Behold the beauty
by Pam Smith
It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The other day my little grandson said, “Nanny you’re beautiful”. I presume that his three year old eyes didn’t see the wrinkles. He saw something that no one else did. But I liked it. Many filled with the Holy Spirit see the beauty and glory of the Lord as no one else sees. It’s not just beauty in the eyes of the beholder, but beauty in the glorious one that they are seeing.
Artists have given their own impressions of Jesus throughout the ages, but there are no physical descriptions of him in Scripture. There’s nothing indicating what He looked like on earth, such as His build, or the colour of His eyes, hair, and complexion. Peter, James and John saw His glory when He was transfigured in front of them, but only described His clothes (Mark 9:2).
It was prophesied about Jesus as the Messiah who was to come, ‘in God’s eyes he was like a tender and green shoot sprouting from a root in dry, sterile ground. But in our eyes there was no attractiveness, nothing to make us want him’ (Isaiah 53:2, NLT).
But there’s something gloriously beautiful about the risen Saviour. This is the beauty that the whole of Christendom sings about. God has given us the Holy Spirit that we may see the beauty of Jesus with our spiritual eyes, and feel it when we’re in His presence.
His beauty is also declared in the Old Testament. ‘One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple’ (Psalm 27:4). Moses, Isaiah and Job, to name but a few, saw the Lord. His beauty is connected to His holiness, which He desires to share with us.
John says: ‘We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14). And He was ‘the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person’ (Hebrews 1:3).
And it’s during worship that we behold the beauty of the Lord. He reveals His beauty as we gaze upon Him in the sanctuary. That doesn’t just mean in the eleven o’clock service on Sunday (although it could), but any time we’re in His presence. Let’s come before Him and be God-gazers.
Prayer:
"Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,
open the eyes of my heart,
I want to see you. I want to see you.
To see You high and lifted up,
Shining in the light of Your glory.
Pour out Your power and love.
We sing holy, holy holy. (Paul Baloche)
Pam Smith has a background in art and nursing, has a son and two daughters and six grandchildren. She has been a friend and helper of Ellel Ministries since l992, and has been involved with Healing Through Creativity Courses. As writer of the Shepherd Love Series, she has a passion for the comfort and encouragement that leads people towards enjoying abundant Life in Jesus.
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