2. Relationship Evangelism Letting the Beauty Out

3. Introduction What do the following stories have in common? –Cinderella –The Frog Prince –The Ugly Duckling Each is a pilgrimage to beauty

4. A Pilgrimage to Beauty The story of God’s people is also a pilgrimage to beauty –In both the OT and NT, God takes sinful people (the ugliness of sin) and makes them holy (the beauty of holiness) –Let’s see how the Bible describes this pilgrimage

5. Ezekiel 16 The birth of a nation: (16:1-5) –Tossed out, unloved, ugly God’s love for Israel (16:6-14) –God loved Israel (despite their ugliness) –Because of His love they became beautiful Because God washed away their ugliness Because God adorned them in beauty –God did NOT love Israel because she was beautiful Israel BECAME beautiful because God loved her Her beauty was really God’s splendor (16:14) All nations saw God’s beauty in Israel

6. Ezekiel 16 What was the beauty of God seen in Israel? –Her courts of law showed God’s justice –Her laws showed God’s view of personal worth, dignity, and ethics –Her treaties showed God’s covenant-keeping –Her family life (marriage, care of orphans and widows) showed God’s love and care By simply living in accordance with God’s plan, Israel spread the good news of her relationship with God –Isn’t that what evangelism is all about?

7. Ephesians 5 Christ loved the church (5:25-27) –He died for her Not because she was beautiful (Rom 5:8) –He made her beautiful No spot, wrinkle or any such thing –How did she become beautiful? With the washing of water (baptism) By the word (faith and obedience) –What did she become? A glorious church (beautiful bride) Holy and blameless

8. Holy and Blameless Holy (hagios) “set apart” –That is the character of the church –Set apart for our one husband, Christ Blameless (amomos) “without fault” –That is the conduct of the church –We live in accord with His will What is the result? –Unbelievers will see God’s beauty through us (1 Pet 2:9-12) –We are beautiful to Christ (Eph 5:27) Eph 1:18 - “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”

9. Jesus: Leading the pilgrimage God doesn’t expect us to become beautiful without seeing how it’s done John 17:18 –Jesus’ life demonstrated the pattern for us John 1:14 –“dwelt among”, lit. “pitched a tent” He did not keep Himself separate –“we beheld His glory” He wanted us to see Him (John 14:9) –Jesus was a visual aid of the beauty of God

10. Jesus: Leading the pilgrimage John 1:14 –“full of grace and truth” Grace – Gk (charis) – “gift, benefit, joy, favor” –The benefit and joy found in serving God Truth – Gk (alethia) – “that which is open to view” –The message, the words, the teaching (Jn 17:17) – But also the life that matched the teaching He was a living demonstration of grace and truth –He was the Word become flesh –He showed us how to live the Word

11. Showing the Beauty 2 Cor 3:18 –The more we examine the beauty (glory) of the Lord, the more beautiful we become 2 Cor 4:1-6 –We are to be a “manifestation of the truth” –In case some refuse to HEAR the message (the gospel), they’ll still have SEEN it –We (who were darkness) shine as light in the darkness of the world John 9:5 – Jesus was the light Eph 5:8 – now we are light in the Lord

12. Conclusion God wants to take us on a pilgrimage to beauty –We began in the ugliness of sins –God loved us despite our ugliness –He gave us a way to be beautiful By sending His Son to die for us If we accept His love (baptism and obedience) –Once we are beautiful We can show God’s beauty to others who are trapped in the ugliness of sin We know to whom we belong