Day two Show- Stopping Beauty

God, who said,"Let light shine out of darkness,"

Made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light

of the knowledge of God's glory

 displayed in the face of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6

Think about the Academy Awards Ceremony. Where are most cameras located? Not inside the theater. in recent years, the red carpet show has all but eclipsed the awards ceremony itself. Photographers jostle for position, hoping to capture images of the beautiful people as they arrive. Best-dressed and most glamorous celebrities get almost as much press as the award recipients.

Our culture idolizes outward beauty and the people who embody it in our society today. Still, we know that ideas of beauty change over time and cross cultures. What is beauty, really? Is there a definition, a portrait of beauty that endures through all time and applies in every place? The surprising answer is yes!

At first, that picture may surprise you. Unsurpassed, eternal beauty hung on a rough-hewn cross on that day that some people call Good Friday.Beauty hung beneath a dark, threatening sky.

True beauty is there, at Christ's cross. It's unmistakable.

The beauty of our Lord is clearly visible as, in love, He takes onto Himself the repulsiveness of our sin.

We don't often picture sin in that way- as repulsive. Instead, we think of it as wrong or hurtful, and it is. Yet when someone close to us is surly or sullen, we sometimes say to them, " Don't be ugly."

Sin is that - ugly. Truth be told, we almost always act in ugly ways when resentment, anger, or a desire for vengeance begins growing in our hearts.

But Jesus died to wash away those sins. In their place, He wraps us in His grace, giving us His very own beauty - His perfect obedience. That beauty, that holiness, comes to us as His gift, and it works in us so that we become more outwardly, beautiful too, in forgiveness, patience, and love.

His light shines into every dark corner of our hearts, and as a result, His light begins to shine through us into the lives of those around us. They see our peace and know there's just something different, something beautiful, about us.

Prayer: My Savior, thank you for making me beautiful,. Help me reflect your selfless love today and always.

Amen