Beautiful

the beauty of God

Last week we took a look at being with God, walking with Him and what happens in our lives when we see from His eyes. especially when we look at our sin in the same way that God looks at it. this I believe, is one of the most powerful ways to grow in our Christian walk..... it is part of sanctification.

this week let’s look at another way that we deal with sin. Since last week we looked at the ugliness of our own sin, this week we will we will see something that is beautiful and how that changes us.

it changes us on the inside to walk closer to our Father and further from sin...... today we will see examples of beauty that is not what we see with our eyes physically, but beauty in action.

as for Jesus physical body, we see a few allusions to Him in scripture.

Isaiah 53:2 ESV

2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

So Jesus was very average looking in His body. so average that He could slip through crowds un-noticed.

John 7:10–14 ESV

10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. 14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.

it took Jesus to identify Himself so people knew..... in some pictures of Jesus today, we see brightness, like a glow around His head and that sort of thing. but Jesus didn’t look like that. He was an average Jewish man. His beauty was shown in His actions! as we will read today....

turn with me to and as we read, take a look for what you see beautiful in these verses

John 8:1–11 ESV

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

J

she knew she was in the wrong..... the Pharisees knew it too, so didn’t Jesus.

How did this woman walk away unharmed then?

did you see or feel the beauty in the event? it went from strict legalism, condemnation and punishment................... to mercy, freedom and forgiveness.

no one was condemning her anymore and she was released by the power of God, not to continue in her sin but to be free from it through forgiveness. this is beautiful, isn’t it?

Jesus could have gone along with the Pharisees and condemned her, but instead He revealed to the Pharisees their hearts. And their hearts were full of judgement and condemnation, not beauty and love.

maybe you have heard that story before..... i certainly have.

it has always made me wonder in that story how the Pharisees caught this woman in the act of sin?

I wonder had they set her up so they could try and trap Jesus?????? Oh, the incredibly wicked depths of sin to trap people for condemnation! The self righteousness in them! they were in sin as they were pointing the finger at her!

if they had only hated their own sin half as much as wanting to condemn her.........they would not have been in that situation.

and another thing, if they had known the beautiful mercy of God, they could have given this woman mercy to restore her.

but instead, they condemned her.....

WHY?

write this down if your taking notes....

because they did what was in their heart. See.... how we act towards others is simply an outward expression of an inward reality.

we treat people the way we do because of what is in our heart, not because of what they have done. do you know this?

if God’s love and mercy is in our hearts, then when the inevitable circumstances that arise and that a person sins against us, (we know that it will happen) out of us will come love and mercy, grace and forgiveness will shine bright, just like it did in Jesus! Amen? Amen!

We will show people Jesus if He is in us.

You know, Gods word is truly amazing! It shows us man’s sinful heart and God’s beautiful heart colliding in the events of life.

Let’s see another one. this one is about healing and about God’s purpose. but we also see the sin nature....

I will read the entire seen to get the whole picture.

if you want to follow me in your bible, it is

John 9:1–38 ESV

1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

John 9:

a long passage but we needed to see this exchange.

at the start, we see something about the understanding of the disciples, don’t we? they thought blindness came from sin. Jesus uses the opportunity to show them God’s power and God’s victory in this world through healing this man.

We also have the Pharisees again, showing what is in their hearts by not believing what Jesus has done.

Did you catch what day of the week this was? Sabbath, that is right. it was in their many rules, (not scripture but in the Mishnah) that they could not knead a mixture together, like spit and dirt.

So, to them and their rules, Jesus sinned by breaking the Sabbath! Who is the only one that decides on who sins? not the Pharisees, that’s for sure.

Also, did you catch the exchange that they had with man born blind? the Pharisees just couldn’t accept what Jesus had done so they kept asking the man. the man finally ask if they wanted to know how he was healed so they could become disciples of Jesus..... then they kicked him out!

they weren’t asking him because they had good intentions but they had such bad intentions toward Jesus they could not accept truth. Even when faced with the healing power of God, they were stuck in their desire to ruin Jesus.

I guess I wonder if we can do this ourselves? have such a judgement against another person that we can’t accept what God is doing? or how God wants us to give His beauty.

John 7:10 ESV

10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.

John

John 8:59 ESV

59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

John 10:39 ESV

39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

John

John 7:14 ESV

14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.

In closing,

Isaiah 53:2 ESV

2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

God is beautiful. His works are beautiful. and when we see in scripture, and know by our relationship to Him, that beauty is within, we get it and we give it.

Jesus, showing love and forgiveness, compassion and grace......when Jesus healed people, He showed the glory of God. this Jesus, who loves you and I, changes us from the inside out and can cause us to live beautiful.

You know, when we look at the beauty of God long enough, we become overwhelmed. this song is fitting now......let’s sing.