Beautiful Scars
Proverbs 27:6a
By: JB Hall
Introduction: Scars are usually not considered to be a beauty mark. People often try to hide their scars with clothing or make-up. And yet scars have a story to tell.
Scars serve as a demarcation line between the past and the present; between what existed prior to the wound that brought the scar, and what exists now on this side of the wound.
Scars tell of a wounding that has occurred. But scars also remind us that a healing has taken place.
Scars remind us of danger and damage that has come our way; but also of recovery and restoration that has followed.
Scars inform us that a permanent change has taken place; that things will never be as they were before.
There are many types of scars: there are physical scars, there are financial scars; there are emotional scars; there are relationship scars; there are scars of loss; there are psychological scars; there are social scars; and there are spiritual scars.
While, like I said earlier, scars are not usually thought of as a mark of beauty, they do serve as a constant reminder of a beautiful thing that has occurred in our lives; a beautiful wounding that has resulted in a glorious new future for us.
1 Samuel 2:6 & 7 say, “”The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.” “The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.”
So, it is often in the horror of wounding that the beauty of healing comes to our lives.
Scars then, serve as a beacon, always pointing us back to the transforming wound; always reminding us of the cost of our healing, lest we forget and either endanger ourselves by lapsing back into the same patterns that brought the wound; or, take the healing for granted and become unthankful.
This morning I’d like us to take a look at 4 individuals whose scars provided a visible reminder of the touch of God that brought a horrible wound, so that He might lift them higher than they ever could have risen without it.
1. Jacob - that supplants, undermines; the heel. Changed to Israel - who prevails with God.
A. Jacob was a supplanter; he was always undermining someone’s purpose or plans.
B. He was a trickster; a cheat; a thief.
C. In Genesis 25:29 – 34 Esau, Jacob’s brother came in from a hunting trip and was hungry.
D. He asked his brother Jacob for some lentils he had cooked; but Jacob sold him his lentils for Esau’s birthright.
E. So, Jacob bought Esau’s birthright for some lentils and bread.
F. This was not just a symbolic gesture: it was real: Esau really gave up his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentils and some bread.
G. In Genesis, Chapter 27 Jacob schemed with his mother Rebekah to deceive his father Isaac into thinking he was Esau so his father would give him Esau’s birthright; and so he did.
H. In Genesis, Chapter 31 Jacob again cheated Laban.
I. He had made a deal with Laban that all the ringstraked, speckled, and spotted cattle would belong to him; but he would separate all the solid colored cattle for Laban.
J. When the strong cattle came to breed, Jacob place striped sticks before them causing them to bear ringstraked, speckled, and spotted sheep and goats.
K. When the weaker cattle came to breed, Jacob didn’t place the striped sticks before them.
L. Thus, Jacob had all the best sheep and goats and Laban had all the weaker ones.
M. Again, Jacob had undermined the wealth of Laban and had stolen the best for himself.
N. As Jacob left Laban with his wives, children, and possessions in Genesis, Chapter 32, his brother Esau came with 400 men to meet him.
O. Jacob feared his brother and tried to plan a way to appease him so he would not come to kill him,
P. That night there came a man and wrestled with him all night.
Q. As Jacob wrestled with Who many believe to be the pre-incarnate Jesus, this Man told Jacob to let Him go.
R. Jacob would not let go until He blessed him.
S. In the wrestling this Man touched Jacob’s thigh which left him crippled.
T. But He blessed him and changed his name to Israel – meaning ‘who prevails with God’.
U. Jacob bore the scar of spiritual struggle the rest of his life.
V. But, Jacob’s physical scar, a permanent limp, from that night forward was a visible reminder of his wrestling with God, and the change that that spiritual struggle had brought to his life.
W. It served as a dividing line; dividing the past life of treachery and deceit from his new life as prince of the Jewish nation.
X. He was now Israel, the father of the Jewish nation.
Y. In his struggle with God, God had touched him, and the permanent change that had come had lifted him from a life of self-dependence to a life of dependence on God.
Z. In blessing Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, Israel spoke of his encounter with God.
AA. Genesis 48: 15 & 16a say, “And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,” “The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads…”
BB. The blessing of God that had come in the wound was now being passed on to future generations.
CC. A transformation had taken place that night in the life of Jacob.
DD. The beautiful scar of spiritual struggle pictured the death of a trickster and the birth of a nation!
2. Joseph
A. Joseph, a seventeen year old young man, was a cocky young fellow.
B. He was his father’s favorite out of his sons, and wore the coat of many colors that identified him as such before his brothers.
C. He dreamed a dream that being interpreted meant that his brothers would come and bow down before him.
D. He told this dream to his brothers, not taking into consideration the humiliation they would feel at hearing they would come to bow before their younger brother, who they already hated because of their father’s favoritism.
E. This self-promoting attitude that Joseph appeared to have, just engendered greater hatred, insomuch that they conspired to murder him.
F. In Genesis, Chapter 37, his brother Reuben convinced his other brothers not to kill him, so they took his coat and covered it with goat’s blood to make their father think he had been killed by a wild beast.
G. But, they sold Joseph to traveling salesmen who took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, an officer to Pharaoh, the captain of the royal guard.
H. Potiphar gave Joseph the charge of running his plantation; but his wife tried to seduce Joseph.
I. When Joseph refused her advances, she falsely accused him of impropriety and had him imprisoned.
J. He was left in prison for 2 full years before God miraculously delivered him and had Pharaoh promote him to the office of Prime Minister of Egypt; second only to Pharaoh.
K. While Jacob wore the scar of spiritual struggle, Joseph wore the scar of humility.
L. The wound of humbling came with great price.
M. Joseph was taken from his family, his language, and his native land, and placed in a completely foreign culture, to serve as a slave under the hand of foreigners.
N. 13 years transpired between the time of his dream and the time of its fulfillment.
O. From the pit to the palace was a thirteen year wounding that taught Joseph that God was the only One Who could be counted on through the turbulence of life’s circumstances.
P. The wounds of foreign residence and false accusation brought a humbling to Joseph that would give him a sensitivity to the fears, needs, and hurts of others.
Q. The scar of humility would be a permanent reminder to him of his dependence on God to give him favor in what would have been a naturally hostile environment.
R. After his father died, his brothers who had done this thing to him, feared for their lives.
S. But Joseph had learned what it was to be at the mercy of those who held advantage over him.
T. In Genesis 50:21 we are given Joseph’s response to his brother’s fear of him.
U. He said, “Now, therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.”
V. The wound of humbling was now benefiting the very ones who had initiated the wound.
W. The beautiful scar of humility served as a permanent lighthouse in Joseph’s life to remind him that all people need mercy, provision, and comfort.
3. Job
A. Job was an outwardly righteous man; but a man whose personal experience with God was superficial.
B. While taking great care to do things according to the will of God, he had failed to get to know God in a deep personal relationship.
C. As you know, Satan requested of God, and was granted, the authority to afflict Job.
D. Job lost his family, his fortune, and his health; being afflicted with sore boils from the top of his head to the sole of his foot.
E. After a protracted time of intense suffering, for which he received no explanation from God, he was finally delivered.
F. His family, his fortune, and most likely his good complexion were gone forever.
G. Job suffered the wound of loss.
H. He had lost the relationships he counted most dear.
I. He had lost the wealth he had so enjoyed with his family.
J. He had lost the distinguished look of a man who was renown in the region.
K. In his wounding though, Job began to see deeper than the outward blessing of God, to the depth of seeing the Person of God.
L. The wound of loss brought a profound sadness and depression to Job’s life, insomuch that he cursed the day he was born, saying. “Let the day perish wherein I was born…” (Job 3:3)
M. The beautiful wound of loss though, pealed away the layers of superficiality, exposing the sensitive awareness of God’s Personal presence with him.
N. At the end Job would say, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.” (Job 42:5)
O. The beautiful scar of loss would serve as a reminder to Job that a superficial relationship with the Lord is just not adequate; that only the very Person of God can fulfill our greatest desires and quite our greatest fears.
4. Jesus
A. Acts 10:38 says, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
B. This man Jesus “…who went about doing good…” was a man who was misunderstood, a man who was disbelieved, a man who was hated, and a man who was rejected and finally put to death for crimes He had not committed.
C. His wound was egregious and unwarranted.
D. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
E. For “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his fiends.” (John 15:13)
F. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
G. Through His suffering and death Jesus was exalted above every name in heaven and earth.
H. Philippians 2:8 – 11 say:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I. The beautiful wound of rejection not only became His way to Personal exaltation; it also bought for us a glorious eternity that could have been purchased no other way, and by no other person.
J. The beautiful scars in His hands and feet and side are, like the song says, windows to His heart.
K. Oh, do you see through those beautiful scars the heart of love that so loved you that He gave his life that you might go free?
L. Do you see through those beautiful scars the limitless grace that makes Jesus’ forgiveness available to even the vilest offender?
M. Do you see through those beautiful scars the matchless opportunity to stand before God with a cleansed conscience; clean, as if you had never sinned; a child of the God of the universe, standing in the righteousness that Jesus alone can give you?
N. Oh beautiful scars that bought deliverance where deliverance did not exist!
In Summary:
1. In Jacob we see the scar of spiritual struggle.
2. In Joseph we see the scar of humility.
3. In Job we see the scar of loss.
4. In Jesus we see the scar of rejection.
Each man’s scar served as a reminder that the death of the former life had brought with it a glorious current and future life. The scars remind us that the wound brought healing and exaltation to their lives, and also advancement and healing for others.
Which scar represents the wounding you have suffered, or perhaps are even now suffering?
Please understand dear suffering one:
The Lord does kill: but He also makes alive!
The Lord does bring down to the grave: but He also bringeth up!
The Lord does make poor: but He also maketh rich!
The Lord does bring low: but He also lifeth up!
Though God’s wounding is severe; and the time of His wounding is long; it is not forever, and along with the wounding comes the healing of it. Then, there remains a beautiful scar, a permanent mark, reminding you that He has touched your life in a way that has lifted you higher than you would ever have risen without His touch.
“Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees;” “And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” (Hebrews 12:12)
Ohhh beautiful scar; that mark of distinction; that dividing line; dividing between the life that was and the life that now is!
