Ultimate beauty is spiritual, not physical. In saying this, I am in no way denying the presence of beauty in the physical world. We can all testify to the breath-taking pleasure we felt upon beholding the physical creation: the moon and the stars. The sunrise. The sunset. The meeting of the sand and the waves in the beach. The mountains, the birds, the trees, and the flowers. Its not hard to find here a husband who is willing to testify of how he was mesmerized by the physical beauty of the woman he married.
The statement “Ultimate beauty is spiritual, not physical” is grounded on the truth that God is a spirit and he is incorporeal— he has no body and he is not composed of matter. Though God has no body and is not composed of matter, God is the most beautiful of all. He is not only the most beautiful of all; he possesses all beauty and excellency in infinite measure. And there’s more: as the Creator and Sustainer, he is the source of all beauty that could be found in the created order. If something could be rightly called beautiful, it is because God gave such beauty.
At the incarnation, the Son of God who was without body and uncomposed of matter took upon himself a human body. We can name multiple reasons for the incarnation but surely one of the central reasons is that he may be offered on the cross as a sacrifice. Yes, he who is infinitely beautiful was given a body so he could be pierced, wounded, crushed and murdered. Through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus, the elect were made holy once for all (Hebrews 10:10).
How then shall we respond? We can respond by being vocal in our appreciation of the beauty of the gospel in songs and in conversations. As we do so, we make our feet beautiful as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:15). We can respond by resolving in our lives and songs that we will not trade the adoration of the ultimate beauty to lesser beauties.
Come let us rise and worship him who is ultimately beautiful.
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