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.)
John 6:44 speaks eloquently of the attractiveness of God: “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.” One of the most powerful ways that God attracts us is through fulfilled prophecy, especially those about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Most of these prophecies are extremely specific. For example, the Messiah would be of the line of Abraham (Genesis 12:2; Matthew 1:1), of Isaac (Genesis 26:4; Luke 3:23, 34), of Jacob (Numbers 24:17; Luke 3:23, 34), of Judah (Genesis 49:10; Matthew 1:2), of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1; Luke 3:23, 32), and of David (II Samuel 7:12-16; Matthew 1:1). The birthplace of this promised Messiah would be Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:6), and He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). His birth would be preceded by a forerunner (Malachi 4:5; Matthew 17:11-12). Scripture even tells us that He would live in Egypt for a period of time (Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:14-15). More than 2,000 such prophecies from the Bible have been fulfilled. Anyone who is interested in truth must be drawn to the One Who said in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” God ever draws us by His beautiful truth.