Even the most outstandingly beautiful women in the world are painfully aware of their own blemishes (Beauty in Scripture is not restricted to women. The concept of beauty is also applied to men who are good-looking and appealing. Further, it is applied to people who are morally attractive with little reference to their physical appearance.) It almost appears that the more beautiful a person appears, the more aware they are of their faults, like a freckle in the wrong place!

But the issue under consideration is this: How wonderful is the beauty Christ has purchased for His church! It is a beauty designed in the mind of God, from whence every lesser expression of beauty we know flows. It is a beauty formed by God to perfection. It is a beauty that even God examines with the most critical eye in the universe, and because this beauty is formed by the hand of God, God Himself can find no fault! Not a freckle out of place. Not a hair that curves wrongly. Not even the slightest hint of an irregularity in the shape of the nose. Not a speck of body-weight where there should not be one. Not a pore in the skin too large or small. Not a hint of a pimple. Not even the slightest bodily malfunction. Not the tiniest hint of a character flaw. Not the faintest lack of charm and depth in the eye. Not even a suggestion of lack of passion and devotion to her Husband. Not the hint of a selfish motive. Not the smallest lack of colour or delightfulness. In this bride, God says, there is no fault. There is no blame. There is not a blemish. There is not a hair out of place. Allow this thought to do its work in your mind and heart today.

It appears to me that one of the most radical methods God uses to motivate His people in this world is through the arresting power of beauty. Not only the beautiful things we see around us every day, but the real prospect of both seeing and becoming beauty beyond description forever. Is this not the very thought on the mind of the Psalmist when he speaks of the way in which God will fill him with eternal pleasures at His right hand? Eternal beauties and joy at the right hand of God for ever and ever!

As you see beauty in this world, you will surely be able to detect a flaw. I remember an incident once, before I was married, seeing a most beautiful young woman. I was quite captured by her beauty. After seeing her at a distance a few times, I happened to walk around a corner just in time to see her drawing her first breath through a freshly lit cigarette. In that instant, her beauty vanished before my eyes, as if hidden by the cloud of smoke that belched from her mouth as she exhaled. My attraction for her was destroyed in that instant. Suddenly she appeared in a different light.