The Divine Message of Beauty

 

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” (Romans 1:20 NLT)

“The human quest for beauty is really a quest for the source of that beauty” (Alistair McGrath)

Dear Friends and Members of IBC,

In this week’s Word for the Week, as we begin a week with a gorgeous blue sky, flowers in bloom, warmth and sun, I would like to say a word about beauty.

We are called to enjoy the beauty the surrounds us (Psalm 27:4, 104, Ecclesiastes 3:11). I wonder when was the last time that instead of staring straight ahead at our screens, we took the time to look up or look down. At the tiny worker ants in the tiles, the sound of woodpeckers in the trees, or a star-filled night sky. I don’t always take the time. And I can easily be like one of those worker ants and just focus on the task in front of me instead of what is actually in front of me. Yet when we slow down, and allow ourselves to stay in the moment, not resisting a kind of inner pull, then we might start to have a different perspective on things.

Beauty speaks to us in a way that can’t be quickly rationalised. It seems to stir something up inside of us, appeals to something deeper within, something that can’t be properly expressed. God has created a beautiful world. It is not just the mountain ranges or wooded valleys that greet us whenever we turn on our computers. Beauty is also written in the small details, the colours, the quiet, the diversity, the smells, the sounds of nature. But not only in nature. The elegance of an idea, an orchestral symphony, a piece of art also contain great beauty.

Mostly we tend to think that the beauty in things is somehow contained within them. A beautiful sunset is just that, a beautiful sunset. A gorgeous, shimmering lake is great to look at and then we look at something else. But Romans 1:20 tells us that God’s invisible qualities demonstrate His eternal power and divine nature. The constant beauty that surrounds both believers and non-believers is like a message that points all of us towards a much greater beauty. It is a like a handwritten letter from the master artist Himself. For me, the experience of beauty is yet another piece of evidence that points towards the existence of God. We just need to allow ourselves to enjoy it.

God Bless
James