Seeing the Beauty of God

 

Hello dear friend! 

In this season, God has been teaching me something new. Something I had never really thought about before. I don't know why I had never thought about this before. All of a sudden I see it so clearly. Like a flash of lightning, it clicked into place. Well, not really all of a sudden. I know this is something God has been teaching me about Himself. An intentional journey He has been leading me on for a while now. I’m so thankful He is taking the time to reveal this to me—something I didn’t really understand before.

God is beautiful.

So so incredibly beautiful. More than I could ever think of or imagine. More than I think I will ever be able to comprehend. This is what God has been teaching me about Himself recently. God is beautiful!

You may already know this but it’s exciting to me! I don’t know why but I got it in my head that God is big, strong, light (almost like a giant burst of light or sun), a giant in the clouds, a painting in the church. This is mostly just a picture of what man thinks God looks like and my imagination running wild. It is not the full picture. It does not encompass the sheer beauty that is God. 

“The one thing I ask of the Lord—

the thing I seek most—

is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

delighting in the Lord’s perfections

and meditating in his Temple.”

—Psalm 27:4 (NLT)

Think of the most beautiful thing you have ever seen in nature. The most gorgeously painted sunset over a clear ocean that acts like a mirror showing the sunset in double its glory. The most majestic mountain that rises mighty to touch the clouds. The most powerful swell of the ocean’s waves. A breathtaking waterfall that sounds like chariots charging down into the waters below. Rain cascading down to the earth. The most pure blue sky with not a cloud in sight. The trees who are giants on the earth. The budding flowers pressing their little heads to the sun.

Imagine that beautiful thing. That does not compare to the beauty that is God. It is like a dry desert compared to a thriving forest all green and pulsing with life. It is like sandpaper compared to a sweet and juicy orange. It is like silence compared to music.

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

—1 Corinthians 13:12 (ESV)

On earth, we get a glimpse of the beauty that is God. 

“Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are ‘patches of Godlight’ in the woods of our experience.” —C.S. Lewis 

We see a glimmer in every sunset, tree, flower, waterfall, rain shower, snowy night, rising mountains and all of God’s creation. We see a small reflection, a shadow of what true beauty looks like because God is the creator. He is the great artist. What He makes is beautiful and good because He is beautiful and good.

“Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!

He is to be feared above all gods.

The gods of other nations are mere idols,

but the Lord made the heavens!

Honor and majesty surround him;

strength and beauty fill his sanctuary.”

—Psalm 96:4-6 (NLT)

We get to see a glimpse of what God looks like and His beauty in Revelation.

Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and Onesat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 

—Revelation 4:2-3 (NKJV) 

Seeing creation all the way to revelation, I have seen the power and might of God. Now He is showing me His beauty from creation to revelation.

The Beauty in God’s Creation

Recently, I have been studying light. What is light? Light can be the absence of darkness. Light can be the ability to see. 1Science says that light can be colors. Different colors are made of different wavelengths of light, which our brain then takes in, and color is seen. Imagine that for a moment. Color is light. Light is color.

When I think of light, I think of something white and light, like looking at the sun or moon. Blinding, bright, and brilliant. Light can also be colors. That opens up a whole new way of thinking. For me, in writing this, I discovered something I never thought of before. What if God making “light” was so much greater and entirely more beautiful beyond what I could ever imagine?

Imagine that when God said, “Let there be light,”2 it was not just brightness coming to life but all the colors of creation bursting to life. A symphony of colors and beauty.

While this may not have happened, the possibility is there. A world without now is filled with light and bursting with color. Fresh and clear and bright.

Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,

to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?

As the light approaches,

the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;

it is robed in brilliant colors.

—Job 38:13-14 (NLT)

Could this have been what it looked like when God spoke light into existence? The light robes the earth in brilliant colors. Shining rich in vibrant light. Light and color are connected. It is beautiful.

Creation was beautiful. Even if color wasn’t a part of God saying, “Let there be light,” creation is still so incredibly beautiful. It is life itself being born. All of creation, all manner of creatures, plants, human, stars, beauty, creation itself being made by God. It is so beautiful.

The Beauty in The End 

Last week I read The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis3 for the first time. It is such an incredible book and I highly recommend reading. One of the things that stood out to me the most was the beauty in the end. 

SPOILERS AHEAD 

The Last Battle is Narnia’s Revelation. The end of Narnia has come. Judgment is here. But, while there is destruction happening, it is also beautiful because Aslan is there and he is beautiful. 

I don’t think I have ever thought of Revelation and the end of the world as something being beautiful. It has always been all dread and doom and destruction. It has been tied to anxiety, not because I fear the end, but because I despise man’s theories and heavy speculation surrounding the end. I believe in reading the bible literally. That what the Bible says is the full truth because it is God’s Word and He is truth. Maybe later I can share more about why I strongly detest theories but that is for another day. 

Now, after reading this book, I have a new perspective on the end. It is not just doom and destruction. It is the bridge between us here on earth and being able to walk with Jesus face to face. It has changed my perspective on the end and death. 

“Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice!

Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!

Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy!

Let the trees of the forest sing for joy

before the Lord, for he is coming!

He is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with justice,

and the nations with his truth.”

—Psalm 96:11-13 (NLT) 

The end of Narnia was the beginning of being with Aslan forever. The end of Narnia was to get to be able to now walk with Aslan and never be apart from him. You get to see Aslan in all his power and glory. You are either with him or against him. 

The same will be with the ending of our world. Yes, it is destruction and the final end happening but it leads to being with Jesus and being able to walk with him. 

In the garden God walked with Adam and Eve. “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…” (Genesis 3:8). We get this opportunity to walk with God and be with him face to face in the end. 

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” 

—Revelation 21:3 (NLT)

 

Thank You For Reading   

Thank you for being here and for being a part of my life! I hope you are all having a wonderful rest of your day! I’ll see you in the next one!

Yours Truly, Moriyah