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BEAUTY OF ASHES What a strange statement! What beauty can we expect from a heap of ashes? There is nothing attractive about it. At best ash can be thrown to the ground as manure to be trampled over by men. However this is an extract from the God's word and the God's word can never err .This statement is a part of the utterance by a prophets to depict the ugly face of man today and the transformation that can be brought about in their life. Let us try to illustrate the situation and consider the same impassioned. With a brush of his creative genius God paints the flowers of field colours the evening sky and given the nature a breathtaking loveliness. Indeed the creator is the source of beauty. The creator God expected man to display this beauty of his character & glory of their maker. But what do we see all round us? People battered by suffering sorrow and pain. Instead of the beauty of God adorning us; our lives are marred by sin. Man today manifests his ugly character having lost all the beauty contrary to creator's anticipation. He is in a state of rebellion against God. This is why we see so much of ugliness of human character all around us. Yet often it is possible for us to hide the inner ravages of sin under the veneer of social refinement. We are today experts at hiding our inner spiritual decay by a commofloga of refined looks and manners .But beneath this outer gloss and elegance lurks in our heart violence, greed and lust. As the word of God says 'the heart of man is deceitful above all things desperately wicked'(Jeremiah 17:9).The Bible further says 'All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans:3:23) Yet there is one person of whom the Bible said 'He knew no sin' (2 Corithians: 5:21).He did no sin (1 peter 2:22).In Him no sin (1john:3:5).He is altogether lovely (Song of Songs 5:16).The subject of the above reference was the Lord Jesus Christ. However in a different context the same word of God said about Him. His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness. (Isaiah 52:14).He had no beauty or loveliness to attract us to Him; nothing in His appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men (Isaiah 53:2, 3).Why was he made thus ugly and why did his face undergo such change? The answer lies in the fact that he died for our sins up on the cross. Regarding this the Bible says, He was pierced for our transgression; He was crashed for our iniquities and the God laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isiah: 53:5, 6). Now Dear friend, your attention is invited to the statement quoted in the beginning. Can beauty be attributed to ashes? In other words can the ugly aspect of ashes in relation to man's heart today be transformed to manifest the beauty of the character and the glory of God? The answer is yes! Jesus Christ died for our sins in the cross and paid the ultimate price for our redemption. If you therefore repent for your sins and believe on the Lored Jesus Christ God can save you from eternal punishment and restore the beauty that you have forfeited because of sin. Yes God can cloth us with beauty of character as a result of this transformed lives in Christ Jesus. As it is written 'the Lord has anointed me (i.e. Jesus Christ) to preach good tidings to give them (i.e. those who repent and believe in Lord Jesus Christ) Beauty of ashes (Isiah: 61:1-3)
Written By Bro. BHANU MATHEW
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