A mixture of clay, dirt, and corruption

(Thomas Vincent, "Love to the Unseen Christ")

"Yes! He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, this my Friend!" Song of Songs 5:16

Christ is the most lovely Person, and the most suitable Object for your love. There never was, nor will be found—any person so lovely, so beautiful, and so every way deserving of your love—as the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a matchless, transcendent, and incomparable beauty and excellency in Him!

How passionately are some foolish men in love with the external beauty which they see in some women! They love the exact symmetry of parts, and lovely proportion of the body, the amiable features and lovely mixtures of colors in the face, the beauty of the eyes and features, their graceful motions, and amorous glances. How does this ravish the hearts of some foolish men, although the most beautiful woman in the world is no better than a mixture of clay, dirt, and corruption enclosed in a lovely skin; which sickness will cause to look pale and ashen—and death will fully mar and spoil! But the amiableness and beauty of Christ is more transcendent and permanent, and therefore, a more fit object for your love. Christ is all fair—without any spot; altogether lovely—without any blemish or deformity!

Could we suppose all the loveliness that ever was seen or found in the most lovely people that ever lived, were to meet in one person—how lovely would that person be! Yet such, though ever so resplendent beauty—would be but a dark shadow compared with the brightness of our most beautiful Christ!

Can you love the imperfect beauty which you see in creatures, and will you not love the perfect beauty which there is in Christ! Can you love a fading beauty which soon withers like the flower—and will you not love Christ—whose beauty never decays—but always abides more fresh than beauty in the flower of youth! Can you be soon affected with beautiful objects which are before the eye of your sense—and will you not be affected with this far more beautiful object, the Lord Jesus Christ—who is so clearly discernible by the eye of faith? If the eye of your faith was open and clear, to look upon the transcendent loveliness which is in Christ—you could not but love Him! Could you see the glances of His eye, and the sweet smiles of His lovely face—your hearts would be overcome and ravished with love, and filled with ecstasies of joy and ineffable delight!

"Yes! He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, this my Friend!" Song of Songs 5:16