We have been looking at our future Christformation into New Adams after Jesus returns. In the past couple of weeks we have looked at how God will give us Christlike bodies and give us his goodness. As New Adams we will also be beautiful.
In Revelation 19–21 there are five phrases referring to the beautiful appearance of the saints, the bride of Christ (19:8; 21:2, 11 (twice); 21:18-21.) In that section God appears to be showing off his bride’s beauty and John seems dazzled in 21:11 when he observes that she has the “glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel.” Surprisingly, in the last four chapters of the Bible, the bride’s beauty is extolled more than God’s! This demonstrates his humility and love as well as his desire to establish a community of people that radiate his beauty.
Thus, in Revelation 19-21 God is not predominantly interested in glorifying himself by displaying himself in order to be worshipped; rather, he wants to display his bride. This dual glorification of God and his people fits with the relational nature of the New Creation. God wants to glorify his people with beauty so we can enjoy and radiate his beauty. All other created beings will see God’s beauty in us and love God and be amazed at how he fulfilled his purposes. God also wants to beautify us so he can enjoy his beauty in us. Thus, in the New Creation community everyone will be enjoying God’s beauty directly, inside themselves and in each other and attracting everyone to each other in intimate relationship. This is what God originally intended for humanity and he will achieve his goal.
If we will have Christlike bodies and God will give us incomparable beauty and luminosity in the next age then is our present “beauty” very important? Assuming we are taking care of our bodies and general appearance, why does it matter if we aren’t beautiful by the world’s standards? God wants to reach others through the beauty of his character in us rather than through our glorious appearance. Our full beauty will manifest soon enough!
