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.)
As we have seen in our last three studies, the prophet Isaiah meditated upon the beauty of God, even looking far into the future to see the eternal attractiveness of the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ. Isaiah 33:17 says, “Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.” Here, Isaiah used God’s victory over Sennacherib, king of Assyria (II Kings 18:13-37), to prefigure the Lord’s ultimate victory over the evil of this world. The picture of the Messiah as King reminds us of yesterday’s mention of Isaiah 29:5, which presents the Savior as “a crown of glory… and a diadem of beauty.” This evocative imagery is especially effective when we contrast it with mankind’s foppy fascination with floppy fashion in Isaiah 3:18-24, which we considered on Friday. That “haughty” headgear is taken away but ultimately replaced with something far better, far more beautiful. James 1:12 states, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation [trial]: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.” May we not overlook the cost of this ultimate upgrade: Jesus, the King, wore a crown of thorns that we might one day wear the crown of life. Hallelujah, what a Savior! Hallelujah, what a beautiful Savior!