Persons of faith should sense the reality of faith as related to the arts as well as to nature for expression. Here we make the comparisons and contrasts to natural and supernatural contexts. Certainly the point will be made that the arts are a part of nature. The best art, in some form, captures nature, and whatever is presumed related to it. One follows the self-portraits of Rembrandt, from the first rakish looking fellow to the older fading visage who seems to be some other person than the first portrait depicts. Here is Rembrandt as he saw himself in a mirror. We know there is something vital in us that relates to nature, but we also know that the creative painting does not explain who or what we are – or will be. Nature is the canvas on which we paint our lives, to such a degree that we can say: That’s me. Even so, that is not me in essence. My essence is invisible, but real, even as God is invisible, but real. There is the image of God in us – unseen. That is a long way from being God. It is a creative (artistic) image. We see the nature painting, and we value that. We want it to be the best image, but we wonder if it is coming out right.
The matter is complex (compound), not singular (elemental). In this differential of limitations in seeing and not seeing, Christ came, bearing both the invisible nature of God and the visible physical man. To accommodate mankind, he came in the form of a man. In redemptive Christianity, he heals mankind, so to combine, in one, the natural and the supernatural. Whatever the ultimate destination for redeemed persons, beyond the natural, they will always have some unique identity that has naturalness in it. It will be an identifying factor. They will not be angels, seraphim or any other life consciousness on the Elysian Fields. No other form of life will make up the living temple of God, the redeemed persons of earth, forever known, in congregation and personally, as the Church, the Bride of Christ. The mind runs with the possibilities, but Scripture informs readers that the context of heaven is beyond our present quotient of perception. We have limited perceptions of the hereafter. We haven’t been there, or speak the language.
Those persons who can’t grasp the mind of an artist not only miss some of the affirmation above, but tend to diminish it as nothing more than dreaming, perhaps a religious delusion. Freud thought the idea of God was delusional. He is joined by many others in that conclusion, but the view has not persuaded the masses. In the meantime, God is the artist, forming the clay (persons) to his preferences. Some clay is found responsive to the artist. The texture has to be right for the potter. His approach may engage inadequate material. The result is an ill-formed piece, ultimately broken into shards to be cast away. His artistry is even more extensive: The heavens and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Nature is God painting, in oil and water, in light and shadow, in flowers and trees, in sky and field, in animals and mankind, and so the story may proceed. Faith says it is so, and believers set out to find the truth of it agreeing to discard that which smudges (disgraces) the art of the artist. God paints the portrait he wants and gives it life. He does not paint what is and approve it. This is an important distinction to make and understand. He decides.
God is the painter, the musician, the potter, and the architect of lives for his purpose. This view is caught up in the church when children are taught a chorus: Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. Seems simple, almost like doggerel. In fact it is a magnificent hope held out to all persons – whatever age or gender, whatever race or background, whatever status, or context of an individual life. It leads to hope, to love, to righteousness, to meaning for life. The greatest meaning of mankind is found in the theology that we are God’s creation, formed for his pleasure, and therefore to be identified with him forever. We are the clay, and thou our potter. (Isaiah 64:8 KJV) Hath not the potter power over the clay. . . . ? The answers are obvious in the assertions and contexts of Scripture. So we seek that understanding, and to live to fulfill the expectations of the gestures of God to create (artistic), and to give to his artistry, life. Physical life belongs to nature as given of God, and taken by nature, as given of God. Spiritual life is immortal for us. If all this be true, many persons have managed the human context poorly. As individuals we can reach higher than nature. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020