Most of the time, when people think about Christianity, they primarily ponder on its moral configuration. Hence, their mind goes to such entities as: “wrong” and “right”, “sinfulness” and “righteousness”, or perhaps “blamelessness” and “guiltiness”. But there is another way to look at Christianity, namely, through the gauge of aesthetic. It is so because righteousness is, and always will be, beautiful. Likewise, sinfulness is, and always will be, ugly. That’s why the Scripture speaks about the beauty of holiness (Psalm 29:2).
A misleading representation
Interestingly, in an age in which so much importance is put on one’s physical appearance, little or no importance is put on the way we are being seen in the long-term. The disparity seems to be caused by a mental blind spot, for when we look at ourselves in a mirror our general behavior doesn’t appear, therefore only a fraction of our person is being reflected. This partial representation can be indeed deceitful and lead us to a very wrong conclusion, namely, that we are beautiful.
The disfiguration of beauty
I believe most of us will agree that a person’s demeanor can make him ugly. This is the more true when the circumstances of life oblige us to stay in the presence of that person for long periods of time. Hence, an arrogant attitude or an irritating character can disfigure the so-called “beauty” the mirror had presented a few hours earlier. The same is true about a deceiver, an adulterer or a liar. So you can have a gorgeous young lady marrying a handsome young man, but before the summer is over the one might be cursing the other, vociferating such phrases as: “You are the most repulsive person I have ever met”. So the beauty of the early days is gone, brushed off by the muddy water of an amoral and insensitive life.
The answer
One must realize that true beauty can only materialize when God intervenes on our behalf. He alone can beautify us from inside out:
For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation” (Psalm 149:4).
Actually the Scripture attests that God is an artist and that He is very meticulous in all of His works: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1)
Hence, we can say: God’s creation expresses elegance, magnificence, and comeliness. But His artistic creations didn’t finish there. For instance, we read in Exodus:
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.” (Exodus 31:1–5)
Here we are told that the Spirit of God was creating artistic works through Bezalel.
Likewise, in the Song of Solomon, we read that Christ’s bride will be the result of an artistic creation:
How beautiful are your feet in sandals, o prince’s daughter! The curves of your hips are like jewels, the work of the hands of an artist.” (Song of Solomon 7:1 NASB)
We also read such statements as: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). Here it refers to the new man which is created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24), and as we have seen before, holiness is beautiful (Psalm 29:2).
Therefore here lays our hope, namely, in putting off the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of our mind, putting on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24).
God’s poem
For those who seek beauty, there is a scripture reverberating great hope. It reads:
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
The Greek word for “workmanship” is ποίημα (poiēma), from where comes the word “poem”. But in the Greek it refers to any artistic work. Actually, the New King James Version puts a note for ‘workmanship’ which reads: “work of art, masterpiece”. As for the Amplified Bible it expresses it as follow: “For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art] …”. The same with the International Standard Version or the Orthodox Jewish Bible: “For we are His masterpiece …”.
Of course it must be understood here that God is still working on us and He will not stop until His “poiēma” is completed:
… being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ …” (Philippians 1:6).
The work referred to here is not only good, it is also beautiful. After all, we are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29), and His Son is exceedingly beautiful (Psalm 27:4).
Created for beautiful works
Ephesians 2:10 doesn’t only tell us we are a work of art, it also tells us we are created in Christ Jesus to externalize His works of art.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
In other words, on the fashion of Bezalel, the Spirit of God wants and can generate in us works of art, i.e., works that will glorify Him. Beyond any doubt this is the root from which all Christian aesthetics bloom, and happily—as we will see on my next post—it can flower in everyday life, even in times of gloomy adversity.
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