The Most Beautiful Painting in the World

Imagine that you were the owner of the most beautiful painting in the world. Without a doubt, this is the most beautiful work of art ever to be created. It brings joy and delight to everyone who looks at it. When people behold this magnificent work of art, their lives are forever changed because of the breathtaking beauty of this work.

Now, if you were the owner of this painting, what would be the more loving thing to do? Would it be more loving to take that painting and lock it in a big vault in your attic where it will be kept safe and where no one but you could every look at it? Or, would it be more loving to put the painting on display for everyone who is willing to come and delight in its beauty, and then to go out encouraging others to come and to behold the life-changing beauty of the painting?  

Now consider this: It’s not merely as if God has the most beautiful painting in the world; God is the most beautiful being in the world! Therefore, the most loving thing for God to do would be to put His magnificence on display for everyone to see. The most loving thing for Him to do would be to exalt Himself and insist that people come and find their delight in Him. God is the source of infinite and eternal joy.

God is glorified when people's hearts delight in Him. For God to be glorified is appropriate and God-honoring, because God deserves it. It is also the most loving thing for God to offer people.

"One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord..." 

-Psalm 27:4