The Power Of Beauty Series

or the heaven on earth, that one experiences. The only way to get

heaven on earth is to see the beauty of heavenly things, and the

loveliness of God's way. Only those captivated by the power of

beauty will be open to the working of God's Spirit. Edwards says

that in the hierarchy of values, first is existence, and then excellence;

first is being and then beauty. Anything defective in beauty is

defective in being.

The ability to discern what is truly beautiful from what is only

superficial beauty is the key to the abundant life. Jesus only used

the word beautiful once in the New Testament record, and it was a

warning about the danger of superficial beauty. In Matt. 23:27-28

we read, "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you

are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but

within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you

also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of

hypocrisy and iniquity. Here is surface beauty. It has no depth, and

is mere veneer.

Superficial beauty is Satan's primary method of deception. All

men chose what they feel is beautiful. The first sin of choosing the

forbidden fruit was made very attractive. All sin is made to seem

beautiful. Satan does not expect anybody to be tempted by the ugly.

He knows God made man in His image, and so He knows man is

made to select the beautiful, and shun the ugly. So he can only

attract men to evil by making it seem beautiful. People chose folly

for the same reason they chose wisdom. It looks good, and seems

like the best way to go. The liquor adds portray the camaraderie of

the bar. Sports and sex, and all that seems adventurous is linked to

this drug, for drunkenness is not attractive or beautiful. They never

show the dead and twisted bodies of drunk drivers. They never show

the ugliness of the vomit, and the awful agony of families ruined by

drinking. Evil can only survive by using the power of beauty to

attract.

God wants us to chose beauty. We are made to do so, and in

Christ we are given the Holy Spirit, who will lead us to chose the

highest in beauty. Christian morality and ethics are built around

beauty. Whatever is truly beautiful, and by truly beautiful I mean

lasting beauty, is right. What is wrong is that which may have

temporary beauty, but which leads to permanent ugliness. Christian

maturity is growing in your discernment so that you can see the

whole, and not just the part. Much of life is beautiful in part, but

awful in the whole. A poison snake is beautiful in part, as are poison

berries, but they are not wise choices, for as a whole they are ugly

and destructive. The power of evil lies in its use of superficial and

partial beauty to entice men to chose the way of folly. Evil is a

parasite which depends on what is good for its existence.

This brings us back to Xerxes and Esther. It is because Xerxes

lives for beauty and pleasure that God was able to use his choice for

His own purpose. Pagan people, all through history, have chosen

what they feel is beautiful. This does lead to great evil because of