The Ugly Beauty of Jesus - John 3

1:02The title of today's message is The Ugly Beauty of Jesus. I'm going to go back and look at verses 3 through 14 and 15 and really put them in their context in the whole Scripture. I want you to see Jesus perhaps in a light that you haven't seen him before, or certainly I want you to see him as this text of Scripture brings to our To our minds. This scripture, let me just read it to you so that we're there in our minds. This is Jesus' own words, verse 14: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. This is a statement of Jesus by Jesus about himself. This is how he saw his purpose for coming into the world to be lifted up. This is an unmistakable reference to his coming crucifixion.

2:05But it also is a, it gives us the express answer to the question: how is one born again? How is a person transformed? How is he transformed so that he is entered, so that he is fit and has come into the kingdom of God? And so, a very significant scripture, and I want to put it in its context. And I want you to see the ugly beauty of Jesus. Recall in John chapter 2, we learn a couple things about Jesus. First, he does this miracle. He has the power to transform, right? He takes something very common, water, and he transforms it into something very noble, something fit for a wedding celebration. And then later in John chapter 2, we see this zeal. That he has for pure worship. He goes in and cleanses the temple. And then in John chapter 3, he starts discoursing on this concept of the new birth. A transformation is necessary in man for him to enter the kingdom of God. And what Jesus does, his passion, is to bring about pure worship, and he does so through the transforming of each individual lives that comes to him.

3:33Well, you know, as I've noticed, as kind of an axiom of life that I have observed, that I have experienced, is that difficult times come and then theological questions rise. Whether the personal failures, whether it's sin, whether it's the guilt that follows, it really doesn't matter. But where difficult times come, even if they're brought on by ourselves, we start asking theological questions. Sometimes it's because of unmet expectations. Sometimes you have some painful life experiences. Sometimes you experience devastating life and life didn't turn out the way you thought it would go. And you bring into question, where is God in all of this? And like I said, many times it's irrational because many times we're asking these questions because what we're suffering is the consequences of our own sin.

4:30But many times we come to this point in life: is God real, really all-powerful? Is he really good? And does he really care for me? This is kind of where we all circle around and come to. The question comes: how does one forever settle these questions? Where does the power to move outside of superficial faith and outside of circumstantial worship? You see, we're so driven by our circumstances that we tend to worship God out of, when our circumstances are good, we can worship Him. We're so devoted to, we're so driven by our circumstantial worship and our superficial faith, and this is the exact thing that Jesus is dealing with in Nicodemus.

5:22John 3, Jesus tells us how one is transformed. And I want us to camp out again on John chapter 3, verses 14 through 15. And I want to put it in its biblical context. I want you to say this text really is at the center of prophetic revelation. And so I'm going to speak around it. I'm going to speak at some passages from the Old Testament and the New Testament so that you will gaze upon what I call. The ugly beauty of Jesus this morning. And I want you, as you gaze upon this ugly beauty of Jesus, I pray that if you do not know Christ, your faith will be awakened. And if you do know Christ this morning, that your faith will be strengthened. So I intend to survey a broad sweep of Scripture from beginning to end. And I want to briefly look at seven texts, seven texts that will reveal to us this ugly beauty that points to Jesus. Four texts from the Old Testament, three from the New. The Old Testament passages look forward to the event that Jesus describes being lifted up. The New Testament passages look back. So first, I just want to walk through Scripture.

6:57The ugly beauty of Jesus. First stop is going to be in Genesis chapter 3 in the garden sacrifice. Just to set the context, remember we have in John or Genesis chapter 3, we have the sin of man. Jesus said, if you, or God said, do not eat, they ate. And then in Genesis 3, 7, the eyes of both of them were opened. You don't need to turn there. I can read it to you, or you feel free to turn there if you'd like. Genesis 3, 7, then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were. Naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees, the garden. So there he is, hidden. Man hides himself. In Genesis 3:21, we read these words. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

8:01So I want you to see the ugly or the ugliness of this garden sacrifice. What happens? How do you get a skin from an animal? They don't give it up easily, right? Now, a death had to occur. The first death that we recorded, death, other than the spiritual death that had already taken place in Adam and Eve. But the death of an animal, what kind of animal? It doesn't say. But I would venture to say it probably wasn't a raccoon. You know, you got a cover, you know, wasn't something like Davy Crockett would wear around, but it had to be a significant animal, something that he made skins out of. He made coverings for, garments from. Maybe a bull, maybe a lamb.

8:48But there was the removal. So that's an ugly picture, the death. Then there was this removal of skin. And if you've ever seen an animal's skin be taken off, it is a horrible. Thing. Or at least I hope you think it's horrible. Some of you might really get into some of you hunters, I know. But what was given to this animal as a necessary covering was taken away. This God-given covering was stripped off, peeled off, and it was taken away. Animal perished, and it was given to two sinfully undeserving people. That's the ugliness. The innocent paid the price for the guilty.

9:35That's the ugly side of that garden sacrifice. Now, the beautiful side of that was the motive. God had compassion for Adam and Eve and their pitiful fig leaf covering, and so he covered them. A compassionate act by God. Adam and Eve were covered. Beautiful in that. They were covered, their nakedness covered. But it also speaks of a hope for humanity. The first physical death should have been Adam and Eve, but instead it was an animal. So that is the, there's an ugliness and a beauty even in the first garden sacrifice. Next, I want to forward on to Exodus and look at the ugly beauty of the Passover sacrifice. Just to set the context in Chapter 11 of Exodus and verse 4.

10:35Moses goes and speaks to the children of Israel and says, Thus says the Lord, about midnight, I am going into the midst of the land, and all the firstborn of the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on the throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones. All the firstborn of the cattle as well. Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as never been before, and such will never be again. And then listen to this: But against any of the sons of Israel, a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how, get this, how the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. Not that he makes a distinction, but how he makes the distinction and what that basis is. So, moving into Exodus 12, chapter 3, there is this, I want you to see the ugliness of this Passover sacrifice. I'll just read. Beginning in verse 3 of chapter 12, speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth day of this month, they are to each one take a lamb for themselves. It's supposed to be an unblemished lamb. It's to be a year old. They are to take it into their house, take it in, select it. Then they shall keep it till the 14th day of the same month, four days later, then the whole assembly of the congregation is to kill it at twilight. Now, just think about that. Think about doing that with your kids, right? Bring in this lamb and then killing it at twilight.

12:17That would be traumatic for my kids, right? For anyone knowing four days you've got this thing. That's the one that's going to die. This is going to die. This is going to die. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts and on the lentil of the house, which they eat it. It's the Lord's Passover. So, okay. For I will go through the land on that night and I will strike down all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments. And so that's what he does, right? Blood. I mean, think about that, right? Put some blood all around here. Just think of the smell. Just think of the blood everywhere. Just think of the look. I mean, that would not get through our ascetics committee very easy, right? Try to get that one through, right? Just doesn't match anything. It's awful, right? Well, that's the picture. That's the picture. Gruesome sight. But then there's a beauty in it. A beauty. It was this blood. It was this event.

13:30That delivered Israel from slavery, from the slavery of Pharaoh. There's another beauty. It's the beauty of being saved from the hand of God's holy destroyer. The angel was sent out to all. The distinction was the blood. This is how God made a distinction. Exodus 12:13. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live. And when I see the blood, I will pass over, and no, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So it's the beauty of being saved from God, being saved from Pharaoh, and being saved from God.

14:13It is also the beauty of a new beginning. Exodus chapter 12 begins with these words. Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month, the month of the Passover, shall be the beginning of months for you. It shall be the first month of the year to you. See what happened? It's a new beginning. It's such a monumental event that Passover sacrifice became the beginning of the calendar year. A new beginning. It was the beauty of being a favored class of people, the distinction. The blood is what distinguished Israel from Egypt. It was not just the Their genetic disposition. It was the blood.

15:06So there is an ugly beauty in the Passover sacrifice. Third, I want you to see the ugly beauty in the Levitical sacrifices. And these all point to the ultimate sacrifice. All these are pointing forward. See, Leviticus is about approaching God and maintaining a relationship with God. The whole tabernacle and the whole priestly order, all of this was about approaching and having a relationship with God and ongoing. And if there's one thing you pick up in Leviticus, it's driven by sacrifice, right? The way to God is the sacrifice of an innocent victim. Over and over, this is how you came. And all this is pointing to a greater reality. But I just want you to get this visual image in your mind of what such a sacrifice would look like. Let's suppose you came and you, this is Leviticus 1:1. It starts out with a burnt offering. And he says, if your burnt offering is to be from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect. He shall offer it on the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. Verse 4, he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make an atonement on his behalf.

16:30So, get this picture. Okay, you've got this animal from the herd or from the flock. He shall slay the young bull before the Lord. Okay, get that picture. That's not a pretty picture. Bringing a bull and then slaying it, right? Slaying it before the Lord. I mean, slaying is a very ugly, noisy, convulsing process, it's a struggle. The sights and sounds of agony, the sights and sounds are horrible, and there's no one there to help. This victim is to die.

17:11But it doesn't stop there. Then Aaron's sons and the priests shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around the altar. Just think of this picture. But it doesn't stop there. He shall then skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. And then he shall arrange the pieces, the head and the suet over the wood, which is on the fire, on the altar, and its entrails, and everything, it shall be arranged there. And the priest shall offer up in smoke all of it on the altar for a burnt offering of fire. Get that picture. This animal, this mangled mess, cut in pieces there on the altar to be completely clean. Consumed.

18:02What a mess. That doesn't look at all like the perfect animal it was just moments before. That's the ugliness in the Levitical sacrifices. But there's a beauty, a beauty in these sacrifices as well. You read through Leviticus, there's the burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering. All these speak about atonement, spiritual covering, reconciliation to God, fellowship with God, a substitution, righteousness, righteous standards of God being imputed, repentance, and the guilt offering, and the removal of the basins of guilt. And all this, all these were temporary. All these were pointing to a greater reality. That if the worshiper combined with faith and understood that it is God who is doing these things, he received a pardon.

19:12But all of these speak of the truth that there is a way back to God. That's what the book's about. There is a way that man can live with God. And that way is going to be through sacrifice. But the beauty is that God. Wants this relationship and that God wants a relationship with man. So there's an ugly beauty in the garden sacrifice, the Passover sacrifice, the Levitical sacrifices. Now I want to shift gears to Isaiah and look at the ugly beauty of the suffering servant's sacrifice. And I'm just going to, I'll be reading from Isaiah 50, 52, and 53, just portions. I'm going to go very quickly through this. And I'll need to do a little more than just read you some of the texts because they speak for themselves. The ugly, the ugly. I want you to see in Isaiah 50, verse 6, I gave my back to those who strike me, and my cheeks to those who pluck out the beard. I'll stop there. I asked for a volunteer this morning, and I said, I came to, I found a man with a beard, and I told him, I need you to come demonstrate something for us this morning. He said, sure. Didn't even ask what the demonstration was going to be, but I needed somebody. So, Dan, now you can stay where you are. That's fine. But he's got a beard. So I was thinking we'd bring him up here and just rip out the beard. Let's take a handful and just rip it out. I mean, what do you think that would do? Yeah, stop it down here. He's over here. Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's do that. Well, that'll make it memorable. Yeah, it'll be memorable, all right. You won't forget it, but neither will he. But anyway, that was a day I got my beard ripped out in front of church, right?

21:08What would that do to a face? Think about it. Totally disfigure it, right? Just think of what it would do to the neck. Just think what it would do to have that. Well, this is what the suffering servant went through. He said, I did not cover my face from humiliation and from spitting. Isaiah 52, 14 says, Just as many were astonished at you, so his appearance, speaking of this servant, was marred more than any man, and his form more than any of the sons of men. Marred beyond recognition, even his form, so horribly marred. Starting to think about, okay, we've shifted gears now. No longer is it the animal sacrifice that is being predicted, but a human sacrifice that's going to be on par with the animal sacrifices and the mangle and the mess we've seen before. Isaiah 53, 3 says, He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised and we did not esteem him. So there was an ugliness in this suffering servant's sacrifice. He endured the pain, he endured the shame. He endured the endured endure. Was marred. He experienced the rejection. He was despised. This is the ugly associated with the suffering servants' sacrifice. But then there's a beauty. The Bible speaks of the beauty of this substitution. This substitution, it is a human one now. And there's a beauty in the, he endured our punishment, our healing, and our well-being was all placed on him. Let me just read to you Isaiah 53:4. Surely our griefs he himself bore. Do you see the beauty? And our sorrows he carried. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed. What are we healed from? Well, he tells you in the next verse: all of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. That's what happens in the trials and temptations of life. We've got this chronic disposition to go astray.

23:41But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. What's the opposite of going astray? Coming to God, right? And this is what he healed. He healed. He was cut off of the land of the living for the transgression of my people. You see, there's a beauty. Our punishment, our healing, and our well-being. That was in the sacrifice. But he goes on: as a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see and be satisfied. By the knowledge of the righteous one, my servant will justify the many, and he will bear their iniquities.

24:23Therefore, I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the booty with the strong, because he poured himself out to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors. You see, there's a beauty in his sacrifice. He justified the sinner, he bore their sin. He prayed for those who are going astray and chronically going astray. And there's beauty in the reward that he's going to receive.

25:02And what is the booty? God's so impressed with him. He's going to give him the booty. What is the booty? Redeemed transgressors. That's the result that he's going to get. And who would want that, right? I showed you a bunch of images a couple weeks ago of a bunch of condemned entities, right? We had a building. Okay, nobody really wants to go take on a building. We saw a bunch of puppy dogs. A lot of people would. Had a, okay, we don't want to, we want to save a bunch of puppy dogs from being condemned, but who in the world wants to condemn, who wants to save a condemned death row inmate? Who has the ability to cleanse and to transform? And who would want to? Well, this text is saying, this is what he gets. He has an affection for ruined sinners, and he loves to transform. He loves to heal. He loves for humanity to be all that humanity is supposed to be. That was his reward.

26:08You and me. Pure worship. Transformed. Right heart with God. That was his reward. So there's an ugly beauty that the Old Testament points to in Jesus. It's seen in the garden sacrifice, in the Passover sacrifice, in the Levitical sacrifices, and in the suffering servants' sacrifice. Now I want to shift gears to the New Testament. And I want to jump over the crucifixion to Jesus Himself and the resurrected Jesus. And I want you to see the ugly beauty of the resurrected Jesus. You remember in John chapter 20, you have. This situation where Jesus has been risen from the dead. Thomas wasn't there. And then when he made his first appearance, and then in chapter 20, verse 26, we pick up this narrative. Now, Thomas has just said, I'm not going to believe unless I touch the imprint in his hands. Let's touch the scars. In verse 26, after eight days, in John chapter 20, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, Reach here with your finger and see my hands.

27:40And reach here your hand and put it into my side. Now, there's an interesting preposition: put it into my side. He says, and do not be unbelieving, but believing. He's got scars, doesn't he? And Thomas answered and said, My Lord, and get this and my God. There are scars on the body of the resurrected Christ. Think about that. You know, sometimes we get these coloring book images of Jesus, that there's these little prints. Everything else is clean.

28:29But let me ask. You, this, if he had one scar, don't you think he would have them all? I mean, do you think that God just said, I'm going to leave one scar for token and just kind of erase all the other evidences of his suffering from his resurrected body? I think not. I think if one scar is on his body, all of the scars are on his body. Go back to that beard, go back to the lashes. Think about, I wonder why Mary didn't recognize him, mistaken, she mistake him for the gardener. Why does Thomas even have to touch him?

29:21We know on the road to Emmaus, they were kept from seeing him, but they didn't recognize him. How do you walk all day with Christ and then not even recognize him? What did he look like? And then there's this perplexing verse that's always kind of perplexed me. Matthew 28, 16 and 17, right before that great commission, you know. But the 11 disciples proceeded to Galilee to the mountain which Jesus has designated. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but. Some doubted.

30:05How is that? I'd like to submit to you: his crucified body is marred far more than we might imagine. His resurrected body bears the scars of the horrible crucifixion and will do so for all time. That's the ugliness in the resurrected Christ. Let me talk about their beauty. Those scars speak of a sacrifice. They speak of the rich one who emptied himself to make others rich. It speaks of the one who took his covering and gave it to those he loved.

30:52It speaks of his love for us. It speaks of his obedience and trust in the Father's will. And so we can follow him and we can trust the Father's will as well, no matter what comes our way. It speaks of his victory over death. And it speaks of the Father's acceptance of his sacrifice on our behalf. Those scars are beautiful. And they speak. Forever of the lover of our souls and your creator, God. Take you to another one.

31:44Seen the ugly beauty of the resurrected Jesus. Now I want you to see the ugly beauty of the glorified Jesus. And if you have time, I would encourage you to go listen to Conrad Bayway's message on Revelation 4 and 5 from the Shepherds Conference. He paints a wonderful picture of this worship scene that's taking place in Revelation 4 and 5. There comes this point in chapter 5. There's this wonderful scene. There's the elders that are around. There is the seraphim flying. There is this incredible scene of worship.

32:30And then I'll just pick up the narrative. In verse 1 of chapter 5, and I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with the loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and break its seals? And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it.

33:00I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, Stop weeping. Behold, the lion that is from the tribe of Judah. So there comes that lion imagery. Here he comes. The root of David has overcome, so as to open the book and its seven seals. Now here comes this lion of Judah. Here comes the root of David. He is going to open it.

33:33And this is how John describes him. And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures. So between the elders and between the throne, a lamb standing as if it had been slain. What does a slain lamb look like? Think about where we've been. Think about this image. What does a slain lamb look like? I don't even want to go into it. It's ugly, right? Even in his glorified, eternally glorified state, he bears the mark of being slain. But he's standing there. He's conquered.

34:31And there is a beauty in this ugliness. Here is the true garden sacrifice. Here is the reality of what the garden sacrifice was pointing to. Here is the true Passover Lamb, the one that gives us deliverance from slavery, the one who delivers us from God's holy wrath, the one who gives us and brings us to live with God. Here is the true Levitical sacrifices. Here is the true suffering servant. His eternal sacrifice, eternal love, eternal victory over death. All this is spoken about in this image of being slain.

35:17Speaks of the Father's eternal acceptance of his sacrifice. This is eternal. This isn't just, this is forever. There's a beauty in their testimony: an eternal atonement, eternal spiritual covering, eternal reconciliation, eternal fellowship, eternal favorableness before God. Could use that. Eternal righteousness, His righteousness. This is a picture of the king revealed in Scripture, a lamb. We don't see the final image, it is not the image of a lion. The image is of a lamb. And you're going to carry that all the way through to the marriage supper of the lamb.

36:15We'll forever relate, we will forever know him as the king who gave himself for us, the one who has taken upon the government of our souls and has taken upon the responsibility for our souls' well-being. This is the servant of servants, the greatest in heaven. Well, I want to take, now I want to go back to the ugly beauty of the crucified Jesus. In John chapter 3, Jesus says, verse 14: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up, must be crucified, so that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. The cross, a bloodied, mangled mess, martyred beyond recognition, speaks of the severe rejection. Rejection, the severe shame, severe humiliation, innocent one tried before sinful man. The greatest miscarriage of Jesus, there's the ugliness in the cross.

37:47I mean, did you think redemption would be pretty? It's not. Your redemption is not pretty. But praise God, there is one who loves you and is willing to count you as a spoil of war, a treasure, a reward. I want you to see the beauty in the cross. I'm not going to have time to recount everything, but it's everything that all of these other pictures in Scripture point to. But I want to bring something to your attention because herein is the responsibility of man. We've looked at John chapter 3, and you see a great deal of God's sovereignty in salvation and how it's a work of God that he brings about, that he accomplishes. The power for the water that was transformed into wine wasn't in the water, it was in the one transforming the water. The same is true about humanity. The power to transform is. Isn't in the man, isn't it in you? It's in your transformer. It's in the true baptizer. But I want you to get a glimpse of the power of Christ upon the cross. You remember when the serpent was lifted up? We won't go back and rehash it, but those who were bit in Israel with the poison, when they looked, what happened?

39:33They were healed, right? They were healed. God's wrath was averted. The poison drawn out. Healing. Just to look, just to look, brought about a complete physical transformation. Do you know just belief and everything that John calls an honest gazing look, that's what transforms. Just belief in this reality, true belief in this reality is power to completely transform. And this isn't hard to understand, right? When you get bad news, it changes the way you feel, right? Suppose you get bad news about a loved one passing away. Nothing fits. Has happened to you. You just receive news, and yet your day is ruined, your week is ruined, there's a great heaviness, pain, and sorrow, right? Now, suppose you receive good news. Let's suppose you end up finding out you have an aunt that you never knew, and she left you a fortune beyond measure, and all of a sudden you're informed that all of a sudden you've got all this stuff that you didn't even know. You know what? I bet you there would be a spring in your step that day, right? A little bit of a smile.

41:03That's what belief does, right? Now, let me give you the good news. The best news of all. The anchor and foundation for our souls. Your Creator, God, went to the cross, became a bloody pulp, so that you would not have to, so that you could have reconciliation with Him, so that you could meet all the righteous requirements, so that you could have fellowship with Him, reconciliation with Him, because of an incredible, high degree of immeasurable love that He has.

41:51That's the news. And He promises to be the governor of your soul. He is. Committed himself to the highest degree of your absolute well-being. He has all the power, all the resources, all the wisdom. That's the good news of the gospel. And if you believe it, it will utterly transform you. Problem is, many of us, we really don't. Do you really believe that God is sovereign? Do you really believe He is control? Do you really believe that He's good? Do you really believe that every single thing that happens in your life has you on a trajectory of the highest good that the most wise creator and governor of the universe can come up with?

42:53Simple belief will radically, radically change you. And by the way, it goes without saying that when you add works to this mix, what does it do to the cross? What does it do? It reduces it. It brings it down so low that it's hard to even fathom that, okay, there's something else that's necessary for my salvation. No, he was lifted up, a gazing. Look is all. A gazing look that believes is all for complete transformation. That's how he does it. Jesus is the object of faith.

43:46Faith alone in Christ alone. You see, the most complete statement of God's love is not changed circumstances, but the cross. Pure worship is not fundamentally based upon circumstances. You see, Jesus was addressing something in Nicodemus: superficial faith and circumstantial worship. And the only way we get out of that is by looking and gazing and believing upon the truth of the Creator God crucified for us. Pure worship flows out of a transformed heart that sees, that understands, and believes in what I've called the ugly beauty of Jesus on the cross. This is where the Christian life begins. If you do not know Christ today, and if you do not know, this is where it begins, by gazing and believing upon the ugly beauty of Jesus on the cross.

45:01But it never stops there. The Christian faith continues by gazing upon the cross. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this ugly beauty before our eyes and the transforming power. Help us believe. Help us believe. Help us turn away from every false notion. Help us forgive us for erecting gods that are not found in the scripture, that is not true of you. Forgive us for our superficial faith. Forgive us for our circumstantial worship. Help us believe. Cause us to believe, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.