel less loved than God wants

them to feel, and it is due to the very widespread low self-esteem complex. People

feel inadequate in so many ways that they do not feel worthy of being loved greatly,

or of loving others greatly. Who am I to be loving? Who cares if I am or not? I am

nobody special, and so it is no big deal if I am not loving. St. Augustine wrote in his

commentary on First John over 15 hundred years ago, “God loves us first, so that he

has to enable us to love. And because he has loved us, he has not left us as he found

us, but made us beautiful. Let us love God, then, who is the eternally beautiful One.

In the measure in which we grow in love we grow in beauty, for love is the beauty of

the soul.” Love makes God beautiful, and it also makes us beautiful. People think

ones they love are beautiful even when others think they are far from it. This means

that God’s love for us makes us beautiful in His sight, and what can be more

beautiful than being loved by God. This is the key to our self-esteem. We can love

ourselves as we are because we are loved by God, and that is wonderful and

beautiful. We love to be loved, and consider one who loves us to be beautiful. How

much more do we see the beauty of God in His love for us?" In God's presence we

should always feel loved, even when we come to confess that we have blown it and

are unworthy, as the Prodigal proclaimed as he returned to the father.

4B. The Beauty In God's Plan

Palm trees lift their heads up into the blue sky

Their faces look to heaven and unto it draw nigh

Mountains with broad shoulders hug the earth below

In shades of green and purple, the Lord made it so

Spectacular sunsets in orange, yellow and red

Kiss the evening sky good night as they tuck it in bed

Stars dot the nighttime sky like diamonds on display

The moon falls prey once more to the first light of day

Ocean waves roll in and pound the sandy shore

and then race back out again to sea once more

The earth brings forth her beauty as the seasons unfold

Each one is special when its story is told.

All nature is obedient to the Maker's plan

Only one creature rebels against it, his name is man

God in His heaven looked down upon the earth

and provided the way for sinful man to have rebirth.

Won't you join nature in the beauty of His plan

by accepting Jesus while you still can?

�ext time you look at nature and marvel at what you see

Thank God that He's shown mercy and paid your penalty.

© 2001 Jane Hauck

5. Adrian Rogers quotes II Cor. 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a

glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,

even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” And then adds,"When this verse in Second

Corinthians says we are changed into the “same image,” it is referring to the image

of Jesus Christ. Being transformed into His image is the goal, the ambition, of every

true believer."It would be so wonderful and easy if Christlikeness came in a pill that

we could swallow and instantly become like Him, but it is a process that goes on all

of life, for nobody ever becomes fully like Jesus. It is a goal that will only be reached

in the life beyond this one. We read in 1 John 3:2. ‘Beloved, we are God’s children

now and it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he appears,

we will be like him, for we shall see him as he is." We will be fully beautified, which

the theologians call glorified, at the coming of Jesus. Meanwhile it is our

responsibility to move in that direction. How do we do it?

6. This text says we go into the spiritual beauty parlor often, for there we are able to

see our defects, and work at overcoming them and making ourselves more beautiful

in Christlikeness. We go to the mirror of the Word, and we stare at our lives in the

light of the glory of the Lord. We see his glorious image and along side is our image,

and we see how far we fall short. It is the same as when we look in the mirror and

see food in our teeth, and so we brush. We see our hair a mess and so we comb it

and make it look organized and attractive. We wash so we have no dirt or greese on

our face. We do all we can to be more attractive physically, and that is why we study

the beauty of God and of Jesus, for we see that we are not as they are, but he gives

us the Holy Spirit who helps us conform to the image of Christ. We need to be aware

that when we are looking into Scripture we are looking into a mirror with the goal

of becoming more like Jesus. Beauty is the goal of Bible Study.

7. Someone wrote, "Paul has a clear passage where he links the labor of man and

the will of God working together in beautiful cooperation. He writes in Phil. 2:12-13,

““““Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence,

but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear

and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His

good purpose.”””” Salvation is a gift, but like any gift, it is of no value is you never take

it out of the box and use it. Salvation has to be used. God wants us to take the free

gift and develop it, which is called sanctification, and become more and more like

Jesus. Working it out calls for effort on our part. God is working in and through us,

but we need to cooperate. The beauty of this is that God is willing to cooperate with

us. This is like the CEO of a large corporation coming down to the machine of a

lowly worker in the factory, and helping him work out some of the kinks in it so it

works the way it was made to work. God condescends to come and cooperate with

us, and this is the beauty of His love and friendship."

8. Patricia Farmer's Embracing a Beautiful God makes a significant

contribution to the renewal of mainstream and progressive Christianity, as

well as the integration of spiritual formation, theological reflection, and

social concern. First, Farmer paints a theological portrait of the world in

which we live. God is in all things and all things are in God. God is the Artist

of the Universe, whose aim is to incarnate beauty in every moment of

experience. God inspires all things toward beauty, provides support and

inspiration in difficult times, and eternally treasures our attempts to become

partners in God's aim at beauty. second, Farmer believes that we can

experience both beauty and the ultimate source of beauty in our everyday

lives. We live, move, and have our being in God. God can be experienced in a

sunset along the Pacific, two cats on a church doorstep, a conversation with a

friend, and in facing disease with courage, hope, and creativity. She reminds

us that divine omnipresence is not an abstract doctrine, but a reality that can

be experienced each moment of the day.

9. Farmer also provides a path to experiencing God's beauty in our midst.It is as

simple as opening your eyes, listening with your inner ear, savoring the taste of

chocolate, feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin, or smelling coffee brewing.

Farmer invites us to consider the lilies, the birds of the air, and the cats that follow

their flight. She realizes that awakening is not always easy, so she suggests that we

take "beauty breaks," intentional moments in which we encounter divine beauty by

setting aside time simply to embrace God's wonder. She also invites us to experience

God's presence through intercessory prayer, meditation, walking prayer, and

simply breathing. Indeed, Farmer invites us to pray without ceasing, and shows us a

way to weave the moments of our lives together so that every breath might be an

encounter with God's presence in your self, a neighbor or spouse, or a non-human

companion.

10. Beauty Tips for the Inner You

"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For beautiful eyes, seek out the

good in other people. To lose weight, let go of stress and the need to control

others. To improve your ears, listen to the word of God. Touch someone with

your love. Rather than focus on the thorns of life, smell the roses and count

your blessings. For poise, walk with knowledge and self-esteem. To

strengthen your arms, hug at least 3 people a day. To strengthen your heart,

forgive yourself and others. Don't worry and hurry so much. Rather walk

this earth lightly and yet leave your mark." Contributed by Tamra

11.Fanny Crosby wrote

More like Jesus would I be, let my Savior dwell with me;

Fill my soul with peace and love—make me gentle as a dove;

More like Jesus, while I go, pilgrim in this world below;

Poor in spirit would I be; let my Savior dwell in me.

More like Jesus when I pray, more like Jesus day by day,

May I rest me by His side, where the tranquil waters glide.

Born of Him through grace renewed, by His love my will subdued,

Rich in faith I still would be—let my Savior dwell in me.

12. We read of the beauty of Jesus in his humble willingness to serve mankind.

Philippians 2:5-8: ‘Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ, who,

though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God some thing to be

grasped for his own selfish enjoyment, but emptied himself, taking the form of a

servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he

humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.’ In John’s

gospel chapter 13: ‘He took off his outer garments, he tied a towel round him, he

poured water into a basin and washed his disciples’ feet. When he had finished, he

resumed his place and said, “If then I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your

feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet, for I have given you an example’ In

that culture it was a daily necessity to wash the feet. In ours no so much, and so the

idea is to meet the needs of those around you in loving service. Do things for people

who need things done for them. It is hard to wash your own feet. It is so much easier

for someone else to stoop down and do it, and for you to do it for them.

13. John Stott, "Secondly, Christlikeness and the challenge of evangelism. Why is it,

you must have asked, as I have, that in many situations our evangelistic efforts are

often fraught with failure? Several reasons may be given and I do not want to over-

simplify but one main reason is that we don’t look like the Christ we are

proclaiming. John Poulton, who has written about this in a perceptive little book

entitled A today sort of evangelism, wrote this: ‘The most effective preaching comes

from those who embody the things they are saying. They are their message.

Christians need to look like what they are talking about. It is people who

communicate primarily, not words or ideas. Authenticity gets across. deep down

inside people, what communicates now is basically personal authenticity.’

14. That is Christlikeness. Let me give you another example. There was a Hindu

professor in India who once identified one of his students as a Christian and said to

him: ‘If you Christians lived like Jesus Christ, India would be at your feet

tomorrow.’ I think India would be at their feet today if we Christians lived like

Christ. From the Islamic world, the Reverend Iskandar Jadeed, a former Arab

Muslim, has said ‘If all Christians were Christians – that is, Christlike – there

would be no more Islam today.’ The beauty of Christ in us will do more to touch

and attract the world than anything we can say.

15. Keith Green

As each day passes by,

I feel my love run dry.

I get so weary, worn,

And tossed around in the storm.

Well Im blind to all his needs,

And Im tired of planting seeds.

I seem to have a wealth,

Of so many thoughts about myself.

I want to, I need to, be more like jesus.

I want to, I need to, be more like him.

Our fathers will was done,

By giving us his son,

Who paid the highest cost,

To point us to the cross.

And when I think of him,

Taking on the whole worlds sin,

I take one look at me,

Compared to what Im called to be.

I want to, I need to, be more like jesus.

I want to, I need to, be more like him.

I want to be more like Jesus.

I want to exhibit His many traits.

I want to show others that I care,

By sharing my belief and faith.

I want to walk the Christian way,

And to my Savior stay true.

For when He walked here on this earth,

He lived His life as I want to do.

I will try to think of others first,

And minister to their needs.

Jesus would want me to die to self

And follow His loving lead.

I will not worry about my plight

When others are suffering more.

Instead I’ll be more like Jesus,

I’ll reach out to the sick and poor.

Jesus was always compassionate.

I will strive to be more like Him.

I will be a lantern for my Lord,

�ever letting His light grow dim.

When others can look at me and see,

My dear Savior’s love and grace,

I’ll know I’m finally following

His teachings, I’ve tried to embrace.

IV. THE BEAUTY OF HIS POWER

1. Eccles. 3:11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time."God's power of

creation is beautiful because it is not used to create trash and anything that is ugly.

All God has made is beautiful because beauty is a key characteristic of all his

attributes. A man considered to be the most brilliant man America ever produced

was Jonathan Edwards, and he had the highest praise for God's beauty. Someone

wrote of him, "For Edwards, beauty is not only that "wherein the truest idea of

divinity does consist," but also "it is first among the perfections of God; it

constitutes in itself the perfection of all the other divine attributes" (Religious

Affections, p. 298). He argued that the source of beauty is God Himself. God's

beauty is seen in His moral virtue and in the agreement (unity) of the Godhead.

Edwards said these qualities transfer to inanimate things in a secondary beauty,

consisting in "mutual consent and agreement of different things, in form, manner,

quality, and visible end or design; called by the various names of regularity, order,

uniformity, symmetry, proportion, harmony." Examples of such are "the mutual

agreement of the various sides of a square, the beautiful proportion of the various

parts of the human body, and . . . the sweet mutual consent and agreement of the

various notes in a melodious tune" (Essay Concerning the �ature of True Value, pp.

62-64)."

2. In other words, if we study the works of God in detail we see that what Jesus said

is true, and the lily of the field is more marvelous in beauty that all the glory that

Solomon built into the Temple and his own palace. Put anything that man make

under the microscope and it will have rough edges, but not the lily. It is perfect in its

design and completely smooth. God loves beauty and loves to make beauty in all

that he creates. Because it is so obvious that there is a mind behind all the beauty of

the universe, man has developed the study called Aesthetics, which is the study of

beauty. It is a vast subject with tons of books written about it. Mike Harding gives

us the gist of it from a Christian viewpoint when he writes, "In a Christian view of

aesthetics, three qualities are usually identified: (1) unity or integrity--a well-knit

internal unity, completeness, or whole; (2) proportion or harmony--an orderly,

harmonious relation and arrangement of the parts; (3) splendor--a definite capacity

for manifesting its pattern. These three qualities result in unity without monotony

and variety without chaos. God, in His person, perfections, purpose, and

performance, exemplifies the qualities of unity, proportion, and splendor. The

triune God is indeed the supreme example of unity without monotony and variety

without chaos." When you read the works of someone who produces a sense of

beauty and wonder in you, you remark what a beautiful mind that author has, and

so when you examine God's works you know what a beautiful mind he has.

3. God's love of beauty is the source of flower power.

God might have made the earth bring forth

Enough for great and small,

The oak tree, and the cedar tree,

Without a flower at all.

He might have made things grow enough,

For every want of ours,

For luxury, medicine and toil,

And yet have made no flowers.

Our outward life requires them not,

Then, wherefore had they birth?

To minister delight to man,

To beautify the earth.

To comfort man-to whisper hope,

When ere his faith is dim;

For he who careth for the flowers,

Will care much more for him. Author unknown

4. God's love of beauty has had the power to make beauty an important part of

worship in every religion. Christians are not the only ones who notice that the

creation is loaded with beauty, and so John Daniel Jones writes, “The old Greeks

put into their statues and representations of their gods their highest conceptions of

human beauty; into their Aphrodite, all they knew of womanly charm; into their

Apollo, all they knew of manly grace; into their Zeus, all they knew of royal majesty

and dignity. The instinct that made them thus identify the divine with the beautiful

was altogether right. It was only the mode of expression that was wrong. It was

physical beauty they attributed to their deities, and they did this because their

conception of deity was material and anthropomorphic." They had an inadequate

idea of God, but they knew he was beautiful and that he made beauty. The result is

that almost all places of worship in every religion have beauty as one the key themes

of the environment.

5. Charles Kingsley wrote, “Beauty is God’s handwriting.” The signature of God is

on all He has created. Emerson said the same thing when he wrote, “�ever lose an

opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting--a

wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every flower,

and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.”

6. God's beauty is not just seen in flower power, but in the power that can change

lives through acts of simple loving kindness. One woman told her story of such

power in the following poem.

The park bench was deserted as I sat down to read

Beneath the long, straggly branches of an old willow tree.

Disillusioned by life with good reason to frown,

For the world was intent on dragging me down.

And if that weren't enough to ruin my day,

A young boy out of breath approached me, all tired from play.

He stood right before me with his head tilted down

And said with great excitement, "Look what I found!"

In his hand was a flower, and what a pitiful sight,

With its petals all worn - not enough rain, and too little light.

Wanting him to take his dead flower and go off to play,

I faked a small smile and then shifted away.

But instead of retreating he sat next to my side

And placed the flower to his nose

And declared with overacted surprise,

"It sure smells pretty and it's beautiful, too.

That's why I picked it; here, it's for you."

The weed before me was dying or dead.

�ot vibrant of colors: orange, yellow or red.

But I knew I must take it, or he might never leave.

So I reached for the flower, and replied, "Just what I need."

But instead of him placing the flower in my hand,

He held it midair without reason or plan.

It was then that I noticed for the very first time

That weed-toting boy could not see: he was blind.

I heard my voice quiver; tears shone in the sun

As I thanked him for picking the very best one.

You're welcome," he smiled, and then ran off to play,

Unaware of the impact he'd had on my day.

I sat there and wondered how he managed to see

A self-pitying woman beneath an old willow tree.

How did he know of my self-indulged plight?

Perhaps from his heart, he'd been blessed with true sight.

Through the eyes of a blind child, at last I could see

The problem was not with the world; the problem was me.

And for all of those times I myself had been blind,

I vowed to see the beauty in life, And appreciate every second that's mine.

And then I held that wilted flower up to my nose

And breathed in the fragrance of a beautiful rose

And smiled as I watched that young boy,

Another weed in his hand,

About to change the life of an unsuspecting old man. -- Unknown

7. It is the beauty of God's power that motivates us to worship him. The heavens

declare the glory of God, and we stand in awe of the starry universe he called forth

by his mere words. All of creation is filled with wonders that produce awe when we

study them and see their intricacy and beauty, and their importance to life. �ature

books, magazines, and TV shows are populare because there is no end to what we

don't know that is fascinasting about nature. It is so filled with wonders from the

highest mountains to the deepest seas that no person can ever capture all of it in

their mind. But everything we do study of animal, mineral or vegatable should

motivate us to see the handiwork of God and lift our voices in praise for his wisdom

and his love in providing these awesome gifts to bless our earthly lives. Study a little

ant as he carries a load ten times his weight across grass, and dirt hills; a load that

would crush you if you had to lift one ten times your weight, and let it motivate you

to praise God for the wonders of his creation. That little ant has beauty, and that

beauty has the power to motivate you to praise your maker and worship him with

thanksgiving. The power of beauty is everywhere if you choose to look and see the

glory of God in it.

8. Scott Hoezee in a sermon on the beauty of God wrote, "Why come to worship?

Daffodils, that's why. Why worship? The Pleiades star cluster, that's why. Why

worship? The three trillion neurons inside your brain, that's why. Why worship?

Earthworms and ants, that's why. From wonders so distant we seldom consider

them to wonders so close we take them for granted; from nebulae that light up space

in hues of deep purple to the marvel of your own hand and the way the two dozen or

so bones within it work together so you can pick up a cup of coffee--because of all

that and a galaxy of other reasons God is worthy of praise."

9. Paul makes it clear that man has no excuse for not seeing the glory of God in the

wonders of God's demonstrated power in creation. He wrote, "For since the

creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature,

have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they

are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as

God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish

heart was darkened (Romans 1:20-21)." Man will be judged for not beholding God's

glory and responding to it when it is all around them in everything that God has

made.

10. Looking over the ocean's canvas of blue,

Serenity comes with amazement, too,

At this wondrous picture, that before me I view, I stand in awe of God's beauty. Often I stand with my mouth open wide As I gaze at this world and it's vast countryside, Beholding the sites that most take in stride, I stand in awe of God's beauty. The sun setting low, ablaze is the sky The colors are brilliant, as I let out a sigh, If heaven's more beautiful, then Lord let me die, As I stand in awe of Your beauty. ~Beth Simmons~ 1999