Our Beautiful God

Read: 1 Chronicles 16:29

1 Chronicles 16:29 KJV 1900

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.

Introduction:

Last night we ran to Dillon’s shortly after returning home from Great Bend to be sure we had everything we needed for today. As I stepped out of the car I was immediately enamored with a most beautiful sunset.

The wispy clumps of clouds looked like puffs of cotton candy but they were surrounded by beautiful shades of pinks and oranges that blended together in a masterpiece of beauty and out did the most talented of artists combined.

What is it about something that makes us stop and say - “That is beautiful?”

Philosophers and psychologist have pondered this for millenium but the truth is the word is found to be a major thought and ideal in the Bible.

Beauty is defined as “The quality of something that brings pleasure or delight to the senses, or satisfaction and meaning to the mind through its appearance, value, usefulness, or desirability;”

It is often used in Biblical sense of:

Splendor

majesty

handsome

lovely

good form

There is a beauty of people - we often call this a relative beauty with the statement of “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” but in reality there are some that many agree are beautiful.

One of the most interesting verses like this is 2 Samuel 14:25

2 Samuel 14:25 KJV 1900

25 But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

Abraham was convinced that Sarah was beautiful and obviously he wasn’t alone Genesis 12:11-12

Genesis 12:11–12 KJV 1900

11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: 12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

Proverbs 31:30 reminds us that outward beauty alone can be disastrous

Proverbs 31:30 “30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: But a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.”

Peter in talking about the importance of a beautiful spirit as being more important than outward beauty admonishes women but is really applicable to all:

1 Peter 3:3-4 “3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”

So there is a beauty that is only skin deep

There is an inward or spiritual beauty

300 Illustrations for Preachers Woman Uses Negative Comments to Show the Beauty of Christ

Woman Uses Negative Comments to Show the Beauty of Christ

Psalm 139:14; Proverbs 31:30; Matthew 17:20; John 7:24

Preaching Themes: Beauty, Faith, Prayer

Lizzie Velasquez is one of three people in the world who suffer from a rare genetic disorder that prevents a person from gaining weight. She has never weighed more than 62 pounds, and she was born blind in her right eye. To make matters worse, right before her junior year of high school, Velasquez discovered a video of herself online labeled “The World’s Ugliest Woman.” The video had four million hits, and even though Velasquez’s parents tried to get it taken down, the anonymous person who had posted it refused.

Rather than turn to misery and self-pity, Velasquez faced the matter head on. She had already talked to high school students about her condition, so she began to speak every time the opportunity arose. She quickly had a worldwide stage and even wrote three books, including one entitled Be Beautiful, Be You. Velasquez is now a graduate of Texas State University and says her faith has helped her endure during the difficult times. She said, “It’s been my rock through everything, just having the time to be alone and pray and talk to God and know that He’s there for me.” She added, “Even when it seems like things will never get better in the darkest times, if you have faith and continue to push yourself, you can eventually get through anything.”

—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell139

Even spiritual acts are considered beautiful

In Matthew 26:10 and Mark 14:6 there is an interesting incident where a woman who was not looked upon as a beautiful person at least in spirit came and anointed the feet of Jesus. Now the KJV says that “She did a good thing” but that word “good” is from the same word as beautiful - she did a beautiful thing.

Children are a great illustration of this - they bring you their masterpiece the lines are all crooked, the colors are a hodgepodge of imagination and randomness you have to ask what it was they were drawing because you can’t always make it out for sure

with their little upturned face beaming brightly they tell you they drew a picture of Mommy and Daddy and the rest of the family and you try so hard to see any resemblance to reality in the photo - but the creator’s heart bursting with pride and love over who is in his picture, and what he’s created suddenly makes the picture one of the most beautiful masterpieces you have ever seen and sometimes we put it in a place of prominence on the fridge, or in my study on the filing cabinet

Sometimes we can’t see or feel that our stumbling and stammering what seems like failure and blunders to us God looks down in admiration and love and says that is a beautiful thing - and if God had a fridge - your artwork and picture would be on it.

But we are also told that God is beautiful -

We sometimes are so accosted by God’s sovereignty, God’s Omnipotence, or Omnipresence that we fail to see His beauty.

In Theology God is said to exhibit great beauty and He instilled this in His creation.

Our text encouraged us to 1 Chron 16:29 “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.”

While I don’t agree with everything R. C. Sproul says I love what he says about this verse:

This passage conjoins the holiness and glory of God with respect to the idea of beauty. We are called to come into the presence of God and to worship what is beautiful about Him—His glory and holiness.

We don’t often think of holiness as beautiful

I think this is one of the reasons for the beautiful tabernacle and temples of the Jewish people - to see and experience a sense of wonder and amazement at the Beauty of Jehovah’s holiness.

The artistic work was inspired by the infilling of the Holy Spirit

Isa 33:17 “17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: They shall behold the land that is very far off.”

What a declaration - to see God in all His beauty

I was going through some of my notes yesterday from reading A. W. Tozer’s knowledge of the Holy. I was struck by his description on the Holiness of God.

Tozer differentiates between God’s Absolute Holiness and what he calls God’s Contingent Holiness.

God’s Absolute Holiness is His and will always belong to Him. We can never be that or have that.

But God’s Contingent Holiness we share in. -

I think this is what Peter had in mind when he wrote:

2 Peter 1:4 “4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

God is beautiful and worthy of worship simply because of His holiness but also because he allows us to share in that holiness.

He makes us Holy as He is Holy

He purifies our hearts by faith

He can take the ugly, broken, bruised, and bleeding and change them into the beautiful, whole, well, and pure

That is beautiful

My Beautiful God.

Have you seen Him in His beauty yet?

Have you been able to worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness yet?

Take another good long look at Him.