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Romans 12:2  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

To me this is an important key scripture to start and continue along the path Jesus has laid for us to walk. I am teaching according to the path of this verse and like last week I am still covering the initial part of “…And do not be conformed to this world’.  
 
 God has created us in beauty.

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

The beauty in which God created in us as the human race has been replaced with a world view of beauty. With the influence of sex and what is beautiful in the world today the human race now has a world view of what beauty is. With the invention of moving pictures people found a new and enjoyable means of entertainment. As these moving pictures started to advance, people began to pick and choose who would become best photogenic. Movie star became a household word along with pin-ups. Movie directors and photographers began to choose who would set the standards of beauty. Before long in boys rooms and army barracks were pin-up pictures of the choicest looking women to be photographed. Women began to swoon and dream of actors who acted out the romantic scripts of the moving pictures.
 
In efforts to be compatible with what Hollywood was portraying as exciting, romantic, and sexy. Men and women in the world began to change their desires and what to expect beauty to look like. The women feel as though they need to look like pin-ups to draw the attention of men. Men began to look at women who were not of pin-up quality as unacceptable. Men were drawn to masculinity to even higher levels to appear stronger in order to take care of the weaker sex. Women began to dream and search for men who would sweep them of their feet and ride them off into the sunset. Now days you can not watch tv, or pick up hardly a magazine without seeing the world view of beauty. Exercise equipment commercials to help you achieve the perfect body and build body strength, diet medications to acquire that slim body, and plastic surgery to remove blemishes and add to your looks to become the perfect specimen of beauty. Mind you now exercise and diet are essentials for good health, which is not what advertisements are portraying. The perfect Body is what sells.

I would like to use examples of two types of beauty portrayed in the bible.

Ezekiel 28:12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. 14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.

This passage of scripture is a shadow, referring to none other than Lucifer or by another name Satan. As we all can see Lucifer was a beautiful and cherished part of the throne of God. He was full of wisdom, perfect in beauty and covered with precious stones. The orchestration of worship before the throne with his sounds and music, he was one of a very select group of cherubim who were allowed to tread to the very throne of God.

Although this next group of scripture is an address to women in lieu of the way, the world perceives beauty today; I feel this applies to men as well.

1 Peter 3:3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward — arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel —

The outward beauty is the beauty we seem to admire and cherish. It is the outward beauty that we seem to look at as being pleasant for the eye.

According to the passage before this even Satan was a beautiful creation while he was Lucifer. What happened to his beauty? The last part of verse 15 begins to tell us why.

Ezekiel 28:15… till iniquity was found in you.16 “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. 17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you. 18 “You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading; therefore I brought fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you. 19 All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; you have become a horror, and shall be no more forever.”

Notice verse 17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor…”  His beauty was what lifted his heart into rebellion. His beauty was more to him than wisdom. His outward adornment meant more to him than even life its self.

 Still though in

1Peter 3:4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. An incorruptible beauty!! Within the hidden person of the heart.

Wow! Unlike Lucifer’s outward beauty, which caused him to rebel against all of the Heavens? Here we are told we have an inward beauty which is incorruptible and precious in the sight of God. How beautiful is that? Wow! Never corrupts, gentle and quite, and is most precious to God. Wow!

 The beauty in which God has given each of us when He created us in His image is already in place within. All we have to do is decide which beauty we would like to show. The outward beauty which leads to corruption? Or the inner beauty which never fades and is most precious to God?

 

Make Over

Like a woman sitting at her make-up table. She first looks at herself, to evaluate skin color and blemishes. She chooses the right color of toner to work with the skin tone she already has. The idea is not to cover up anything, but to highlight the beauty already there.
 If she has any blemishes, before anything else is done. First she cleanses her face to purify the skin. Then as she blends the make-up the blemishes are covered to blend to the rest of her skin.
 Then add the right clothes and you have a very beautiful looking woman. Take a picture and you have a something to cherish for sometime to come.

 Now we know God created us. He knew us in our mother’s womb. So by accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, we have the Spirit lead Word of God to use as our guide to use what Gifts God has given us. And through Forgiveness the blemishes have been washed clean. By living and study and obeying the Word in our lives everyday, we too can share a place that Jesus has gone to prepare for us.
                                                                                                                         Tommy Harmon
                                                                                                                           ©2002

*All scripture quotes are from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible unless otherwise noted

© 2006, 2007 Tommy Harmon www.thepathseeker.com