The Trinity and Beauty

We cover chapters 3 AND 4 this week in “The Magnificent Story.” These two chapters describe the Trinity and the beauty of the relationship within the godhead. Several people in the Bible are mentioned as being beautiful (Sarai, Rebekah, Rachel, Tamar, Job’s daughters, Vashti, Esther, and Moses as a baby). Yet, beauty has as much to do with relationships and function than with appearance. It’s not often we say feet are beautiful, but Romans 10:15 says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Our appearance is important but is not ultimate. We should be good stewards of our bodies, but people deemed beautiful by the culture may be deficient in more important traits like hospitality, kindness, faith, and love. Proverbs 11:22 says: “Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.” We have memories and awareness of the “cool kids” (of any age) who reject those they deem inferior.

Like every believer, I have wrestled with the concept of the Trinity, but I have seldom thought about “beauty” in spiritual terms. I was intrigued to find the word in several Psalms. Our culture stresses beauty, especially for women. Women can be led to believe they are only significant if they are outwardly beautiful as defined by the culture (and fashion is always changing, keeping us addicted to buying new products). Since beauty can lead us astray, some Christians take the other extreme. They use 1 Peter 3:1-6 to resist outward beauty. Both are shrunken stories.

The redemptive note of beauty is seen in the relationship of the Trinity. It is fascinating that the New Testament never hints at the appearance of Jesus. The Scriptures don’t focus on what He looked like; it was His magnificent story and gracious invitation to all that attracted so many people to follow Him.