I’ve come to believe that the modern church doesn’t put much emphasis on the arts, as an act of the Holy Spirit. The lack of that emphasis is partially behind the creation of this website. The greatest pieces of art were inspired by, and written for the glory of the Lord. I see the Spirit and God’s direction in the arts all over the place, especially in the Exodus story.
Recently I’ve come across a teaching that highlights how important the arts are to God. Honestly, it’s in the last place I expected. It came from a teaching from the late RC Sproul.
I am a consistent listener to the daily podcast Renewing Your Mind: with R.C. Sproul. I’ve spoken of R.C.’s teaching before; He is Lord… Is He Risen?. I highly recommend this podcast series.
The episode of the podcast is ‘The Spirit in Creative Expression‘. R.C. discusses how the first time the Spirit is poured out to the people of Israel it is for creative expression. Therefore, the this creative expression PLEASED the Lord!
Some of the highlights of R.C.’s teaching is that the ultimate universal, eternal harmony is the God Head; God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There can be no beauty or harmony without God. There are 3 things I want to highlight from R.C.s teaching.
Wherever there is beauty, there is the Spirit of God
Wherever there is beauty, there is the Spirit of God. God’s creation and the beauty of it bears witness to God. People have stated many times, that to look out into nature is to see God.
Anything beautiful is created by the Spirit of God
Anything we create that is beautiful, comes from the Spirit of God within us. To be clear, all humans creating beautiful things, are not filled with the saving Holy Spirit or saved. However, the breath of God used to give them life is what creates anything beautiful that comes from them.
From the beginning of His revelation, He ordained the arts to please Him.
The first person specifically mentioned to have been filled with the Spirit of God was an artist. He was to create arts to please the Lord. He was filled to create works for glory and for beauty.
God has been in the arts from the beginning!
I’ve tried before to explain how important the arts are to God. However, R.C. conveys it better than I ever could.
To celebrate the new season, I think it’s perfect to start with a reminder of what led to this site. God IS in the arts!
Simple Victory is to help point you to where the Spirit is shaping creative expression today. Let’s support those whom the Spirit is using to create great works for the Lord.