“Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us …” (Psalm 90:16,17)
What distinguishes the beauty of the Creator from that of His creation? God’s beauty never fades away. He is the same – yesterday, today, and forever. The sun will never set on His goodness. He cannot and will not ever be other than He is. The song which praises Him with joy unspeakable and full of glory will never end because He is the Lord of glory who does not change.
All that we now see, no matter how beautiful, must lose its luster. God has set His glory above the heavens, which for all their splendor, will one day be dissolved with a fervent heat. What will remain? The beauty of the Lord. Who will remain in the new heaven and the new earth that God will create? Those who have His beauty upon them.
Do not mistake the temporal for the eternal. Do not crave what is passing away. In the face of Jesus Christ, God shines with a glory and beauty that sinful men miss. For them, there is no beauty in Him to be desired. They hide their faces from Him. But those who behold His beauty are transformed into His likeness. They will inherit the earth that others worshipped in vain.
God made us to worship Him alone, not any part of His creation. He has created us to share His eternal beauty.