True Beauty Part Two

 See first post here.

It’s a difficult question. In today’s culture, beautiful is most often used to refer to women, the models and actresses who make a fortune off their looks. But you know, I have friends who, although perhaps not beautiful in the world’s eyes, have moments where they simply take my breath away. On the other hand, some of the famous women most admired for their beauty I think are completely ugly.

Why is this? There is some characteristic which makes some people beautiful and others simply awful looking. Some people might say that it depends on their “inner beauty”. But then you have to consider the things in nature. A tree does not have an inner beauty (unless you’re New Age – all ye Understanding the Times people know what I’m talking about). A tree cannot sin nor can it do a good deed. It is neither good nor evil. 

It just is. But it’s beautiful. 

After some contemplation on this I started thinking about how I’ve never been that excited about cities. 

Yes, I do like to walk in downtown Portland, with the old candy shops and bookstores and art shops. Photo-shoots done there can look amazing and just being there is fantastic...but they do not touch me like the Grand Canyon does or the view of Mt. St. Helens in the distance on a breezy summer day.

That’s when I realized. I think that what makes a thing beautiful is the touch of the hand of God.  It makes all the sense in the world. I don’t like how actresses and models look because they’re fake, made up and “fixed” by humans, until the beauty that God gave them is lost. But my friends haven’t had plastic surgery, permanent makeup, dieted to an unhealthy extreme.  Their God-given beauty is still here.

The same with nature. God made the earth and He did an unspeakably wonderful job. Sometimes when I’m standing in a high place looking over a breathtaking view I like to imagine God’s hand scooping out the valleys, shaping the mountains, smoothing the slopes of the hills, drawing a curving, meandering line for the stream to come rushing down. 

Anyway, my point is that all things were made by God and from God came their natural beauty. To my way of thinking, everything beautiful that we humans have made – paintings, sculptures, gardens, etc. - are merely imitations of what God did.

This leads to another thought. If all these things that God created are so beautiful because He made them, then how beautiful must their Maker be? 

 

Wow. Just think of it. A painting is never as beautiful as the original. And our flawed earth compared to our perfect Creator – the difference must be even more striking. Moses couldn’t even look at God straight on, or else he would die, struck down by the purity, majesty, holiness, and beauty of God. We can’t even imagine.

And yet…this God who loves beauty, who has the creativity to design our universe, the power to form it, and the strength to sustain it…He came down and became a part of it. And even then, He could have come down as a powerful, majestic king, or a wise, mystic prophet, or a handsome, rich prince. But no. He came down as a humble, poor, unknown carpenter. In fact, Isaiah 53:2 says, “He has no form or comeliness, and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” He wasn’t even good-looking! 

We tend to concentrate on the cross He endured. But isn’t it possible that He endured more than just physical pain? Ignored, scoffed at, and mocked when at any moment He could have showed them a wonder that would knock them dead – literally.

But He didn’t. Want to know why?

Because for all of God’s majesty, wisdom, power, creativity, justice, holiness, beauty, and strength, there is one characteristic of His that took preeminence – His love.