WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:24.240 All right, so the aim of this class is to explore how God is beautiful, hence the term 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:31.000 or the name of the first class in the series Beautiful God. We might gain insight into God's 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:37.320 beauty by using two different methods which structure the class today. The first method is 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:42.799 finding where the term beauty comes up in scripture, like doing a word search on a computer. 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:50.259 This is a term-focused method. In studying the context of some of these passages, we'll find 00:00:50.259 --> 00:00:57.379 that whatever is considered beautiful reflects God's beauty. In the second method, we think 00:00:57.379 --> 00:01:03.739 about what scripture has to say about a dictionary definition of beauty. I call this method integrationist 00:01:03.739 --> 00:01:09.299 as we're looking to connect scripture to our dictionary studies. One prominent definition 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:15.000 of beauty in the dictionary is what is pleasing to our culturally senses. Though there is no 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:21.480 such definition of beauty in the Bible, scripture pays attention to what is pleasing to our senses. 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:27.819 There is overlap between the dictionary definition of beauty and the content of scripture. 00:01:30.960 --> 00:01:36.359 So this is a structure, so the first part, the first method, we'll look at the Psalms, 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:43.959 Zachariah, Hosea, Isaiah, Ezra, and then for the integrationist method, we'll look at 1 Samuel, 00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:54.120 the Psalms, and Hebrews. Finally, we'll look at what scripture has to say about Jesus and how God sees Jesus 00:01:54.120 --> 00:02:05.799 as beautiful. So the term beauty in scripture. The first method. In the Old Testament, terms that get 00:02:05.799 --> 00:02:12.359 translated as beauty often appear in passages with the theme of salvation, the process of gathering 00:02:12.359 --> 00:02:19.879 people formally scattered physically, morally, and spiritually. So we have about 14 terms in Hebrew 00:02:19.879 --> 00:02:26.359 that often get translated as beauty. There are far less terms in the New Testament that get translated as 00:02:26.359 --> 00:02:34.199 beauty. Psalm 27 begins, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:42.439 After the psalmist expresses confidence in the Lord to defeat enemies, he writes about his desires to be 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:48.039 with God forever, and then to see the beauty of the Lord, and then to know him more. 00:02:53.719 --> 00:03:01.079 Beauty also rises in the context of Zachariah's message of salvation. Zachariah speaks not many years 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:07.960 after King Cyrus of Persia had decreed that the Jews could return to their land after the Babylonian exile. 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:14.120 And though many were indeed in Israel, only the foundations of the temple had been laid. 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:23.640 As Ezra recounts, people including Babylonians from Samaria who worshiped the God of Israel in 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:28.039 addition to other gods, had attempted to deter the building of the temple. 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:35.159 In addition to the unfinished temple, the Jewish people let financial pressure from the Persian Empire 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:44.519 discourage them. At the time, King Darius was preparing for battle against Egypt and was collecting high amounts of taxes for their campaign. 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:52.439 So while the Persian Empire did allow for the Jews to return under Cyrus, there were still some years after this return, 00:03:52.439 --> 00:03:59.719 as Zachariah writes, days of small things. And the people had indeed put their hope in idols in the land of Israel. 00:04:01.640 --> 00:04:09.560 After several prophetic visions, Zachariah proclaims how God will restore his distracted people in large and visible ways 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:12.280 that will completely change what the land looks like. 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:17.079 For like the jewels of a crown, they shall shine on his land. 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:20.920 For how great is his goodness and how great is his beauty. 00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:29.639 The chapter concludes with an image of natural bounty, one which Moses conjures up in his final blessing on Israel earlier. 00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:34.759 Grain shall make the young men flourish and new wine the young women. 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:45.719 The beauty of God appears through the gathering of his people in order for them to thrive and flourish to glorify him in the land of Israel. 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:57.959 Hosea ascribes beauty explicitly to the people of Israel in contrast to the greatness of the Lord's beauty, which we just saw in Zachariah. 00:04:57.959 --> 00:05:04.599 Still, the context of the passage in which the term beauty arises, his beauty shall be like an olive, 00:05:05.159 --> 00:05:11.319 is the result of God's plea to the people of Israel to repent and his faithful healing of their iniquities. 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:16.919 Israel is beautiful like the olive because Israel has been saved by God. 00:05:17.959 --> 00:05:24.039 In the case of Hosea, God saves the people by calling them to repent from worshiping the Baals. 00:05:24.040 --> 00:05:33.319 Baalism, or the worship of Baals, consisted in visiting various shrines with names such as Baal-Gad and Baal-Pur. 00:05:34.200 --> 00:05:41.400 In sacrificing to these gods, Israel could indulge in overconsumption of alcohol and illicit sexual activity 00:05:41.400 --> 00:05:45.800 that they believed would make them and their land more fertile and prosperous. 00:05:47.080 --> 00:05:51.560 Baalism was especially prevalent given that Israel was an agricultural society. 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:57.399 Hosea also evokes sacrifice to Baal through images of vanity. 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:05.879 Israel is like an ornamented lover, vying for the attention of Baal or going after Baal in the terms of Hosea. 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:13.879 In Hosea, God's salvation involves making beautiful this lover. 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:20.360 No longer would they be like a promiscuous wife, an illegitimate child, or a silly dove. 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:28.139 Rather, the Lord's judgment, call to repentance, and healing would make Israel beautiful like an olive. 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:29.800 Very valuable item. 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:39.400 The end of Isaiah focuses on God's creation of a multinational and incredibly diverse community 00:06:39.400 --> 00:06:41.759 that will be united in worship of him. 00:06:42.580 --> 00:06:45.960 So this is another context in which the term beauty arises. 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:54.680 Eunuchs, sojourners, rich and poor, those near and those far, with the gems of their cultures, 00:06:54.680 --> 00:06:58.680 will be drawn to the glory of God by his very own hand. 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:09.560 In the above passages, those far include nomadic people from Qadar, modern-day Saudi Arabia with their flocks, 00:07:10.280 --> 00:07:16.439 animals from Nebaith, present-day Jordan, and people with their vegetation from Lebanon. 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:24.120 In gathering people who are not Jewish from different cultures, God makes his dwelling place beautiful. 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:31.000 The gathering of God even affects those in Israel who witness their community grow. 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:39.639 They will see the salvation of God and become radiant, says Isaiah shortly after these passages. 00:07:39.639 --> 00:07:49.139 Such was the case for those several hundred years after Isaiah's prophecy, 00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:52.699 and God would continue to save his people following that. 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:57.039 In the time of the reconstruction of the second temple, 00:07:57.399 --> 00:08:04.959 the king of Persia, Artaxerxes, appoints the scribe and priest Ezra to instruct the law to the leaders of Israel. 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:10.719 Ezra rejoices at the king's desire to see the restoration of the temple, 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:13.959 which included the instruction of the Jewish people. 00:08:16.159 --> 00:08:25.699 So in the Psalms, we see the gathering of the psalmist's affections on God in the context of battle. 00:08:26.259 --> 00:08:33.419 In Zechariah, we see flourishing that was expected soon after the return to Israel, but that is really to come. 00:08:33.419 --> 00:08:44.179 In Isaiah, we see, sorry, Hosea, we see the promised gathering of God of his people to worship him and only him. 00:08:44.979 --> 00:08:46.799 The healing of their apostasy. 00:08:47.740 --> 00:08:54.059 And in Isaiah, we see God's radiance through the gathering of his people who aren't Jewish into a multinational community. 00:08:54.059 --> 00:09:02.619 So a question that I have for you all is, have you ever been part of a beautiful gathering? 00:09:03.939 --> 00:09:04.319 Yes. 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:05.159 Yes. 00:09:05.939 --> 00:09:08.239 Do you have an answer to that, Sammy? 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:09.119 What? 00:09:09.959 --> 00:09:12.819 What kind of beautiful gathering have you been a part of? 00:09:13.839 --> 00:09:19.259 I've been a part of the youth group, and now I'm part of the Bible study. 00:09:19.259 --> 00:09:20.580 That's great. 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:23.720 That's pretty similar to what I was thinking. 00:09:24.439 --> 00:09:32.319 Gathering on Sunday, to me, is a very beautiful gathering, seeing how God brings different people together. 00:09:33.319 --> 00:09:38.120 And then in the morning, feeling like I'm gathered spiritually in his word. 00:09:38.120 --> 00:09:45.240 Does anyone have any other examples of a beautiful gathering that they have been a part of? 00:09:45.299 --> 00:09:45.679 A wedding. 00:09:46.460 --> 00:09:47.580 A wedding, yeah. 00:09:47.580 --> 00:09:58.400 I did a mission trip in South Africa, and my small group had a very mix of different tribes and cultures. 00:09:59.379 --> 00:10:04.780 And we had a prayer time, and everybody agreed to pray in their own language. 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:10.540 And it was the most moving thing I think anyone had ever really experienced. 00:10:10.540 --> 00:10:14.860 We didn't know what the other people were saying, but we felt like God. 00:10:14.860 --> 00:10:25.720 Yeah, it's almost reminiscent of the Isaiah passage, God gathering people from different places in different countries through worship of him. 00:10:27.379 --> 00:10:28.460 Anyone else? 00:10:29.899 --> 00:10:36.019 The Christmas music program and Trinity. 00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:37.419 That's a really good example. 00:10:38.600 --> 00:10:39.279 Thank you. 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:39.340 Thank you. 00:10:43.659 --> 00:10:44.420 All right. 00:10:44.860 --> 00:10:51.200 So now I'd like for us to transition to the second method of inquiring about beauty. 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:54.960 Connecting a common conception of beauty to scripture. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:11:00.300 Hopefully, this is an exercise of holding every thought captive to Christ. 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:05.480 The Oxford English Dictionary, as you can see, has a few definitions of beauty. 00:11:05.860 --> 00:11:07.779 These are kind of the first ones that come up. 00:11:07.779 --> 00:11:11.399 A beautiful person, especially an attractive woman. 00:11:11.399 --> 00:11:14.120 The prevailing standard of what is beautiful. 00:11:14.120 --> 00:11:15.000 The fashion. 00:11:15.339 --> 00:11:20.539 That quality of a physical object or animal, which is highly pleasing to the sight. 00:11:20.539 --> 00:11:44.379 It is worth noting that this latter definition has been formed and developed over the years, and the ones also before it, by many philosophers, including 18th century philosopher Immanuel Kant. 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:45.720 He was pretty important. 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:46.000 He was pretty important. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:12:00.480 For Kant, if a representation gives someone the feeling of pleasure, and there are other conditions for this feeling being turned into a judgment, this thing could be considered beautiful. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:13.500 So most importantly here for Kant and for most philosophers of aesthetics, it is primarily the person who has the feeling of pleasure through the senses. 00:12:13.500 --> 00:12:23.379 If someone looking at this Japanese work of art from the 18th century derives a feeling of pleasure, they might judge it beautiful. 00:12:24.379 --> 00:12:29.340 You can read more about the conditions of beauty in Kant's critique of judgment. 00:12:31.220 --> 00:12:37.720 So this theme resonates with scripture, where not just people, but also God experienced pleasure through the senses. 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:47.779 These two subjects, God and people, however, sometimes diverge in their feelings of pleasure or in their judgments of what is beautiful. 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:54.320 This is particularly recurring in the context of worship, specifically through sacrifice. 00:12:54.320 --> 00:13:11.800 So one early example of sacrifice, a sacrifice that is not pleasing to God, though implied that it is pleasing to people, comes up in 1 Samuel from the 10th century BC. 00:13:12.580 --> 00:13:20.220 This book tells the story of the prophet Samuel whom God would use during the time of judges to permit a monarchy for Israel. 00:13:20.220 --> 00:13:27.759 The beginning of the story tells of the reverence of the reverence of the reverence of the sons of the priest at Eli. 00:13:29.060 --> 00:13:33.160 These sons or priests did not do what was in the heart and mind of God. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:39.899 They serve as a foil in the narrative to Samuel, who one day recognizes the voice of the Lord calling him at night. 00:13:40.899 --> 00:13:47.700 These sons and priests of Eli also anticipate that God would soon raise up a new priesthood, in the words of Samuel. 00:13:47.700 --> 00:14:01.500 The law does not instruct the arbitrary procuring of meat, which the sons of Eli did by sending their servant to thrust a three-pronged fork into a pan with a meat offering in it, maybe an ox or a sheep. 00:14:01.500 --> 00:14:12.899 That the priest sought to procure the meat directly from the worshiper demonstrated that they did not care for Moses' instructions regarding sacrifice given to him by God. 00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:17.759 That it is pleasing to the Lord for the priest to burn the fat of the animal on the altar. 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:29.340 The priest here also disregards the particular parts of the animal that he is to consume, namely the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach, as recorded in Deuteronomy. 00:14:29.340 --> 00:14:42.460 Because of their irreverence demonstrated by their neglect of the Levitical and Deuteronomical laws, the sacrifices of the sons of Eli and Samuel were displeasing to the Lord. 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:49.060 There are plenty of other examples in scripture where we find sacrifices that are not pleasing to the Lord. 00:14:49.059 --> 00:14:54.779 And I'll ask some friends to read from Genesis 4, 1-5. 00:14:54.779 --> 00:15:03.980 Now, after the new age, he's wife, and she conceived and bore me, saying, I have gotten a man with the help of the man. 00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:07.500 And again, she was born with brother Abel. 00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:12.679 Now, Abel was a keeper of sheep and pain, a worker of the ground. 00:15:13.319 --> 00:15:18.299 In the courts of time, he brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. 00:15:18.299 --> 00:15:23.500 And Abel also brought up the firstborn of his flock and of the effect portions. 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:30.019 And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but he had an empty offering, and had no regard. 00:15:30.599 --> 00:15:33.500 So Abel was very angry, and he's fell. 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:38.179 Amos 5, 21-27. 00:15:38.179 --> 00:15:44.959 I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 00:15:45.439 --> 00:15:50.399 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. 00:15:50.899 --> 00:15:54.879 And the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. 00:15:55.620 --> 00:16:01.019 Take away from me the noise of your songs, the melody of your harps, I will not listen. 00:16:01.639 --> 00:16:06.299 We'll let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-glowing stream. 00:16:06.299 --> 00:16:12.620 Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years of the wilderness, O house of Israel? 00:16:13.439 --> 00:16:19.539 You shall take up Sukkot, your key, and Kenan, your star god, your images that you made for yourselves. 00:16:19.899 --> 00:16:25.120 And I will send you into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts. 00:16:26.459 --> 00:16:28.259 Micah 6, 6-8. 00:16:31.259 --> 00:16:35.699 With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? 00:16:35.700 --> 00:16:39.560 Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves and your old? 00:16:40.060 --> 00:16:44.460 The Lord, be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil. 00:16:45.100 --> 00:16:50.180 Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, with the fruit of my body, for the sin of my soul? 00:16:50.740 --> 00:16:52.420 He has told you, O man, what is good. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:58.360 And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to work humbly with your God? 00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:02.860 Jeremiah 7, 9-10. 00:17:02.860 --> 00:17:11.460 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after gods that you have not known, 00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:16.480 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 00:17:16.579 --> 00:17:20.059 We are delivered, only to go on doing all these abominations? 00:17:21.120 --> 00:17:25.559 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:28.980 Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. 00:17:28.980 --> 00:17:42.720 All right, so these are examples of sacrifice that are given by people, but not received as beautiful by God. 00:17:44.660 --> 00:17:55.420 So, a question I have is, what are the sacrifices that we make that aren't beautiful to God today, 00:17:55.420 --> 00:18:02.900 that are misdirected, and perhaps worshipping not God, but another desire, another institution? 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:05.759 So, I thought of two things. 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:07.480 Anorexia. 00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:10.120 What do we consider beautiful? 00:18:10.620 --> 00:18:18.360 The fashion industry has for a long time delighted in skeletal models, though perhaps a little bit less recently. 00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:25.200 Advertisements and runway shows might still sanction giving up the appetite, which is a sacrifice. 00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:31.960 The hanger in your closet inspires the human frame that the fashion industry presents as beautiful. 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:38.539 In the abundant line of God, however, grain and new wine make the young men flourish. 00:18:40.300 --> 00:18:44.360 Selfish ambition is maybe another example of an object of beauty, 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:50.120 probably in many professional spheres, including academia, the one that I am familiar with. 00:18:50.119 --> 00:18:57.359 I am here for them to take pleasure in intellectual achievement and production, and there is nothing wrong with that. 00:18:57.979 --> 00:19:03.919 The university, though, does not pressure me to reflect on the motives and ends of the sacrifices 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:07.480 that I am compelled to make. 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:12.140 Sacrifices of community, of relationship, and of rest. 00:19:13.180 --> 00:19:16.420 The certain kinds of intellectual ambitions entail. 00:19:16.420 --> 00:19:27.840 So, I'd love to know if you agree that anorexia and selfish ambition entails sacrifice that the world thinks is beautiful, 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:35.860 and if you can think of any other worldly sacrifices that elicit the delight of people, but maybe not of God. 00:19:35.859 --> 00:19:45.119 I can think of a lot of things that have been shared on social media, even by people who are not Christians, 00:19:45.219 --> 00:19:48.879 which I think is a bit of cool, that are like, what is that with glorifying burnout, 00:19:49.539 --> 00:19:51.479 and sort of self-abuse and not getting sleep? 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:59.299 And there was this really powerful, like, cartoon with one of these articles of a person whose back was a giant, 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:03.680 like, three-pronged plug, and then their bed had a giant outlet on it. 00:20:03.779 --> 00:20:09.839 And so, like, or like, it was, I think it was actually their brain, like, behind their head was the outlet plug, 00:20:09.940 --> 00:20:13.579 and so the only purpose of getting rest was that they could be charged to just do more. 00:20:13.579 --> 00:20:22.279 And, yeah, I thought it was really powerful, but how often, like, oh, I didn't get to sleep last night, 00:20:22.339 --> 00:20:25.960 or I'm running on three days straight, and caffeine is glorified by their culture. 00:20:26.139 --> 00:20:32.839 It's like, wow, they're so committed, they're so productive, and how in God's eyes, 00:20:33.339 --> 00:20:38.319 that can be about glorifying self or worshiping work and success. 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:52.679 All right, and, like, perhaps working really hard and getting less sleep than usual could be a sacrifice to God, 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:59.259 and it's really hard to make those judgments for other people, probably sometimes including ourselves. 00:20:59.700 --> 00:21:03.359 Paul talks about running the race with endurance and perseverance and discipline. 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:12.599 So, yeah, it's definitely a complicated thing, but it could also really serve, like, our desire to just be productive 00:21:12.599 --> 00:21:17.039 and to see ourselves as useful, which is not really the end goal. 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:18.779 Haney? 00:21:18.979 --> 00:21:22.799 That's why I really like what you said about motives and ends being important, 00:21:23.339 --> 00:21:29.619 because with anorexia, we could say, like, holding your appetite is also what you do during fasting, 00:21:29.619 --> 00:21:33.000 but the motives and ends are really different, and selfish and efficient. 00:21:33.919 --> 00:21:37.279 Motives and ends are really different from, like, working hard into the Lord, 00:21:37.659 --> 00:21:39.179 but it might look the same externally. 00:21:39.619 --> 00:21:40.479 We could bring that today. 00:21:41.579 --> 00:21:46.500 Yeah, I think Zachariah talks about that, like, what are your intentions for fasting? 00:21:49.019 --> 00:21:55.619 I think the family is sacrificed a lot by being too concerned about making sure our children are successful 00:21:55.619 --> 00:21:59.799 successful in regards to what the world considers successful, 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:04.279 so running from thing to thing, so you're never eating dinner as a family, 00:22:04.419 --> 00:22:06.559 you're never spending time in the Word together in a prayer, 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:09.279 because you're making sure they're in every activity, 00:22:09.639 --> 00:22:12.179 and so the family gets sacrificed a lot. 00:22:14.839 --> 00:22:17.639 It's like this family gets sacrificed for the family. 00:22:17.799 --> 00:22:18.019 Yeah. 00:22:18.259 --> 00:22:19.859 That's just the sacrifice, yeah. 00:22:19.859 --> 00:22:28.359 For the sake of the children, almost like wanting your children to look a certain way to the people around you, 00:22:28.399 --> 00:22:32.459 while my children are successful, well, are they successful in God's eyes, 00:22:32.519 --> 00:22:37.279 or are they successful in regards to how other parents are seeing your kids? 00:22:37.659 --> 00:22:38.139 Right. 00:22:38.439 --> 00:22:39.359 Or their peers, even. 00:22:40.159 --> 00:22:45.319 Yeah, and it's like that competition, like, maybe both, like, maybe they're successful in God's eyes, 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:51.319 maybe they're successful in other people's eyes, like, again, it's these, like, competing, like, intentions sometimes, 00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:57.460 and, like, yeah, having really one intention is probably pretty hard. 00:22:57.460 --> 00:23:10.399 All right, so to return to the context of sacrifice in Scripture, 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:16.019 Psalm 40 refers to sin offering, the offering of animals like goats, 00:23:16.460 --> 00:23:20.620 partially consumed by the priest, and partially burned on the altar. 00:23:21.340 --> 00:23:26.840 This differs from burnt offering, which is also in this psalm, which was given wholly to the Lord. 00:23:28.040 --> 00:23:32.860 So in this prayer, the person offering sacrifice receives more than what to give. 00:23:33.600 --> 00:23:40.280 In sacrifice and offering, you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. 00:23:41.180 --> 00:23:48.460 Which, when translated literally, means, you have dug for me an ear, the divine creation of a physical body. 00:23:50.060 --> 00:23:54.880 Transitioning into Hebrews, in Hebrews, Christ assumes the body of the psalmist. 00:23:55.720 --> 00:23:58.880 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, 00:23:59.700 --> 00:24:04.780 Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me. 00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:08.940 In burnt offerings and sin offerings, you have taken no pleasure. 00:24:08.940 --> 00:24:16.259 Then I said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written for me in the scroll of the book. 00:24:17.340 --> 00:24:24.000 Indeed, Christ's reference, as Psalm 40, clearly represents Dietrich Bonhoeffer's thesis, 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:26.720 that Christ prays the psalms with us. 00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:32.000 Jesus elaborates on the psalm, moreover, through his allegiance to God. 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:38.559 Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written for me in the scroll of the book. 00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:45.059 Here, Jesus says that what is pleasurable or beautiful to God is not the sacrifice of a goat, 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:47.460 but the doing of his Father's will. 00:24:47.460 --> 00:24:56.860 The author of Hebrews specifies shortly after that the will of the Father is to sanctify people 00:24:56.860 --> 00:25:00.360 through the offering of the body of Jesus once for all. 00:25:01.460 --> 00:25:04.600 The following verse from John shows that this offering, 00:25:04.819 --> 00:25:06.059 I'm sorry, it's not up. 00:25:06.059 --> 00:25:09.200 Oh, yeah, it is. 00:25:09.779 --> 00:25:14.659 It shows that this offering of Christ is for people to dwell bodily with God forever. 00:25:15.539 --> 00:25:20.480 Eternal life comes from looking at the Son who offered his body once for all. 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:29.980 We can even anticipate Jesus' beauty through the broken spirit that sinners like that in Psalm 51 in Isaiah have. 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:37.779 A broken spirit compels us to look to the Son who gave himself as an offering to forgive the sins that wear at our hearts. 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:44.180 We get another glimpse of the contrite spirit as a foil for animal sacrifice in Isaiah. 00:25:44.180 --> 00:25:52.840 Most importantly, again, the contrite spirit signals the need for a Savior who will gather people once again in him. 00:25:55.200 --> 00:26:00.840 In Ephesians, Paul confirms that this gathering is indeed fragrant to God. 00:26:01.700 --> 00:26:08.299 This God not only sees that things in creation are good at the beginning in Genesis, 00:26:08.299 --> 00:26:15.159 but goes on to smell a variety of sacrifices before the most fragrant sacrifice of Christ. 00:26:16.759 --> 00:26:19.539 And when Jesus was back, sorry, that's the wrong verse, 00:26:19.799 --> 00:26:20.940 follow God's example, 00:26:21.419 --> 00:26:24.919 therefore as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, 00:26:24.919 --> 00:26:31.639 just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 00:26:31.640 --> 00:26:41.800 God indeed finds himself beautiful in his offering that reestablishes relationship between him and his people. 00:26:47.980 --> 00:26:53.460 We are actually introduced at the very beginning of the gospel narratives to God's beauty. 00:26:54.300 --> 00:27:00.280 In the baptism of Christ, the Spirit comes upon Jesus and the Father expresses his delight. 00:27:00.279 --> 00:27:04.579 When Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, 00:27:04.819 --> 00:27:07.319 and behold, the heavens were opened to him, 00:27:07.399 --> 00:27:12.460 and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. 00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:15.539 And behold, a voice from heaven said, 00:27:16.039 --> 00:27:19.579 This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. 00:27:19.579 --> 00:27:24.960 We see that again in Luke, 00:27:25.939 --> 00:27:28.699 the pleasure of the Father in Jesus, 00:27:29.639 --> 00:27:32.119 and also in Mark. 00:27:37.460 --> 00:27:44.740 So the beauty of God reminds us that there is indeed a difference between what God and people find beautiful. 00:27:44.740 --> 00:27:53.259 God's suffering servant would have no stately form or majesty to attract people in the prophecy of Isaiah, 00:27:53.660 --> 00:27:55.460 but God found Jesus pleasing. 00:27:56.500 --> 00:27:59.839 We see this in his life and especially in his sacrifice. 00:28:01.099 --> 00:28:03.660 Indeed, they are quite different from our own sensibilities, 00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:05.759 as God finds himself beautiful, 00:28:06.460 --> 00:28:08.140 and we do not. 00:28:08.140 --> 00:28:12.460 The question I want to leave you with is, 00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:15.540 have you ever found something off-putting or ugly, 00:28:16.020 --> 00:28:18.480 but later, in light of God's character, 00:28:18.940 --> 00:28:20.080 found it to be beautiful? 00:28:21.660 --> 00:28:24.259 So I'll give you a few minutes to think about that, 00:28:24.360 --> 00:28:28.759 and then I invite you to share with the people next to you 00:28:28.759 --> 00:28:30.420 one of those experiences, 00:28:30.900 --> 00:28:32.980 and to pray together, 00:28:32.980 --> 00:28:35.279 and that'll be it. 00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:46.059 Here's the question, 00:28:46.200 --> 00:28:46.940 if you missed it. 00:28:54.940 --> 00:29:02.759 I haven't found anything off-putting or ugly at all. 00:29:02.980 --> 00:29:03.380 Wow. 00:29:04.660 --> 00:29:06.920 But in the light of God's character, 00:29:07.180 --> 00:29:09.519 I find everything to be beautiful, 00:29:10.200 --> 00:29:13.860 especially when I'm wearing my new glasses. 00:29:14.599 --> 00:29:15.700 I got these yesterday. 00:29:15.700 --> 00:29:16.740 They're really nice. 00:29:18.259 --> 00:29:18.460 Wow. 00:29:20.599 --> 00:29:22.740 And they make me look more mature. 00:29:22.740 --> 00:29:51.859 Yeah, feel free to turn to the people around you 00:29:51.859 --> 00:29:52.419 when you're ready. 00:29:52.419 --> 00:29:55.019 I'm trying to see you. 00:29:55.019 --> 00:29:55.059 I'm trying to see you. 00:29:55.059 --> 00:29:55.379 I'm trying to see you. 00:29:55.419 --> 00:29:55.740 I'm trying to see you. 00:29:55.740 --> 00:29:58.419 I have some good things. 00:29:58.419 --> 00:29:59.619 I'm trying to see you today. 00:29:59.619 --> 00:30:03.639 I think you're going to see you today. 00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:04.120 I don't like it. 00:30:04.120 --> 00:30:04.180 Technically. 00:30:04.280 --> 00:30:04.980 You're going to see me here. 00:30:05.160 --> 00:30:05.820 I'm going to see you tonight. 00:30:05.900 --> 00:30:17.740 I'm trying to see you. 00:30:17.740 --> 00:30:21.520 I'm having a περίπου so next week. 00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:23.020 So I am really king, 00:30:23.020 --> 00:30:23.480 especially 버els, 00:30:23.480 --> 00:30:25.680 I agree with you 00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:55.660 Thank you. 00:30:55.680 --> 00:31:25.660 Thank you. 00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:27.680 Thank you. 00:31:55.680 --> 00:31:57.680 Thank you. 00:31:57.680 --> 00:31:59.680 Thank you. 00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:01.680 Thank you. 00:32:01.680 --> 00:32:02.680 Thank you. 00:32:02.680 --> 00:32:03.680 Thank you. 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:05.680 Thank you. 00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:06.680 Thank you. 00:32:06.680 --> 00:32:07.680 Fantastic. 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:11.519 Great cos I often see anything that I did, like, oh yeah, won that argument. 00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:15.680 Oh, and then I realized I didn't win the person. 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:17.680 And then it's like, well... 00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:24.360 that thing that I'm like, oh yeah, I got that great rhetorical flourish at the end. 00:32:24.820 --> 00:32:28.740 It didn't do anything and it kind of probably didn't help in the relationship. 00:32:31.320 --> 00:32:37.140 So I've found in my experience more often finding things, misjudging them to be beautiful 00:32:37.140 --> 00:32:41.000 and then them turning out not to be as beautiful as I thought. 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:49.019 Right, that kind of points out the validity of the dictionary definition of beauty is 00:32:49.019 --> 00:32:56.700 an object of intellectual beauty, intellectual perfection, but with wrong ends, it could 00:32:56.700 --> 00:32:59.579 also be incomplete and black. 00:33:01.380 --> 00:33:03.039 Anyone else want to share? 00:33:03.039 --> 00:33:05.980 Can I ask a follow-up question to both of you and Kevin? 00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:08.619 So where does that change happen? 00:33:08.619 --> 00:33:14.699 Like, either the change from seeing something as beautiful as I'm realizing it might affect 00:33:14.699 --> 00:33:20.619 God's character, it's not, or it's the opposite direction, like, how does that change happen? 00:33:21.399 --> 00:33:22.619 Or what are some ways? 00:33:23.979 --> 00:33:27.439 I think knowing him more and just learning more about him. 00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:31.139 When we say, like, in light of God's character, knowing his character. 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:31.519 Yeah. 00:33:33.639 --> 00:33:35.159 Knowing him more in scripture. 00:33:35.160 --> 00:33:38.720 So that's, like, a really long-term process? 00:33:39.040 --> 00:33:39.300 Yeah. 00:33:40.380 --> 00:33:41.380 Probably a lifetime. 00:33:41.380 --> 00:33:42.240 Mm-hmm. 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:59.279 I've found it often happens when I'm saying silence afterwards when the emotions are down and you've kind of withdrawn rather in prayer or just thinking about the discussion and then realize, I was wrong. 00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:00.079 I did that. 00:34:00.220 --> 00:34:01.559 I went about that indirectly. 00:34:01.559 --> 00:34:06.019 But then it reveals itself in the long-term process. 00:34:06.179 --> 00:34:08.880 But also, you kind of realize that sometimes you're pretty quickly. 00:34:10.880 --> 00:34:12.619 That's when you know you really screwed up. 00:34:12.619 --> 00:34:12.759 Okay. 00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:22.119 Anyone else want to share? 00:34:22.779 --> 00:34:23.699 Response to either? 00:34:24.119 --> 00:34:25.360 I believe I already have. 00:34:25.639 --> 00:34:25.840 Yep. 00:34:26.340 --> 00:34:27.099 Thank you, Sammy. 00:34:27.340 --> 00:34:27.960 No problem. 00:34:27.960 --> 00:34:28.880 Yeah. 00:34:29.320 --> 00:34:31.579 Sammy's already seeing things as beautiful. 00:34:31.579 --> 00:34:33.300 Just, it's great. 00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:44.039 I was going to say that I think in my life there are times when I see something off-putting or as ugly and then find out that it's beautiful. 00:34:44.179 --> 00:34:54.659 I think it's often when maybe I misjudge someone or I thought poorly of someone and then I find out about their history or what they've suffered. 00:34:54.659 --> 00:34:59.319 And I start realizing that God is pushing their lives way more than he's working in mine. 00:35:00.599 --> 00:35:04.879 And it's what they're doing so you in his sight. 00:35:05.819 --> 00:35:08.359 And it's a very humbling kind of thing to acknowledge. 00:35:11.279 --> 00:35:11.759 Yeah. 00:35:11.760 --> 00:35:12.200 Yeah. 00:35:13.100 --> 00:35:14.400 I think, yeah. 00:35:15.240 --> 00:35:19.280 Your experience, too, reminds me of just Haney's question of, like, how does this happen? 00:35:19.460 --> 00:35:32.660 How do we, in light of God's character, like, yeah, how do we start to see things more like him to delight, partake in his delight in the sacrifices that we make and carrying his son? 00:35:32.659 --> 00:35:44.779 So I hope to talk a little bit more next class about the implications of God finding himself beautiful and Jesus dwelling in his church next class. 00:35:45.420 --> 00:35:50.440 But, yeah, feel free to pray with those around you and then go up for service now. 00:35:50.599 --> 00:35:51.519 Thank you for attending. 00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:51.699 Thank you. 00:35:51.699 --> 00:35:51.759 Thank you.