Encouragement
I just wanted to use my writing skills to glorify God. The other day on the radio while driving, I caught the tail end of a message about God’s thoughts on outward appearances. But it planted a seed in me to dig deeper into this, to look past the surface, if you will. I think this topic is important to all of use because either you think you are too attractive and don’t need God or not attractive enough, and God or anybody else won’t want you. It is hard not to think of these things in today’s society. So I started looking at the Bible and researching what God thought about attractiveness. I looked at three different things. What God looks at, what Jesus looked like, and what we will look like in heaven. Again I am not a pastor so if you have any questions I suggest you find one.
I. What God Sees Everywhere you look regular people on the street are getting cosmetic surgery. This used to be a task only the wealthy Hollywood stars would risk or could afford, however with new technology and the increase in worker pay since the 50’s more people are “getting work done”. Of coarse in the 50s cosmetic surgery was not as drastic as it is today, nor was it as accepted. In 2007 the world was fascinated by celebrities. Some people even called from 2000 to 2005 the “Five minutes of Fame Generation”. Others called it the “Me Generation” that was anyone born in the 1980s to 1990s. People LOVED celebrities, but that wasn’t enough. Once society had bloated itself with useless information about wealthy people in far away places, they wanted to BE wealthy people in far away places. Enter YouTube. YouTube made anyone an instant star. All they had to do was video record themselves, load it to their computer then download it to the site to share for the entire world to see. But along with fame comes fames problems. Some videos were tossed out and nobody cared about them, but as time went on the internet made stars of people in a very real way. And when you become a star you begin to act like a star. I mean helping the poor, donating money to churches overseas and leading a Godly life so others may look to your example right? Unfortunately this is not true. Many “internet stars” began capitalizing on their sites, and turned to drinking, drug and yes even cosmetic surgery. Why? Because many in our society today are taught that if you are not attractive then you cannot make a difference. So the people of this earth feel that good looks equal a good heart, but what does God think? Would he agree? I have done some research and discovered Gods ways are not our ways. In the book of 1st Samuel the Lord has rejected Saul as King of Israel and sent Samuel out to find Saul’s future replacement. Saul has not lost the job yet, but Samuel obeyed. In I Samuel 16:6 we hear one of the most popular quotes about how God views physical appearance. Then it came about when they entered, that he looked at Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD'S anointed is before Him. But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:6-7 NIV) God told Samuel to visit Jesse of Bethlehem. He told Samuel that one of Jesse’s sons would be the new king is Israel. When Samuel arrived at Jesse’s house he had Jesse bring him his sons. Eliab was the first son, possibly the oldest and apparently Eliab looked as Samuel imagined a King should look. But God was looking at the heart. God wanted the new king’s heart to look as His heart did. Let me stop here and say that looking good is not a sin obviously and I am not one of those “ugly Christians” that is mad at celebrities because I have a double chin. God made us look the way we do so if you are attractive then be attractive. It is when we start to trust people because of how they look, not on how they act. Appearance never dictates character, nor is it an image of the heart one carries inside. Ted Bundy the infamous serial killer was very attractive and he used his good looks to lure women into his home or on a date where he would do horrific things, namely murder. That is an extreme example. Lets look at Mathew 23:27 Jesus is speaking to a group of people and among them are spiritual leaders who have gone astray and used their position selfishly. Jesus says “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.” (Mathew 23:27 NIV) Here Jesus is talking about a group of men who may not be physically attractive, but look the part of a role and he is still emphasizing the point of what is in your heart is the most important aspect of a person. These men were spiritual leaders, yet they sinned more than the common man! Ok you may say to me “I am a woman, the rules are different. You don’t know the pressure I go through to stay thin or look good.” You right I don’t, but God still only sees the heart. You may be an actress or model, and are trying to stay fit, but God sees the heart. Proverbs tells us what a Godly woman should be like, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30 NIV) Why does God say this? Why do the followers of God say the same thing? For one God and the afterlife are eternal, looks are not. It is more important to focus on where you are going when you die than how your hair looks on Sunday morning. Also God knows that humans are prone to addiction and forming bad habits. He does not want any of us developing a complex that can make us depressed or mentally sick if we don’t look our best. Yes we should dress our best for the King of kings, but God is going to examine our hearts not our shoe polish. Another reason is if we are solely focused on what we look like and if we have the newest clothes, than we are not making God number one in our lives. But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Mathew 6:33 NIV) This means that even if you are a “Christian” or a follower of Christ then you must make God and His will for your life the most important thing. Something that is MUCH easier said than done. But God is patient and gives us grace as well as free choice. He doesn’t want robots serving Him. So no matter whom you are; pastor, teen, man or woman, God cares more about your heart than your looks. He knows your pain if you are disfigured, but He also knows that if you believe in Him you will go to heaven when you die and receive a new body. That is where He wants your focus and bringing as many of your friends with you as possible. I will talk more about your new body later.
II What Jesus Looked Like Not much is said on what Jesus looked like. The reason for that is Jesus wanted to tell others about His Father rather than discuss something trivial like his eye color. You have seen the movies, and seen the paintings. Many times Jesus and sometimes God are depicted as the whitest, blue eyed man you have ever scene with perfect teeth and long brown hair that always has a shiny coat with plenty of lift and bounce! I’m joking but also I am not. The Jesus in many movies only until Mel Gibson’s Passion film was a very comfortable Jesus for Anglo Christians to watch be supreme on film. But that is not what he looked like. Many people wonder about this or they may have resentment towards God or Jesus for making them disfigured at birth. Let’s consider the facts and then look at scripture to see what He looked like and what he said about looks. Well many people agree that Jesus was a Jew from Galilee. That is a place in the Northern part of Israel. So if you see protestors on the news in Israel His skin color would be closer to theirs than yours. Also Jesus was a carpenter until he was 30 years old, when He began His ministry. Back then the job of a carpenter was very hard work and they didn’t have machines like we do now. He would need to be stronger than the slim figures in the paintings by the church, but not Hulk like. Also he may have had scars on his hands or arms from tools and woodworking. This just gives you a general idea of what to think of. But I dug deeper to find more. Like I said above not much is written about how Jesus looked, because His message is what is most important. Jesus even tells His followers not to make paintings or sculptures of Him. This is because Jesus came to save all mankind, not just the Jews or the people of darker skin color. The prophet Isaiah says in the book of Isaiah, He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. (Isaiah 53:2 NIV) Remember above when Samuel was looking for a King and he thought he had found it in Eliab? God said that He looks at the heart and that you should not judge a King by its cover! So God would be contradicting Himself if He sent Jesus down to save the world with a seven foot tall white Jesus with great hair, or muscular and fit for that matter! Now as a prophet Isaiah could see the future. He saw what Jesus would look like during and after the crucifixion. Just as there were many who were appalled at Him –His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and His form was marred beyond human likeness. (Isaiah 52:14 NIV) This talks about how Jesus looked as they whipped and beat Him and nailed Him to a cross. He was so abused that no one could tell what they were looking at from a distance! This is believable because they didn’t just whip Him with a rope like Indiana Jones had. It was a cat of nine tails. Many times bits of pottery and glass and bone were pushed through leather straps that would tear into the flesh on impact and then tear out the muscle and skin as the soldier pulled back. It was known for separating the epidermis from muscle underneath and then shredding it. When they were done with Him He probably would have looked like a pile of bloody clothes or meat piled up.
There is not much on what Jesus looks like and for good reason! While researching what He looked like I found that many people online were fighting over weather or not He had a beard, and that thread seemed to go on for weeks with people sighting many different passages of many different religious books. But the important thing is that He died and rose again to bring peace and salvation to all mankind.
III. What We Will Look Like in Heaven Ok this is a big question, and surprisingly there was more on this than there was on what Jesus looked like! I would have thought it would be the opposite. But here we go. We are not balls of light and we are not angels. Again I turn to the Bible to figure this out. Well you can’t come back from the dead. Anyone who has died will not be returning to tell us what it is like. Except for Jesus so that is where I started. When Jesus was crucified His side was stabbed by a spear to make sure He was dead. Once the resurrection took place and Jesus returned, He met Mary and the disciples to prove that He was the true Son of God. He had a physical body, a solid physical body that He returned from Heaven with. They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet it is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bone as you see I have.” (Luke 24:37-43) This shows that we will have solid bodies. But look what happened seconds before. On the evening of that first day of the week when the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”(John 20:19 NIV) Then they were frightened. But Jesus proved it was Him and they were able to see it was Him. That means they recognized His face. Here is what happened next. Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” So Jesus entered a room that had a locked door and some may say that He is Jesus He can do whatever He wants and that is not me. Look what it says in John. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see as He is. (I John 3:2 NIV) This shows that what Jesus is we will be like. We know that we will be changed to look better and be stronger in what is called a glorified body. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable and the moral with immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:53 NIV) This talks about how we will be clothed with a new body that will not die. Obviously with a new body come new abilities for some. Like sight, the ability to hear and walk and think clearly. Look what Philippians says who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body. (Philippians 3:21 NIV) There is plenty more on the subject of where God’s heart is, what really matters in the world, and what heaven will be like. So much more that I can’t put it all here. I just wanted to write this for my blog and also put it on Facebook. Plenty of people tell you what they think the Bible, or Jesus says on a subject. Then you do a little more research and you find out that it really wasn’t in the Bible it was some philosopher. So I put the verse address here so you can actually look up what was said for yourself. It’s always important to check what others are telling you. I hope this has helped anyone reading it. I may do this again with some other topics I want to know more about. God Bless.
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