3min chapter

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Isaiah 58-66: ”Beauty for Ashes”

Unshaken Saints

CHAPTER

God Can Convert That Into Beauty

LZ: God doesn't believe in creation ex-neolo, creation out of nothing. He believes in refashioning existing material and usually that comes from us. LZ: Will we offer him mourning so he can turn it into praise? We saw that when the Provo tabernacle burned. The Provo cities that are temple. It is beauty from ashes. And what an incredible, talk about a glorious place for God's feet.

00:00
Speaker 1
That he might be glorified. These are role reversals one after the next. If you remember way back in Isaiah chapter three where he took the daughters of Zion and turned them inside out. To say you think you have well said hair actually inside your bald. You think you smell wonderful with your perfume. No, it's actually a stench in the nostril. You think you have these beautiful clothing but no, it is nakedness and filth. Well, now he's reversing all of that. That instead of having, once you come to yourself and realize what you've been. Once you come and acknowledge your sin and repent of it. Then I can change it all back. It's not just that I'm turning you back right outside in. Outside in. It's that I'm cleansing you. There's nothing to hide anymore. Instead of having this spirit of heaviness. What are you wearing? It's not cycloth and ashes. It's the garment of praise. No more mourning. Now it's nothing but joy. And the most beautiful of them all. Where you had nothing but ash. God can convert that into beauty. We saw that when the Provo tabernacle burned. And I believe that's the title of that temple now. The Provo cities that are temple. It is beauty from ashes. And what an incredible, talk about a glorious place for God's feet. And God does that with all of us. If we're willing to offer him the ash. I think I've shared this with some of you before but I had a student years ago in seminary. One of the greatest artists I've ever known. And since then he's worked on temples and he's worked on stained glass windows and he's worked on painting and sculpting and you name the medium. He can do it. Now he's working with media and doing amazing things with that. And it's actually the same young man that I told you about that painted that masterpiece about David and Goliath. Remember that one? I showed you the picture. So, so good. Well, he blew me away one year when he decided to make a sculpture out of crackers. Because why not? I mean, I've never sculpted out of crackers before and that sounds like an interesting medium. So, I don't know how he did it but it was life-like and I mean he used, I think, veggie straws as the hair because it looked like it was like blowing in the wind. And somehow used, I don't know, rits and all kinds of other crackers and somehow made this human head. And I'm thinking, who does this? And again, for him it was like, well, I've kind of tried everything else and it's too easy. I'm going to try something different. Well, imagine an artist of that caliber asking you for your ash. Oh, you should see what I can do with it. It's going to be something amazing. You see, God doesn't believe in creation ex-neolo, creation out of nothing. He believes in refashioning existing material. He just needs the material. And usually that comes from us. And will we offer him mourning so he can turn it into praise?

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