Overwhelming beauty
Don’t we all love to look upon beautiful things? People, structures, plants, trees, oceans, mountains, meadows, church windows, art, you name it! I believe we were made to enjoy God’s magnificent creation. As I was resting by our pool this weekend, I noticed the ripples in the water. It was nice, but when I took this photo, it became brilliant. The colors were created by the sun’s rays and the other parts were in the shade. And I see many images of fish, cats, and dog faces and people. What do you see?
As I thought about the transformation created through the photo, I was drawn to the scripture in the Psalms. “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire (meditate) in his temple” (vs. 27.4). What jumped out at me was this. I saw one thing with my naked eye, but another thing through the lens of a camera. We can all imagine of what the glory of the Lord is going to be, but I don’t think we have a clue of just how majestic he is. The Psalmist says one of the things he wants to do is to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, not just a glimpse, but gaze all the days of his life.
Grace to imagine
The shepherds attending their flocks the night Jesus was born saw the glory of the Lord appearing all around them and they were afraid. Peter, James, and John saw the transfigured Jesus, in all his glory, and they were so awestruck they wanted to build some tents for worship. Isaiah was in the temple and when the glory appeared to him, he felt like he was a man who was dead. God required Moses to put his face into the cleft of a rock while the glory of the Lord passed by him. Today, through the power and presence of the Spirit, we can get a glimpse of his beauty—but as the saying goes—‘you ain’t seen nothing yet’!
By grace, he allows us to imagine and to anticipate, but in our fallen world, he has saved us from eternal destruction by not showing himself in full glory to us. The song by MercyMe: ‘I can only imagine’ says it all. For your pleasure, we have included the link to the song below. This is what the songwriter penned about the time he will stand in the Lord’s presence.
· Will he fall on his knees or even be able to speak at all?
· Will he forever worship him?
· Will he dance for Jesus, or in awe just stand still?
· What will his heart feel, will he sing hallelujah?
Glimpses of glory
Truly, we can only imagine! Paul writes to the Corinthians. “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”…these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit” (I Cor. 2.9,10). See, we are not alone, left with our imagination. But the tiny glimpses the Spirit gives us should whet our appetite for the main course. IT WILL BE SPECTACULAR!!!
Just a few ripples in a pool and the sun’s rays created a glorious image. Can you begin to imagine the glory of the LORD?
