“And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.” (Exodus28:2)
Everywhere we look in our world, the effects of sin inundate us. Whether it’s war (cultural or physical), famine, sickness, or poverty, it is difficult to conceive that there was once a Genesis 1:31 moment when “… God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”
As Bible-believing Christians, unconsciously, we can easily get lost in the world’s brokenness to the extent that we forget to fully savour all the attributes of God as revealed to us in the Bible. God is like a diamond prism; as we behold him, not only do we see his attributes of holiness and justice, but we also see his beauty, majesty and glory. Only when we behold God in all his multifaceted character, as revealed in the Bible, can we fully enjoy who he is.
Our opening text gives us an insight into an attribute we rarely or often do not associate with God. For many of us, beauty is not the first attribute that comes to mind when we think of God. Perhaps, his holiness, justice, power, or wrath against sin are some of the main ones that quickly come to the fore. But in this text, we see a God who cares about beauty.
In Exodus 24:12, God called Moses to the mountain to give him specific instructions on how to build the items the Israelites were to use in their worship of him. These included the Ark of the Covenant, tabernacle, and altar. As you read this account in Exodus, it quickly becomes clear that Israel didn’t get to choose or decide how they wanted to worship God. The precision of the instructions should be an admonishment to the church today that God cannot be worshipped based on our own whims. We must always search the Scriptures to know how God wants us to approach him in worship.
One of the items mentioned was the priestly garments of Aaron in Exodus 28. As you read the rest of the chapter, God provides more details of what each aspect of the robe represented. However, in verse 2, he tells us that the garment was to be made for glory and beauty. He very much cared about the beauty and glory of the garment as much as its utility. There are three truths that this text convey to us.
He is Not a Dull God
The world often paints God as a dull old man who is against every creative and beautiful expression of ourselves as humans. But nothing can be further from the truth. If humans are created in the image of God, and the Bible says we are, then every expression of creativity and beauty we exhibit and display is because of God’s image and likeness in us. The most beautiful landscape you’ve ever seen, the most amazing beach you’ve ever relaxed on, the most creative and beautiful invention of man exists because the God of beauty exists. It is when we decide to express our creativity and beauty outside of God’s design that we often run into trouble.
Think of the most excellent fashion designer the world has ever known. This designer designs a pattern and instructs the apprentices to sow that dress. But then comes back and realises that the apprentice has sown something totally different from the pattern. What do you think would happen? Unfortunately, that’s what we do with God. He designed a world of beauty (Genesis 1:31); and gave it to Adam and Eve to live it out (Genesis 1:26). But these two, who perfectly describe all of us, had other ideas. They chose to live a different life than what the Maker had designed.
Ever since then, the beautiful design of the Master Designer has been ruined. No amount of alterations we make as apprentices can restore the design God originally had in mind. That’s why the flowers on the most beautiful landscape fade and wither; the greatest beaches are now threatened by climate change, and the most creative and beautiful inventions never satisfy the greatest human need for happiness. The only way to restore the lost beauty in our world is to return to the original pattern of its Master Designer.
Unfortunately, the copy Adam saw in the Garden of Eden has become so blurred that God decided to send us the pattern itself in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. Only when we behold Jesus can we see God’s true beauty as he designed it. Paul tells us in Colossians 1:16-17, “for by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him,all things hold together.” Jesus is the pattern; it is only through him that we see the world’s true beauty.
We Can Enjoy Beauty as Christians
The second truth we glean from Exodus 28:2 is that, even though we live in a fallen and broken world, as believers in Christ, we can enjoy the glimpses of beauty that still exist in the world. We indeed await a new heaven and earth promised in Revelations 21, but God, in his kindness, enables us through the eye of faith to see his creation in a beautiful light in Christ Jesus. Though the garment of Aaron was part of the sacrificial system designed to atone for sin, he still designed it to display glory and beauty. Why would he do that? He could have made Aaron’s garment just for utility purposes. But no, he is a God of glory and beauty and so that which was part of atoning for sin had beauty and glory about it.
This means that as Christians, we are free to enjoy the beauty in all of God’s good creation. Though fallen, the world is still the creation of God; and he created it for our enjoyment. We can enjoy the landscape, stop by and smell the flowers. We can take our families to the beach and enjoy the cool and gentle breeze that blows off the water. Whatever it is that you enjoy in creation as a Christian, you must do so unapologetically, as long as you keep the cardinal rule of Christian enjoyment in mind, “so, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Christians Are Supposed to Be Creators of Beauty
And finally, you cannot be mediocre if you’re a Christian. God is a God of beauty, and we cannot be anything less as people not only created in his image but redeemed and restored through Christ. Which means “whatever your hand finds to do, [you] do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
At the workplace, our work must be marked by creativity and beauty. We shouldn’t only just do enough to get by, but we strive to imitate our Father of beauty. The product of our work must display the glory and beauty worthy of the God we serve. We must not leave the inventions and science to the world. Throughout the history of the world some of the greatest scientists, inventors, and philosophers have been Christians. That must be the case in Ghana as well.
Unfortunately, the work ethic of some Christians has been an occasion for the world to slander the name God; that ought not be the case. In refuting the mindset of some Christians who claim to be so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good, C. S. Lewis observed, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.” Being a Christian doesn’t give you a license to be mediocre in this world.
Not only in our workplaces, but in our homes and in all our dealings, we must be known as creators of beauty. Our communities and neighbourhoods must be beautiful because we live there. As Jesus said, “you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heave.” (Matthew 5:14-16)
