Beauty That Never Fades

November 19, 2025/Ayrian Yasar/
Photo Credit: Oleh_Slobodeniuk / iStock.com

Photo Credit: Oleh_Slobodeniuk / iStock.com

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Most often we think of beauty as one thing—usually as a way to describe a painting, the physical appearance of a person or nature. But we hear in Scripture that beauty also describes God, who “does not have a body like men” (Children’s Catechism). So, are there different types of beauty?

Outer beauty is merely visual, but inner beauty “radiates” from people.

In fact, there are different Hebrew words the Bible uses for the word “beauty.” One of these words has to do with radiance, as in the case of the priestly robes of Aaron (Ex. 28:2) or the radiance that surrounds and describes God (Ps. 96:6; Is. 28:5). Another word for beauty has to do with the physical appearance of people (Prov. 31:30; Ezek. 16:15), such as the writer of Proverbs cautioning the youth against falling for the physical looks of the dangerous woman, or the physical appearance of places like Jerusalem (Ps. 50:2). And still another word is used for God’s kindness (Ps. 27:4).

Perhaps this variety of Hebrew words used for “beauty” gets to the idea we all know: there is beauty that is only skin deep, and there is beauty that is much, much deeper. There is beauty that “radiates” from within people, and ugliness—or we could even say “darkness”—in some of the most physically beautiful people.

The beauty that speaks of God is of a radiance that will never fade.

The radiance connected to God also affects those who are renewed in the image of God in Christ Jesus. They reflect the radiance that is not something that can pass away or fade. So, why is the word for Aaron’s garments the same word for describing God? Could it be that Aaron’s clothes were to represent the radiance of the God he served? The beauty and radiance of Aaron’s robes were to remind the people of the beauty and radiance of God, and Aaron was to be radiant in heart and person like the God he served.

The beauty that is skin deep can and does fade, but the beauty that speaks of God, and those united to him, is of a radiance that will never fade. In fact, Peter says,

Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (1 Pet. 3:4; emphasis added).

It is not that external ornamentation is a bad thing, but it is not the most crucial thing. The beauty that does not fade is a spirit that reflects our relationship with God.

God’s children will one day perfectly reflect God’s beauty of radiance.

In light of this distinction between physical beauty and a beauty of radiance that cannot be lost, Jesus himself was not physically beautiful, as Isaiah the prophet tells us that

He grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. (Is. 53:2; emphasis added)

Yet, while not being physically beautiful, the writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus Christ is

the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Heb. 1:3; emphasis added)

Let us rejoice that we are being made more and more into the likeness of Christ, and whether we are physically pleasing to look at or not, we have now, and will continue to grow in, a radiance that reflects our good and glorious Lord and that will never fade away.

This article is adapted from “Beauty That Never Fades” in BCL’s March 2025 monthly newsletter “Beauty.”