God Is Beautiful
For many years (a phrase which seems to introduce almost everything I say or write these days), I have thought about and preached on the subject of the beauty of God. I have never heard anyone teach on the subject, but I did through the decades come across two written sermons on the topic, “The Beauty of the Lord” by J. D. Jones and “Are There Shortcuts to the Beauty of Holiness?” (the short answer is “No!”) by A. W. Tozer. More recently, I read a review of a scholarly article about the American preacher Jonathan Edwards (of “sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” fame) that mentioned in passing that the beauty of God was one of the great themes in his preaching. I was thus encouraged that I have not headed off on an unprofitable tangent. In simple terms, beauty is that which attracts, causes a favorable interest, and creates an affinity. Such real, eternal beauty is found in our God. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
We have been studying the attractiveness of God as presented in John 6:44: “No man can come to Me, except the Father Which hath sent Me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” The Trinitarian implications of this drawing must be noted. Jesus, God the Son, specifically states that God the Father is drawing us in many ways, especially by sending us a Savior. The Son, of course, actually came to us physically; Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” This seeking is a most extraordinarily personal and powerful way of drawing us to salvation. In John 16:13, Jesus says of God the Holy Spirit that “when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.” The context of this verse confirms that this truth is about eternal salvation that is found only through faith in Jesus Christ. Thus, the Triune Godhead is constantly and consistently at work reaching out to us and drawing us in. May we admire this divine beauty of God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity. For those of us who especially love theology, may we discern God’s very specific drawing through Trinitarian doctrine.