YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL (GLORY IN THE HIGHEST)

“Thou are worthy oh Lord, to receive glory, honour and power; for thou has created all things, and for thy pleasure, they are and were created”. Revelation 4:11


YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL

You are beautiful. There is a song by singer named James Blunt titled “You’re beautiful”. It is a very sweet song, as his high-pitched voice serenades the listener with lyrics about a woman he comes across. According to the singer, “There must have been an angel with a smile on her face when she thought up that I should be with you”. These lyrics aren’t to be taken too seriously, but the Christian in me cannot help but observe that Angels do not think up who should end up with anyone. Angels are blessed messengers of God. It is God who is in charge of our destiny; that is God’s job. Not only that, but the last angel that presumed upon God’s place and authority-Lucifer, was cast down from heaven into an eternity of damnation. Pretty intense thoughts provoked by somebody who thought he was just singing a sweet sounding pop song, wouldn’t you say?

The truth of the matter is that the singer can be wrong about any number of things, but he is not wrong about his main point: You are beautiful.

Why are you beautiful? Don’t bother looking in the mirror; it will not tell you why you are beautiful. We live in a world of vanity that is limited by the things that the eyes see. But you must see beyond the obvious. (Because of lack of vision my people suffer Proverbs 29:18). You must open up your physical eyes as well as your spiritual eyes to see why you are beautiful.

“And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness”. Genesis 1:24

I don’t know about you, but that is one of the most flattering truths tucked inside that wonderful book called the bible. When we think of the awesomeness of God, it is indeed flattering to even think that we are created in his image. God paid us this compliment when he created us, because he loved us before we were created.
So what does it mean that we are created in the image of God? I believe that the implications are more spiritual than physical. The bible has said that “God is spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth”. John 4:24

Think of it this way: Children born deformed, are created in the image of God just as much as anyone else. We can spend many years on this earth, and still reflect the image of God while our body’s age and decay around us.

I do not want to diminish the significance of the physical. I believe that the glory of God is reflected in our physical form. The way that our fingers work, the diligence in the way that the heart beats, the miracle of birth…all of these things give testament to the wonder, precision, and attention to our details of our God and maker.

And you even have Laminin, a cyroprotein in the body that is responsible for cell adhesion; the cell that holds all the other cells in the body together, shaped in the exact image of the cross.

Laminin a cyroprotein that glues all human cells together (And gives us our structure) is shaped in the image of a cross.

GLORY IN THE HIGHEST

None of these things are coincidences. All of creation gives glory to God our maker.
But I believe it is in our spiritual form that we shine and reflect the beautiful image of God.

It is in spirit that we worship him. It is in spirit that we show love to each other. It is in spirit that we face difficult situations. It is in spirit that that we show bravery, courage, empathy, intelligence, and all the spectacular attributes that God has blessed us with. It is in spirit that we commune with God. It is our spirit that will outlive our bodies.

My brothers and sisters, I want to tell you that the Devil would rather kill by enslaving your spirit, and let your body live until you are 100 or 120, however long you think is long enough. Not that your body does not matter, but your spirit matters infinitely more. And so we must feed our spirit with the word of God, just as we feed our bodies with food.

So yes you are all beautiful physically and spiritually. Physically because everything about your physical reflects the awesome glory of God, and spiritually because as weak as we can be we are all created in the image of God.

Everyone is created in the image of God: Jews and gentiles, the saved and the sinner. This ought to change our attitude towards the world. Anyone you see is created in the image of God. It is up to us to do what we will with this image, do we use it for glory, or do we debase it?

Imagine if someone who looked just like you was running around committing all sorts of immoral and embarrassing crimes for everyone to see? That is what we do when we fall short of the glory of God. Imagine how you would feel if someone told a person who looked just like you that they are ugly? That is what we do when we abuse any person on this planet.

A warning must always reverberate in our minds: Look what you do to the image of God.

That we are created in his image is indeed a great responsibility.

I once told a friend of mine something along these lines…I have gotten closer to God my compliments have changed. No longer do I dwell on all the physical attributes that I think make a person beautiful. The compliments I am apt to pay are now: You really worked hard on that project. That was very kind of you. I am inspired by your dedication to God.

I am not saying this because I am in the habit of giving everyone a window into my personal life, but I just want you all to see that it is the image of God glorified in people that begins to attract us; the things that God finds attractive.

A person does not necessarily have to be a Christian to reflect the beautiful image of God.

Ø There is a security guard at my job who is always full of laughter and joy, he is a beautiful reflection of the image of God.

Ø There is a woman who cleans my office, always with a smile on her face. She is oh so beautiful to me.

Ø A V.P at work who can go from talking about genetics and the human cell anatomy one second, to talking about the impact of 10 year treasury yields on interest rates the next minute, reflects the glory of God to me.

I do not know all of their theology, neither am I aware of their standing with God, but I know that since we all are created in God’s image, the glory of God can be seen all around us.

To conclude, I began this piece with a quote from the book of revelation

“Thou are worthy oh Lord, to receive glory, honour and power; for thou has created all things, and for thy pleasure, they are and were created”. Revelation 4:11

One of the things I find remarkable about the book of revelations is that it gives us a vision of heaven. The glory of God is reflected in the way that the congregation of heaven worships him. Our king is hailed, he is worshiped, and he is exalted. Our savior Jesus Christ is called the morning star, the lion of Judah, and the root of David. All of these celestial beings-Angels and Arch Angels, Cherubim and Seraphim, the “elders” that the bible speaks of, all bow down before the throne of God to worship his name.

We were made to be a testament to the glory of God. We are blessed and unique to be created in his image. May we see God in each others faces, may we see his image in the shades of our character. God is beautiful, and he has imparted us with shades of his beauty. You’re beautiful, and your beauty is derived from Jehovah.

All the earth will sing you praise

The moon and stars

The sun and rain

Every nation will proclaim

You are God, and you will reign so...

Glory glory halleluja

Glory glory to you lord

Glory glory halleluja

HALLELUJA!

-Chris Tomlin (Glory in the highest)