A few years ago, I took my first trip to Europe. I happily explored the sights and sounds, the food and smells, and the history and culture of each location we visited. My favorite day of the trip was in Cambridge, England, where we toured Cambridge University, went to an open-air market for lunch, and shopped at C. S. Lewis’s favorite used bookstore in town. To cap off a great day, we went to King’s College Chapel for evensong, the daily evening church service held there. Hearing the choir sing and the Scriptures read as the sun set behind the magnificently detailed stained-glass windows of the eighty-feet tall Gothic building, I was overcome by the moment. Tears came to my eyes, and I whispered a prayer of worship and thanks to God. It was a beautiful moment.
More than something pleasant to our senses, deep beauty affects our soul and causes a response. As humans, we are innately attracted to what is beautiful. Though our human awareness or opinion of what is beautiful might be warped by our sinful nature, the longing for beauty is certainly still there. This hunger is not by chance, for it has been placed within us by God Himself to draw us to Him. Often overlooked, beauty plays an important role in our Christian spirituality, sanctification, and witness. It enlivens our imagination and inspires us, and recognizing its place reveals that it is a helpful means for us to know and respond to God more faithfully.
Beauty as Theology
Our Triune God, in whom is perfection, love, and fellowship, is the ultimate beauty. Psalm 96:6 says, “Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.” The longing for the beautiful is satisfied in our beautiful God. He who neither needs nor benefits from humans, loved us so much that He stooped down to take our ugliness and has, is, and promises to fully transform us into beautiful creatures. This God of beauty reconciled us to Him to make us beautiful; we are testimonies of God’s beauty and His beautifying power. The beautiful message of the gospel and our transformation from death to life moves us toward more mature godliness. Like my experience in Kings College Chapel, when humans are faced with something truly beautiful, it stirs within us an inspired imagination for greater faithfulness.
Furthermore, the Christian story, as the story of God, is the most beautiful story to unfold in all human history. Though we rejected God, He continued to reach down to establish relationships with His people. Even when Adam and Eve sinned, He declared a snake crusher was coming to reverse the effects of sin one day (Gen. 3:15). He chose Abraham through whom would come the blessing to the nations in Genesis 12. He gave Israel the Law, so that they could be holy as He is holy and live as a kingdom of priests embodying a beautiful life while they awaited the coming Messiah. He promised David that through him would come an eternal kingdom (2 Sam. 7). Even when Israel rejected God and experienced exile, God did not abandon His people.
Ultimately, when “the time came to completion (Gal. 4:4), God sent His Son who lived a perfect, sinless life, who willingly died a humiliating and horrifying death on a cross yet resurrected after three days. Jesus, the snake crusher, the blessing of Abraham, the fulfiller of the Law, the greatest Davidic King, defeated sin and death by freely offering Himself as the sacrifice. As He ascended, He promised He would one day return. When this day comes, the new heaven and a new earth will be established—a kingdom where God reigns and sin is no more.
For the last two thousand years, believers have eagerly anticipated and awaited this time. Saints before us have worked faithfully, withstood persecution, and endured great trial, realizing that something much more beautiful lies ahead. When we pause to remember this story, our heritage, how can we not be completely amazed by our beautiful God, His beautiful message, and the beautiful story of which we have been invited to join as well? Remembering this story invigorates and inspires me to keep the right perspective and to remain faithful amidst life’s challenges. The longing I have for this day will one day be met. The evils and sins of this world will be no more. Sickness and pain will be gone. Beauty, in big or small ways, glimpses the ultimate beauty of God. Beauty is a unique gift that gently reminds us of our God and our future. One day, we will live with Him in a beautiful paradise, and we will be with Him for all eternity. How utterly beautiful.
Living Out Beauty
Beauty forms us, stirs our imagination, and inspires us to continue to run the race. We live out the beautiful story of Scripture as active participants of the kingdom of God. We embody the gospel reality, because it’s the means through which we have experienced our beautiful transformation.
Embodying beauty does not require a larger budget or money. We can have beautiful lives in and through the blessings God has given us, because beauty is not connected to a material understanding but a larger spiritual purpose.
Practically, how do we do this? We live out beauty by creating it, cultivating it, and appreciating it in our lives. We create beauty by creating beautiful lives. A beautiful live is not one marked by perfection, ease, or luxury, but rather one that responds to life’s hardships with beauty and grace. Creating a beautiful life is not a material endeavor but a spiritual one. We illustrate that we are participants of the most beautiful story being told by adorning ourselves with the beautiful virtues of the Christian life. We adorn our homes not merely for decorations’ sake but to display the gospel in a tangible way. We make a beautiful craft, cook a beautiful meal, or plan a beautiful get-together as means to glorify God. Demonstrating gracious hospitality, kind friendship, patient parenting, dependable work ethic, and active engagement in church are meaningful ways that we create beautiful lives as an offering to worship God.
Believers cultivate beauty. The Christian life is not an individual endeavor. The underlying assumption and overt commands of the New Testament reveal that an obedient Christian life is one in community with others. Thus, how can we help cultivate a beautiful mindset and lifestyle in others too? We should strive to be that type of friend who is dependable and constant, the mom or daughter who loves well, the church member who does not merely attend but one who is active and inspires others to do so as well.
Lastly, believers can respond to our beautiful God and His message by appreciating all the beauty that’s out there. If all truth is God’s truth, then we can engage the beauty around us. Whether it’s watching a good film, going to a play, listening to profound music, looking at a piece of art, reading a good book, taking a walk, eating a good meal, catching up with an old friend, enjoying the sunrise from your kitchen window, or watching the sun set from your back porch, there are means to be reminded of the beautiful One every day.
Living a beautiful life demonstrates that the gospel is real, and our beautiful God is beautifying us. Especially in politically charged, divisive times, how can we practically apply the theological teaching of beauty? The world is looking for a lasting, satisfactory beauty, and the church has an answer. Beauty should be a chief characteristic of the Christian life and spur us on toward greater godliness. May our hearts ever-soften toward the Lord, may our hearts be ever pruned of its ugliness, and may our faithful God beautify us evermore. What a gift beauty is indeed!
ABOUT EUNICE CHUNG
Eunice is a Bible and theology professor at Liberty University. After receiving her bachelor’s degrees from the University of Virginia (Go Hoos!), she finished her MDiv and ThM at Liberty University and her PhD at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, writing on biblical meditation and the visual arts. She hopes to make much of God in teaching and lifestyle. In her free time, Eunice enjoys trying new restaurants, reading detective fiction, and walking in the woods.
