Reflections on God, art, and that which really matters:
Maybe it is just me, but I seem to find sermon illustrations, gospel allusions, or biblical truths everywhere. I can listen to a song or watch a film or chat with a friend, and my mind seems to go into overdrive, with a whole lotta parallel thinking going on.
Something I see or hear or read will get me thinking – big time. And those thoughts often give me fodder for penning a new article. This piece is no exception. And it came out of something I happened to see on television for all of two minutes just the other day.
I was flicking through the channels and came upon a documentary on the world-famous art museum, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It has over 8,000 objects in some 80 galleries that span 800 years of Dutch art and history. Since my wife and I lived in Holland for five years, we visited that museum more than once.
So many wonderful treasures are found there, including The Night Watch and Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem by Rembrandt van Rijn, and The Milkmaid and The Love Letter by Johannes Vermeer. And other art museums are also found in Amsterdam, such as the Stedelijk Museum (for modern art) and the Van Gogh Museum (obviously for the works of Vincent van Gogh and others).
Anyway, for the few minutes that I viewed the doco, it was about a small team of art experts very carefully and meticulously seeking to restore or clean some priceless art treasures at the Rijksmuseum. That included Rembrandt’s The Night Watch which was completed in 1642. Viewing that very short segment got me thinking right away about two main things:
Nothing is wasted
Probably because my parents lived through the great Depression, I seem to have inherited from them a great dislike of waste. As I still tell my kids today, ‘I hate to waste’. So when I reflect on a war or conflict that impacts so many, in addition to all the death and dying, I think about what great historical, architectural and artistic treasures might be destroyed during these times.
Imagine if Michaelangelo’s David or The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci were destroyed, say in a bombing raid. Such incalculable loss. If your math skills are up to speed, The Night Watch that I just mentioned has been around for nearly 400 years, as have so many others.
But as I watched this, I considered this sad truth: all these great works of art will not last forever. Just as we all grow old and die, so too all the great achievements of men will one day be no more. BUT… As I have written before, there will one day be a new heaven and a new earth. And it is very possible that we will see there more great works of art, literature, poetry, music and so on.
So if things like Handel’s Messiah or the Odyssey by Homer or the Colosseum in Rome are one day lost to us, consider this: If all these amazing human achievements, made by fallen men in a fallen world, might be no more one day, just think of what the achievements of redeemed mankind in a redeemed world might be like.
So while we can today applaud these art experts who seek to preserve and keep in excellent condition some great works of art, we know that the gifts of artistic expression and the like given to us by our Creator who loves beauty will likely always remain with us in one form or another.
And if you wonder about whether God is a God of beauty, simply consider just one biblical passage, Genesis 2:9 which says, “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.”
Robed in HIS righteousness
The second thing that occurred to me just after I viewed that brief portion of the documentary was this: When a masterpiece is created, all that the art restorer or curator can do is seek to keep it in good nick. They cannot really improve upon it.
Spiritually speaking, we are masterpieces created in God’s image. But because of the Fall, we are now all tarnished and subpar. The image of God is not fully lost in us sinful beings, but it is greatly damaged and hidden. And no amount of trying to scrub ourselves up is going to change anything.
We are not just bad people who need to be better: we are dead sinners who need to be made alive. And the last time I checked, dead people cannot self-resurrect, let alone do anything else. Unless God breaks through on our behalf, we are all lost and irredeemable.
So many people today think that if they do a bit of moral cosmetic surgery they can get right with God. They think that if they try to stop cursing so much, or maybe stop drinking, or try to be a better Joe, then God will readily accept them just as they are.
But can a leopard change its spots? The Bible says no (Jeremiah 13:23). We are dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1), and nothing we try to do will change that sad reality. Only the finished work of Christ on the cross can deal with what ails us. Only casting our full trust in him alone will bring us new life.
As the desperate Philippian jailor asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And as they replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (see Acts 16:25-34). That is our only hope. Had not God through Christ made a way for us to get right with him, we would all be no-hopers.
In sum, if you find yourself in Amsterdam one day, why not check out the Rijksmuseum? And as you do, reflect on two glorious truths:
-Our God is a God of beauty who has gifted us fallen creatures with the ability to make great works of art – something that likely will continue in the next life.
-We are masterpieces made in the image of God. But we are now fallen and greatly marred, but one day we will be restored to again shine and fully reflect God and his glory.
