Dressing up, doing your hair, and wearing makeup is fun; and there's nothing wrong with any of that, but let's take a minute or two and talk about inner beauty. After all, it is what's on the inside that counts!
So where does true inner beauty come from???
The answer is actually quite simple, inner beauty comes from God.
I will be the first to tell you that the only good, the only true beauty that you find in me has absolutely nothing to do with me. Any true beauty you find in me comes from the Lord!
Now I don't want to get ahead of myself so lets just start from the very beginning.
Genesis 1:26-27
"And God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
God created man in His image.
In the beginning man was created with innocence and purity (Gen. 2:25) ...in the beginning man was beautiful.
Then man fell into sin, and with that fall he lost that innocence and purity. (Gen. 2:16-17,3:1-24) ...sin is what makes us ugly!
I think it's pretty evident how ugly man has become. It seems like every time we turn around we ask ourselves, "What is this world coming to?"
What has this world come to?
Since the fall of Adam man has fallen further and further from the image of God in which he was first formed, and has begun forming himself in his own image. The more that man has formed himself in his own image the uglier and more sinful he has become.
The ugliness and sinfulness of man comes from a falling away of the purpose in which he was created.
Since the very beginning of time the purpose of every man and woman has been to bring glory and honor to God by living a life that displays His image!
There is nothing more beautiful in a person than to see them fulfilling their purpose.
But because of our sinful nature...we cannot fulfill that purpose. Because of our sin, we fall short.(Rom. 3:23)
So I guess now the question is, "How can one be truly beautiful?"
As I said earlier, true beauty cannot come from us, it must come from God, but before we can work on our inner beauty we must recognize that our sin comes with consequence.
The consequence of sin is separation from God.
2 Thessalonians 1:9
"Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;"
Isaiah 59:1-2
"Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."
With the consequence of sin comes a cost, and the cost is death; physical and eternal.
Romans 5:12
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"
Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Revelation 20:11-15
"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
John 3:3
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
So because of our sin we are faced with the punishment of being separated from God, we cannot go to heaven to be with Him for all eternity and we are doomed to face the second death...an eternal death of torment in the lake of fire.
I am so glad that our story doesn't end there. God is a holy and just God and he must judge sin, but he is also a loving and merciful God and he made a way for us to escape the punishment of our sin.
How can one be saved from the punishment of sin?
To escape the second death, you must have a second birth!
John 3:3
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
How can one be born again?
"And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."
Luke 13:3,5
"I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
Romans 10:9-10
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
So here we see three things:
- Believe the Gospel
- Repent of your sins
- Confess and call on God in prayer
Believe the Gospel
The Gospel literally means "good news." The Gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ, the Son of God came to earth, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins, and three days later he rose again, and is living today.
Repent of your sins
True repentance comes with the realization of the offense of your sins to God, the sincere heart attitude of sorrow for your sins, and a decision to turn away from those sins and to God, making him the Lord of your life.
Confess and call on God in prayer
If you believe the Gospel and you have a truly repentant heart, all that's left for you to do is ask. There's no special words, or way to do it. God's gift of salvation is free to all who will call on him! All you have to do is ask in the best way you know how.
Romans 5:15
"Not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift of grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."
Ephesians 2:8-9
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Romans 10:13
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
If there has never been a moment in your life where you've experienced what I've just talked about and been saved by the grace of God, I strongly urge you to get saved! We are not just talking about inner beauty here, we're talking about the eternal welfare of your soul! Please don't underestimate the importance of salvation, dear reader. Death has no respecter of persons and Jesus is coming again sooner than you think! Don't wait until it's too late!
If you're reading this and you have accepted Jesus as your personal Saviour...now we can talk about what it means to be truly beautiful!
Once you are saved you now have the Holy Spirit living inside of you. True beauty does not come from YOU doing good things or trying to make something special of yourself, true beauty comes from you letting the Holy Spirit work through you and letting the light of Christ shine in your life!
As Christians, we should always be growing in the Lord. Our inner beauty will grow more and more as we allow God to take us and mold us to be more like Him!
Let us allow God to mold us and make us into His image, for only then can we be truly beautiful!
Very Good, Cheyenne!!!
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