Why Does God Make Beautiful Things?

 My daughter Anna is creative.  She wants to be an illustrator when she grows up and she may very well do it.  Our oldest son is a good drawer if you he copies or replicates something.  He's much, much better than I am, but Anna is truly creative.  She makes things that weren't there before.  Her brother loves following directions and making LEGOs; Anna would rather get a pile of bricks and make what is in her head.

Many times a week she will present us with a drawing, a craft or something she has created.  She loves when we appreciate what she's made.  She likes when we ask how she made it.  She really enjoys when we enjoy her creation.

Why does God make beautiful things?

I recently got back from the Hawaiian island called Kauai.  I had never dreamed that I would go to Hawaii and I was taken aback by the beauty there.  The clear Pacific water teeming with brilliantly colored fish, the massive sea turtles on the beach that swim gracefully through the water like gliding rocks, the lush and majestic Waimea Canyon with its awe inspiring waterfall views.  It was all so lovely and wonderful.

On Father's Day we went through Waimea Canyon State Park.  As we drove I wondered to myself if I had an adequate theology of beautiful things.  Do my kids?  Do my kids even think about God at all while looking at this slice of creation described by many as a paradise?

Why does God make beautiful things?

I can think of three reasons: His own joy, our joy and His glory.

1) For His Own Joy

Do you ever think about God enjoying His own beautiful creations?  When God made the world it says, "And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31a)

God created and then looked and beheld that it was good.  He then rested.  One has to suppose that one of the things the Triune God did in that rest was enjoy the beauty of His own creation.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit must have made what they wanted because they enjoyed it.  Sin has tainted everything, but there's still beauty lodged into the masterpieces in need of restoration.  Like my daughter, God enjoys the making and the having made beautiful things.

2) For Our Joy

When my daughter thrusts the drawing toward my hand she does so because she want me to see and enjoy.  God could have made a drab Soviet Russian prison looking world for us to live in, but He didn't.  God made a beautiful world full of beautiful things.  He made fish and birds of thousands of colorful varieties.  God isn't some utilitarian designer; God has flare.  

When you are looking at a sunrise, a waterfall, a fish, a distant star or anything lovely, do you consider that God, in part, made that for you to see?  As we drove through the canyon I told Anna that before the foundations of the earth God knew we would drive through the canyon today and that's one of the reasons He made it so beautiful.  

To borrow a phrase that Tim Chester uses in his fantastic book Enjoying God, we live in a Fathered world.  My Heavenly Father loves me so much that He made beautiful things for me to enjoy.  If my earthly daughter loves to make me beautiful things, how much more does my perfect, Heavenly Father.

3) For His Glory

Beautiful things bring praise to their creator.  Anna beams a big smile when we praise her art.  It pleases the Creator to praise Him for His creation. Mindful enjoyment of good and beautiful things is worship.  On Father's Day I missed going to corporate worship and I don't like doing that, but I was filled with praise thinking about how good and creative my Heavenly Father is.

Many of you will go on a vacation this summer.  Will your travels to beautiful places cause you to experience the joy the Creator wants to give you?  Will you give your Heavenly Father the praise He deserves for the wonders He has let you experience?  Will your heart feel like it's bursting in wonder?  Will you break out in singing "How Great Thou Art" or "This is My Father's World"?  Will you shape a theology of beautiful things that allows you to turn a summer road trip into a fun-filled pilgrimage of sorts?

Why does God make beautiful things?  For His own joy, for our joy and for His own glory.  Enjoy and give Him the glory as you behold.  Let the created bring your mind to the Creator today.