In The Image Of God III - Creativity: The Appreciation of Beauty

Personality – The Awareness of God

The awareness that we really aren’t just another animal, but we are specially created by God to be persons

Individuality – The Authority to Choose

The right granted to us by the all-sovereign God to go beyond instinct or even divine control and to make personal choices from a position of free-will

3. Community – The Ability to Love

The need and the desire to seek out meaningful relationships.

4. Creativity – The Appreciation of Beauty

Ge 2:7-15

Only man has the ability to be inventive and appreciate beauty.

1. The Pattern of Beauty

1Co 14:33 "For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints."

1Co 14:40 "Let all things be done decently and in order."

ORDER IN CREATION

Ge 1:11-12

Grass, herbs, trees bring forth after their kind

Ge 1:21, Ge 1:24-25

Fish, birds, beasts, insects bring forth after their kind

Sun, Moon and stars:

Ge 1:14 "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:"

Can see order in creation today.

Fibonacci Sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89 …

Seeds & petals; (nautilus) shells; storms & hurricanes; galaxies

ORDER IN SCRIPTURE

We can see something of the order of God in scripture as we see the numbers that are repeated over and over again.

3: (completeness & divine perfection)

Noah’s 3 sons; Jonah; Christ in the earth; Trinity; man – body, soul, spirit; enemies – world, flesh, Devil; Tabernacle – court, Holy Place, Most Holy Place

7: (spiritual perfection)

Days of creation; churches of Revelation; sayings on the cross; golden candlesticks; seals, trumpets and vials

12: (human government & authority)

Tribes; apostles; gates and foundations in the New Jerusalem

40: (Trials & testing)

Rain during the flood; years in the wilderness; spies in Canaan; Jesus in the wilderness; resurrection to ascension

50: (liberty & rejoicing)

Year of jubilee; Pentecost

Division of the bible: (OT – 5, 12, 5, 5, 12; NT - 5, 14, 7, 1)

Acrostics: Ps 34, 119, Pr 31:10-31

2Ti 3.16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”

2Pe 1:20-21 “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

The more you study the bible the more you see the patterns and the more you begin to appreciate that this book written by over 40 authors over 1500 years is actually one complete work of divine inspiration.

ORDER IN PRACTISE

Le 24:6 "And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD."

Ex 25:9 "According to all that I shew thee, [after] the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make [it]."

Construction & furniture precisely commanded

Ex 28:15-21 …Breastplate of the High Priest: Specific colours, materials, dimensions, stones, positioning

Only candlestick & laver had no dimensions – no limit on truth and salvation

Ex 31:2-5 … cunning >> imagination, inventiveness

Numbers ch 2 – description of where tribes to be positioned around the tabernacle and when on the move.

Mk 6:39-40 "And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.

40 “And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties."

Lk 10:1 "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come."

Ac 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

Beauty is found when things are in order. Sin put things out of order. That’s why the modern art movement is so full of nonsense.

Two young boys were walking through a modern art gallery one day. When they saw what was on display, one boy said to the other, “I think we should leave before they think we did it!”

The greatest and most universally appreciated works of art and music are marked by their sense of order.

Andre Rieu: at his concerts people who understand and appreciate the creativity behind the music are weeping over the beauty in the compositions.

That’s why Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, Tchaikovsky, and Chopin are still popular today.

God loves order, because order in God’s creation reflects the order in God’s nature.

You may not have liked maths at school, but the reason we can have maths is because there is a God who has imposed on His creation. It is one of the strongest pieces of evidence of creation.

And God expects to see order in His people.

He expects to see order in the church with everyone serving one another, under the spiritual oversight of elders. There is to be a distinction in the role of men and women, so that each may glorify God in their respective roles. There ought to be structure to the services, rather than a free-for-all. There ought to be decency and order so that nothing distracts from the main focus of our attention which is God and His word.

There are some of our churches where there is very little order.

People are getting up and wandering around as they feel like it. There is a general unsettledness and underlying buzz of activity and conversation, even while there is prayer and preaching.

I was told of one of our churches where a woman had a toddler in church, and instead of taking the child out to the toilet, pulled out a potty and got the child to go on the potty then and there! That is neither decent nor orderly!

Let all that we do be done decently and in order and so reflect the beauty of divine order.

2. The Purpose of Beauty

Natural Beauty Magnifies the Power of God (v9a)

Ps 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."

Ps 8:1-4 " O LORD our Lord, how excellent [is] thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?"

Artistic Beauty Magnifies the Pre-eminence of God

Ex 28:2 "And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty."

Ex 28:40 "And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty."

Johann Sebastian Bach said on one occasion, “Music's only purpose should be the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit.”

Art, properly used, can bring glory to God. Whether that is painting or sculpture, music or poetry, as long as it does not stray into a form of idolatry, artistic talents may be used for God’s glory.

When you need a backdrop for the Holiday Bible Club, we need artistic people to come up with the ideas and do the painting so it catches the attention and imagination of the children and give us the opportunity to teach them the gospel.

Those gifted with musical ability ought to use their gifts to encourage and accompany the praise of God’s people.

Perhaps you have a gift for poetry. You could use that gift to write poems that teach doctrine or give comfort and encouragement from the scriptures. Those who remember Leslie Armstrong will know that’s what he did with his talent for poetry.

How about a creativity that can be used alongside young people, getting them to take part in craft, and at the same time helping them learn verses of scripture.

Cooking is a creative talent that can be used for hospitality and for developing times of fellowship.

There is the use of graphic design which can be used to produce invitations to special events or simple and attractive tracts, or even to maintain the church website.

Artistic gifts used to draw attention to the Lord or to enable others to preach Christ.

Righteous Beauty Magnifies the Purity of God

1Ch 16:29 "Give unto the LORD the glory [due] unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness."

The holiness of God should be seen in us, so that the world sees what heavenly righteousness looks like.

That means that we should avoid even the appearance of evil (1Th 5:22).

Ro 14:16 "Let not then your good be evil spoken of:"

Someone asked a preacher one time, “Will smoking keep me out of heaven if I’m saved?”

I love his reply: “It won’t keep you out of Heaven, but you’ll smell a bit more like Hell when you get there!”

It’s possible to be saved and smoke, drink alcohol, and even use foul language, but it in no way reflects the character of a what a child of God ought to be. In fact, anyone who can do these things, or other sinful behaviour, without any sense of shame, guilt, or discomfort - well, there has to be a big question mark over their salvation.

But even if a person truly is saved, yet still exhibits this kind of behaviour - their refusal to keep themselves from these things could be the stumblingblock that prevents a sinner from getting saved, because, make no mistake, the world still has far higher standards of what they expect from Christians than we sometimes do.

We should be shining out the beauty of a righteous life

Mt 5:14-16 “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Made in the image of God:

We have personality – we have the awareness of God

We have individuality – we have the authority to choose

We have community – the ability to love

We have creativity – the appreciation of beauty

That is, we love to see the reflection of divine order in the world and seek opportunities to express God’s order in imaginative and creative ways. We have one more quality to see in the image of God, but may God help us reflect His beauty to the world.