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Beautiful Jesus

Hello, friends! I hope your day is going well! I want to share a topic that I personally have been seeking the Lord for more perspective on, and I thought sharing it would bring newness in the way you perceive Jesus.

I mentioned it before, but the Holy Spirit speaks to me a lot in songs. Over the past two weeks, the 3 songs that have been repeatedly filtered in my mind are:
– “Come and Behold” by Upperroom featuring Elyssa Smith
– “Beautiful Jesus” by Passion & Chidima
– “Yeshua” by Upperroom featuring Diva Jenkins

Something I didn’t realize as these songs were playing in my head every 3 seconds was that they are all focused on one thing: Jesus’ beauty.

In “Come and Behold”, the chorus repeats, “You’re beautiful”. In “Beautiful Jesus”, the chorus repeats, “Beautiful, Beautiful Jesus”. In “Yeshua”, the first verse repeats, “My beloved is the most beautiful among thousands”.

Each of these songs expresses a characteristic about Christ that allows us to relate to Him and perceive His presence in our lives. The perception of Christ’s beauty strengthens our desire to grow deeper with Him, live a life parallel to His, and see a world where love and beauty overpowers darkness and despair. I pray this post gives you a new perspective! Let’s dive into Isaiah 53:2!

“He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.”

I want to start with this verse because it contrasts the perspective of the world’s expectation of beauty and heavenly beauty. When we sing that Jesus is beautiful, we aren’t talking about His physical appearance. The beauty of Jesus is something much deeper than the outside allure. We sing of His sacrifice, His grace, and the salvation He offers to us. That is what makes Him beautiful.

As a child growing up, I always asked God to make me pretty. I wanted to look beautiful, and I wanted others to see me that way. What I didn’t realize is that my definition of beautiful is different from God’s. Instead of changing my appearance, He changed my heart. It took me a few years to piece this together, but God does not judge beauty by our appearance. He instilled in me a kindness that goes against my fleshly nature. He instilled in me a heart of sentiment and intention.

I also want to dive into Hebrews 1:3a which describes the sonority and represents God’s nature through Jesus. “He 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.”

I love how Jesus is described here. He represents the glory of God so well, having His actions and words reflect beauty, and it shines in all He does. Just one glance at the character of Jesus changes it all for us.

A game I like to play with myself is “WWJD”. In every situation, I ask myself, “What would Jesus do? How would He go about handling this?” It’s fun in circumstances that are easy – expressing kindness to people who express it to you, conversations with people who you’re comfortable around, thanking someone for a nice gesture. But in times when following Jesus’ decisions isn’t our natural response, this becomes a little more difficult. A friend may have betrayed you, an incident at work may have caused you to feel angry, someone offended you, the moment when temptation seems too hard to overcome, etc.

We all want to handle these situations without consulting with Jesus. We allow the anger and the bitterness to overpower our hearts, refusing to let the only One who can bring light and peace into the situation. What would happen if in every situation we responded with grace and with love? What if the beauty that shines through Jesus’ actions could shine in ours as well? How different would our lives look then?

I love asking myself questions like this because it forces me to audit the way I live. Do I make room for Jesus to calm my anxiety or my frustration? Do I go to Him for advice? Do I ask Him how I should handle it? Do I study scriptures that relate to my situation? All of these questions are not to create condemnation but accountability. Jesus does not save us to leave us walking alone. His actions go against our sinful nature. When we start walking in obedience and faithfully seeking His face, we begin to see transformative changes in our day-to-day lives.

I want to encourage you today that as a true believer, the beauty of Jesus reflects into you. You are beautiful, friend! 1 Peter 2:9 tells us, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of the darkness into His marvelous light.”

This verse brings so much comfort to my heart. It articulates the transformative and redemptive work of Christ, which is a central aspect of His spiritual beauty. His grace and the beauty of His love that He extends to all believers, regardless of their past, embodies His character. In His life on earth, Jesus exemplified the highest and most beautiful standards of moral and spiritual excellence. As our High Priest, He interceded on behalf of humanity, which is an expression of His sacrificial love and mercy.

My favorite part of the verse is “called out of the darkness into His marvelous light”. The change from repair to hope, lost to found, death to life demonstrates the transformation Jesus enacts in our lives as believers. This is His role as the Light of the World; He brings the truth, life, and beauty into the places that have been marked by darkness. Our identity in Christ as chosen, royal, holy, and possessed by God for the purpose of proclaiming His excellencies is what is reflected in our lives.

Jesus’ beauty is deeply woven into everything He does and represents. He is the focal point of our adoration and worship. Psalm 27:4, a psalm I think about a lot reads, “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 meditate in His temple.”

The desire to be in the Lord’s presence is so well highlighted here. We have the opportunity to know His presence every day. He is not a withholding Father. He does not give us a part of Himself and hides the rest. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom to follow.

In embracing the profound beauty of Jesus, we find ourselves drawn into a deeper transformation, shaped by His grace and truth, and compelled to reflect His radiant love and mercy in every aspect of our lives. Beauty comes from knowing our beautiful Savior.

I also want to read something God says about you and me. Psalm 45:11, “Let the King be enthralled by your beauty; honor Him, for He is your Lord.” The God of the universe, who created every sunset, every mountain, every galaxy, every body of water, and every creature on earth delights in your beauty. God deeply values and loves those who are committed to Him. He created everything on earth, but He is enthralled by your beauty.

You are so beautiful, friend! The beauty of Christ shines in you. God delights in your beauty. I pray that you take captive any insecurity that may arise and battle it with the fact that God delights in your beauty. It is a characteristic that radiates through Jesus, and when forming a friendship with Him, His beauty fills our hearts, making us beautiful. God delights in your beauty.

Thank you for reading!!!