How to Be Captivated by God’s Beauty

What’s the most beautiful thing you’ve seen or experienced this week? 

Our answers are probably unique to each of us. Perhaps it was the sunset, or an eight-point buck backlit in the morning fog. Perhaps you made a perfectly imperfect sourdough loaf, or you watched a co-worker solve a nagging problem at work. 

You might be familiar with the adage, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” but why do we have an eye for beauty in the first place?  And why is that significant to our life in Christ? 

In a time when the world is making constant, shifting claims about what beauty is, the Church has mostly abdicated its voice on the subject. This implies that beauty is of little or lesser value to God Himself. I want to challenge that assumption as we look at God’s Word to see how He describes beauty, our experience of it, and our participation in it.   

The letter to the church in Ephesus was written by the Apostle Paul from a Roman prison. The first three chapters of Ephesians remind us who we are in Christ and the last three chapters are focused on how we should live in response.     

In Ephesians 2, we get a glimpse of how God values beauty. This passage reveals that, when we’re in Christ, we enjoy and create to reflect God’s beauty. Read on to discover three ways that the people of God should value beauty:

1. Acknowledge God as the Source of Beauty

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:4 

Following a common theme in Paul’s letters, the passage above begins with the character of God. In verse five, Paul says that God “made us alive together….”  In the Greek, this phrase is a rare compound word that combines the generation of life and community. Paul continues this imagery when in verse ten he describes us as God’s (Gk.) “poiema,” translated “workmanship” or “masterpiece.” As we’re made new in Christ and grow to become more like Him (2 Corinthians 3:18), we become works of art. You are not simply a number to God. You are a masterpiece. 

God has always been about creating a beautiful world. In fact, beauty is the first characteristic of God that the world witnesses. His first act was an act of creation: “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). While this act was both true and good, it was ultimately a work that reflected the glory of God— “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). 

I’m not prone to fits of emotion. I believe emotions are healthy and a gift from God—it just so happens that He made me especially even keeled. So it shocked me a few months back when I found myself tearing up listening to a new worship song that was created for our students. The combination of lyrics, the talented musicians, and the creative act of kindness meant to bless fellow believers struck me as overwhelmingly beautiful. It connected to my soul in special way that filled me with gratitude for Jesus and His kindness to us as a church.   

God is the perfection of beauty that is radiated out into the world. This is why beauty is not a superficial concept for followers of Jesus. When our souls appreciate something beautiful, we are identifying with God Himself as His glory is declared through that beautiful thing.   

God is the source of beauty, which is why we define beauty as that which reflects the glory of God.As the Author of what is beautiful, God has intentionally “…made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and “…set beauty in the land of the living” (Ezekiel 26:20) to ignite our affections and fill us with awe and wonder at our Creator.

2. Enjoy and Create (You Were Created for It)

“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   

Not only are we God’s workmanship—we’ve been created for good works. Genesis 1:27 declares that all of humanity was created in the image of God. This means we were created to reflect the truth of God in our very being.  

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” This means whether we’re writing a song, painting a landscape, building a process, or fixing the kitchen sink…when we’re creative in our work, we’re declaring the glory of a creative and beautiful God. 

God’s beauty is also seen in harmony and order (1 Corinthians 14:33). When we bring order out of chaos, we’re creating beauty. This means that those of you who are planners, organizers, or skilled at bringing order to your households, your workplaces, or your church campuses…you too are reflecting the glory of God. 

Throughout Scripture, we see that God delights in His work. He declares creation good (Genesis 1). He delights in those who follow Him (Psalm 147:11). God isn’t ambivalent about His creation. He enjoys it.  

Therefore, as His image bearers, we too were created to enjoy God and His creation. It’s no mistake that our hearts leap when we encounter beauty—our souls were created to enjoy God. That lump in your throat…the tears in your eyes…those things are your soul’s connection with God. Enjoy them. You were created for this. 

What would it mean to embrace beauty in your life?  Receiving the gift of beauty and responding in gratitude is good for our souls.

3. Look to Jesus

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” – Ephesians 2:4-7 

Here, we see that the ultimate purpose of enjoying and creating beauty in our world is to proclaim how wonderful Jesus is. God is the source of beauty, we reflect that beauty, and Jesus is the point of it all. 

Jesus is the embodiment of God’s mercy. John 1:14 states that “…the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus’ beauty was manifested in His humility as He took on human flesh and lived the life that you and I should have lived. Even though He was tempted in every way and did not sin (Hebrews 4:15), He remained holy and set apart so that He could make the ultimate sacrifice to rescue us. This is the most beautiful act ever committed.  

The author of Hebrews makes it clear that “He [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3). If beauty is that which reflects the glory of God, then Jesus, who is the radiance of God’s glory, is beauty itself.  

So let’s be a people who accept the invitation to enjoy God in His magnificent beauty. Keep your eyes, ears, and tastebuds open to where God is revealing Himself. Whatever you find yourself doing this week, seek to do it with excellence—creating beauty wherever you can that points to Jesus.