Beauty to Ashes; Beauty for Ashes

 

Beauty to Ashes; Beauty for Ashes

Photo by Naveen Nkadalaveni 2019

As we saw last week, inner beauty is a gift from God, bestowed on those who receive the holiness of His Son by trusting Him as their Lord and Savior. Only then will we see beauty as God sees it, and be beautiful in His sight!

When God’s chosen people and nation turn away from Him by forsaking His holiness to worship idols, whether other gods or earthly pursuits like power, lust, fame and fortune, God will remove their beauty. Their physical beauty will be consumed to ashes under the fire of His judgment (Isaiah 64:11; Lamentations 1:6, 2:1,15; Ezekiel 7:20; 16:12-15, 25; 28:6-7).

God created Lucifer, the angel of light, to be the most beautiful and wise angel (Ezekiel 28:12-19), appointed to lead the angelic host in worshipping God. Through the sin of pride, wanting to set himself above God (Isaiah 14:12-15), Lucifer fell from heaven to earth, where he is now Satan, prince of the power of the air, also referred to allegorically as the king of Tyrus (Ezekiel 28: 6, 7, 12, 17) and the Assyrian (Ezekiel 31:8-11). 

Ezekiel 28:12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.… 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

The hatred of Satan for God and man now make him as ugly and evil as he once was beautiful and holy, yet he and his demons can still appear physically and spiritually beautiful to deceive us if we are not careful (1 Peter 5:8), transforming themselves into ministers of light (2 Corinthians 11:13-14).

However God defines human physical beauty, it is clear that just as He created and bestowed it, He can take it away. Earthly beauty passes quickly while we are still in our physical body, consumed like a fading flower (Isaiah 28:1,4), or a moth drawn to the flame (Psalm 39:11), for aging is part of the judgment we face under the curse of sin (Genesis 3:16-24). Such beauty is therefore vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised Proverbs 31:30).

Yet in the United States alone, billions of dollars each year are spent on cosmetics, plastic surgery, and other rejuvenating “beauty” treatments, not to mention on high fashion and jewelry. In 2015 the beauty industry generated $56 billion in this country, of which 24% was for hair care, 24% for skin care, and 15% for cosmetics. These soon reach the point of diminishing returns, as the ravages of aging continue while we are in our earthly body.

Whether or not our earthly companions consider us to be beautiful is of little importance compared with what God thinks of us. How can we be beautiful in God’s eyes? The apostle Peter warned women that our best adornment is not our hair style, jewelry, or clothing, but the “ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price (1 Peter 3: 4, 1-5).

When a nationwide beauty pageant was held to find a new bride for King Ahasuerus, Esther won his heart and the crown without any special beauty treatments or adornments, for her love of God and of His people must have given her a unique inner beauty that appealed not only to the King, but to all who knew her (Esther 2:1-17).  

We cannot achieve such beauty ourselves, for it is a gift from God. When Job questioned God’s treatment of him, God asked if Job could condemn God to make himself righteous, or if Job could give himself power, majesty, glory, or beauty (Job 40:6).

The answer, of course, is that Job could not, for all such attributes are from God Himself (James 1:17). Now that we are under the curse of sin, there is nothing in our own heart or good works that God considers righteous or beautiful (Romans 3:23). But once we are saved by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the onlyWay (John 14:6) to Heaven, His perfect, beautiful holiness is credited to our account, for He robes us in His righteousness (Job 29:14; Isaiah 61:10).

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Only then can God see us as beautiful, for when He looks at us, He sees the perfect beauty of His Son. Then the beauty of the Lord our God is upon us (Psalm 90:17), for He finds pleasure in beautifying the meek with His salvation (Psalm 149:4). We have no power or beauty of our own, but once we are saved, the Holy Spirit lives within us (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30, giving us access to His perfect power, beauty and wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:16). The Lord of hosts is a crown of glory and of beauty for those who trust Him (Isaiah 28:5).

Through His plan of salvation, God exchanges our ashes, representing our sin, sorrow and death, for His beauty (Isaiah 61:1-3), meaning the righteousness of Christ (Romans 3:22), the joy of our Lord (Habakkuk 3:18), and eternal life (John 3:16).

Isaiah 61: 1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

When we are saved, God transforms us from His enemies (Romans 5:8-10) and children of the devil (John 8:44) to God’s friends, His children, joint heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:14-17), His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), fellow workers with Him (1 Corinthians 3:9), and the bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7-9).

In these new roles we radiate His beauty to others as we spread His Word, for beautiful are the feet of those who spread His Gospel, or Good News! (Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15). God allows us to be His ministers, reconciling other sinners to Himself by telling them about His Son (2 Corinthians 5:18). 

Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

How are we saved? By God’s grace, through our faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), which elevates us to heavenly places in Him (Ephesians 1:3). When Moses in faith drew near to God on Mount Sinai, his face shone with God’s glory and was visible to all the people (Exodus 34:29-35).

Once Sarah finally trusted God completely to bring her the child He had promised (Genesis 18:10-15), she too must have reflected God’s beauty despite her old age, for King Abimelech wanted her to be in his harem, until God warned him in a dream to restore her to her husband Abraham (Genesis 20:1-14).

Through faith in Jesus Christ, we can all shine with inner beauty that is pleasing not only to God, but to others. In Psalm 110:3, King David described the people of God as having “the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.”

If we lack that inner beauty, we may fool others who admire our exterior appearance, but we can’t fool God, for He knows our heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Jesus criticized the religious leaders of His day for being hypocrites who rejected Him. They appeared holy and beautiful outwardly, while being full of corruption and decay within, like a beautifully decorated burial vault containing rotting bones and flesh. Interestingly, this verse (Matthew 23:27) is the only instance of the word “beauty” or “beautiful” in the four Gospels.

Even though we can’t always see the beauty of God’s design for our lives, He sees it all, from beginning to end, and He has made everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We see the tapestry of our life from the reverse side, where the knots and threads crossing over each other seem to make a tangled mess, but from His viewpoint, the placement of each strand is woven into an intricate, harmonious masterpiece.

When He takes us to Heaven, we will see not only the beauty of our own life tapestry viewed from the right side, but His perfect beauty mirrored in everyone and everything around us, defying description and human imagination (Isaiah 64:4; 1 Corinthians 2:9). The holy city, containing mansions for each of us (John 14:2), will have foundations and walls of precious jewels, gates of pearl, and streets of gold, and it will be lit by the brilliance of Jesus Christ Himself, the fairest of all (Revelation 21:10-23).

Even our vile, corruptible, aging body will be transformed instantly into a glorious body like that of Christ Himself, never to age, die, sin, sorrow or experience pain or sickness (Philippians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 15:35-57; Revelation 21:4).

May we allow God to exchange our ashes for His beauty! May we realize that beauty is in the eye of God, see beauty as He sees it, and be beautiful in His sight!

© 2019 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Everything is Beautiful

Photo by r Նարդուհի Էքիզեան-Մարկոսեան 2019

One of my favorite songs in the musical “A Chorus Line” is called “Everything Is Beautiful at the Ballet.” In this song, one of the dancers explains how going to see the ballet as a child allowed her to escape from hard times and abusive situations at home into a fantasy world of sugar-plum fairies where the heroine always found her Prince Charming. Dancing then became her life’s passion and dream, so that she could share this beauty with others. 

I was blessed to first discover the beauty and creative outlet of dancing as a young child, and to continue expressing myself through this unique art form, in which the dancer herself is the artistic instrument. One of the many joys of dancing is that it demands complete focus, especially Theatre Arts partnership dancing with overhead lifts that my husband and I enjoy, for to lose focus could mean serious injury for one or both of us. 

And while we’re concentrating on perfecting a particular lift, there is no mental, emotional or physical energy to waste on worrying about coronavirus or anything else that might be troubling us. With God’s empowerment, the end result (although never a reached destination; always a work in progress) is a fluid series of moves that reflects an emotion or idea conveyed by the lyrics, typically a Christian theme in dances that we choreograph. 

Yet the “Chorus Line” song also reminds me that the process leading to the beautiful ballet is often fraught with pain. My husband and I have at times worked through bouts of back, knee and shoulder injury; plantar fasciitis; and recovery from a heart condition or pneumonia. Each of these stressors required unique adaptations of our bodies and training to accommodate the movements we could perform without further injuring ourselves, but what we learned in the process often improved our dancing. 

Even as a young ballet dancer I remember battling bruised toenails from dancing en pointe, particularly in a vigorous, athletic ballet piece demanding repeated jumping and landing on the tip of one toe. Before performances, the wardrobe mistress would pour wintergreen oil on my purple toenail to numb the pain. But once I was on stage, the adrenaline and sheer exhilaration of dancing made everything beautiful once more, and I was blissfully unaware of the throbbing until the dance was over. 

Although I was then not yet saved by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), I still somehow understood that suffering can have a higher purpose. This was fully epitomized In Christ’s supreme agony on the cross, required to pay the sin debt of all mankind so that sinful man could be reconciled to Holy God (Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; Ephesians 2:16). 

He was marred beyond recognition, so that all would recoil from His frightful appearance. Yet had He not been willing to subject Himself to that ordeal, we would never experience the eternal beauty His salvation brings (Isaiah 53). 

In far lesser degrees, God allows His children to go through various trials (Romans 8:28) to strengthen their faith in and dependence on Him (Romans 5:1-5); to give us experience and compassion to help others going through similar trials (2 Corinthians 1:4-6); and to mold us into His image (Philippians 3:10). My daily prayer is that God is using the coronavirus pandemic to accomplish these ends in His children, as well as to lead the unsaved to trust Christ as their Lord and Savior. 

The media focus on all that is ugly about the coronavirus pandemic, and there is plenty of that – sickness, death, unemployment, isolation, global financial collapse. Health care workers and others on the front lines describe their new normal as a “war zone” or “nightmare” in which they battle constantly to save lives while endangering their own. 

Yet there is an unexpected beauty in many of the consequences of the pandemic. Many in isolation now have more time to get alone with God, pray, study His Word, and to engage in quality time with family with whom they are sheltering in place. Many are restoring their homes and dinner tables to living artworks where they can share God’s blessings with their family and thank Him for His abundant love, mercy and grace. 

Although some try to profit financially or politically from the widespread misery, others step up to the challenge, helping those in need by donating money and supplies, praying, and sending messages of encouragement and hope. Businesses and churches have shut down, but so have drug cartels and gang wars in hard-hit cities. 

Another prayer for these perilous times is that we would all gain a new-found appreciation for the many God-given blessings we so often take for granted, including the privilege of congregating together to hear God’s Word, to worship Him, and to uplift one another (Hebrews 10:25). 

The plague and pestilence we now face, as well as global reports of famine, storms, wars, rumors of wars, and false prophets all remind us that we are in the End Times (Matthew 24). No man knows the day or the hour that the Lord shall return to Rapture His children to ultimate and eternal beauty, joy, and peace (1 Corinthians 15:51-54), but we know that it is one day closer today than it was yesterday (Matthew 24:36). 

As the apostle Paul wrote under Holy Spirit inspiration, we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; and perplexed, but not in despair, for Christ has transformed our fate from the curse of sin and death to eternal glory (2 Corinthians 4:8-18). Praise the Lord, He has made everything beautiful in its time! (Ecclesiastes 3:11). 

Through faith in Him, we may be sorrowful in this ugly world, but He will give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. He will plant us as trees of His righteousness, to His glory!  (Isaiah 61:3)

© 2020 Laurie Collett