Beauty is one of God’s divine attributes and at the core of who He is. How we define and consider beauty is therefore crucial, because it determines how we will engage with our beautiful God. We often think of beautiful things as symmetrical, orderly, or comfortable. And because beauty is pleasing and desirable in these ways, we long to possess it. And this is notable, because just like our impulse is to make beauty ours, all through human history our impulse has been to turn God into something we can control or possess. But there is also a variation of beauty that cannot be possessed or clutched – the sublime. Where beauty is pleasant and familiar, the sublime is powerful and fearsome. And where we impulsively long to possess beauty, the sublime threatens to overpower us. The tension between the appreciative wonder and apprehensive fear within the sublime helps us make much sense of life. But it also speaks to how we walk in relationship with a transcendent God through both life’s beautiful highs and brutal lows. Tonight we’ll see God’s word speaks to all of that and more!
by City Life