Beauty in the Eye of the Creator

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.  So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:13-16

Masterpieces tend to be abundant in my house.  When the girls get the urge to create, it’s like a whirlwind of paint and markers and paper everywhere, and we can end up with an entire wall full of artwork in just a half an hour’s time.  Some end up being true masterpieces, while others are, (Do I dare say it?), not so beautiful. Gasp!  Fortunately, beauty is in the eye of the creator, or something like that. 

On one recent artsy afternoon I was talking with the girls about how an artist signs every work that he or she designs and I was encouraging my little Picassos to come up with their own signatures.  1 John talks about how God signs his work. He abides in us; therefore as his creations, we must be just covered with his signature.  We are God’s masterpiece and he is in every cell, in each detail. 

We are in him too, but our work is not so beautiful.  We are in the nails in his hands and the spear in his side.  We are in the thorns on his head and the spit that was hurled at his body.  Not something we would necessarily want to put on display. 

It is only through Christ that we abide in God, and that means we are also in the resurrected body.  Ah, there’s the beautiful part.  There’s the beauty in the eye of the Creator through the sacrifice of his son.

If we could see a distinct signature of God’s I wonder what it would look like.  When I asked my girls to sign their artwork, they thought for quite a while about their signatures.  One of the girls finally decided to use her initials, while the other used a cross.  That’s it.  In baptism, confession and absolution, and the words of institution, and in every other moment we abide in God’s love, God signs his work with a cross.

Masterful Artist,

You have created us to abide with us.  Abide with me today as I mold my own masterpieces.  Help me cover every detail of my children’s lives with your words and mark them with the cross of your son.  In Jesus Name, Amen.