A verse that always stands out to me in the Bible is Isaiah 53: 2 – “He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire Him.” (New International Version)
Colossians 1: 15 tells us that Jesus is the very image of God, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”
This always confounds me because God is described in Exodus 33: 19-20 as so good that anyone who looks directly upon Him cannot live, “And the Lord said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.’”
How has our great and glorious Lord come to us with such humility, yet adorned humans with so much beauty?
There are many beautiful people described in the Bible:
Genesis 12: 11 (Of Abraham’s wife, Sarai) – “As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know what a beautiful woman you are.’”
1 Samuel 16: 12 (Of young King David) – “So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; this is the one.’”
Samuel 14: 25 (Absalom, a son of King David) “In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him.”
Ezekiel 16: 9-14 describes Israel as God’s beloved queen whom He has cleansed and adorned with beautiful things, “I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
However, a few verses later, Ezekiel 16: 15 describes how Israel became proud of her beauty, and that it eventually became her downfall: “But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his.”
When we love someone, we make them beautiful. We give them gifts to increase their beauty and attractiveness – but only for our admiration, and not to receive attention from others.
Likewise, God adorns us with natural beauty that we may only be attractive to Him, and not to other gods. God has made us beautiful because He loves us like no one else.
How blessed are we to be made in His beautiful image! And that we may devote our lives to loving and worshipping Him!
As you end your week, remember each and every human being is beautifully created in God’s image. And when you see them, may we point them to God who gave them their beauty, that they may shine in His name as well!
Lazarevic Ministries 