“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the
sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”
C.S. Lewis wrote this in my lifelong
favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I cannot tell you
how many times I have read this book, and until recently, I thought I knew
everything about it and understood all of the symbols. The Chronicles of
Narnia serve as an amazing connection of Christianity and fantasy that help
children of all ages better understand and know God by linking together
imagination and faith.
Mr. Curtis Petrey mentioned in his
sermon on April 14, 2013 the world is currently dominated by Satan, but it will
one day be reclaimed by Jesus Christ. My random brain immediately associated
this with the evil White Witch's "always winter" control on Narnia
until she is defeated by Aslan the lion, who represents Jesus Christ. Then it
“clicked.” Satan's hold over the world is just as obvious as the snow covered,
desolated land of Narnia, but we turn a blind eye to it. War, idolatry (putting
anything above God), hatred, jealousy, murder, ungodly marriages, greed, sexual
immorality, violence, lying, even laziness and gossiping: all of these are
snowflakes of sin covering the world today. Because of sin, the world is frozen
and full of darkness, but there is hope in Christ.
Turkish Delight
I can remember thinking as a child
about Edmund and his betrayal of his family and the good creatures of Narnia.
How can someone do that to his family without even realizing what he was doing?
Why did he not recognize that the White Witch was evil and manipulative? Why
was he so fascinated by the Turkish Delight? What the heck is Turkish Delight
anyways? Now, I realize how easy it is to sin without fully understanding that
it is a sin. Sometimes, we sin with good intentions, but good intentions do not
make it less of a sin. Sometimes, like in Edmund’s case, we sin because we
crave something so intensely that we are blinded to how many people we hurt and
how many sins we commit along the way. Every little white lie, every evil
thought, every snowflake of sin, is a betrayal of God because He is holy and
perfect. It is impossible for holiness
and sinfulness to exist together. The White Witch does not appear to be evil to
Edmund because she gives him all of his heart’s desires by offering him food
and power. Satan does not materialize out of nowhere with horns and a pitchfork
telling us to sin. Just as he tempted Eve with some fruit, he tempts us using
curiosity, ambition, and lust. Our downfall is disguised by our desires. Satan
manipulates us as the White Witch did Edmund. The tricky thing with
manipulation is that the manipulated does not see that the manipulator is
manipulating until the manipulation is over. By this point, the consequences
are looking at you directly in the eye, and the shame and guilt are taking over
your mind and your stomach. Satan gives us what we want, but then we later
realize that the desire is not wished for at all and that the result is not
worth it.
The White Witch uses Turkish Delight
and power because that is what Edmund craved more than anything. Edmund did not
like being a younger brother. He wanted to be the one in charge of everyone
else for a change. Satan will use the things we yearn for the most to become an
idol, which is a Biblical “no-no” according to the second of the Ten
Commandments. When I think of idols, I think of gold statues worshipped by
other religions, but that is not always the case. When I was in college at a
Phi Mu Bible study, my Big explained to me that idols are anything we put above
God. The worst part is that idols are not always necessarily “bad things.”
Family, friends, work, school, hobbies, Facebook, and football are all
wonderful, fun things we get to enjoy in life, but when these things become
more important to us than our relationship with God, they become sinful. The
snowflake of idolatry is one that will snowball rapidly. We should be careful
day-to-day to make sure that our priorities are lined up correctly. All we have
to do to check them is to ask JOY. JOY says that our priorities should be Jesus,
Others, then Yourself. Only when our priorities are JOYful will
our lives be joy-filled. We cannot let our own Turkish Delight become our
number one priority. And just for the record, Turkish Delight is almost like
Jell-o covered in powdered sugar. Personally, I think Edmund should have asked
for something chocolate, but that’s just my opinion.
What’s in a Name?
“At the name of Aslan each one of the
children felt something jump in his inside.” The name of Aslan, like the name
of Jesus, either strengthens courage or intensifies fear. For the good
creatures of Narnia, the name of Aslan gives them hope that the White Witch’s
wintry reign will one day come to an end. However, for the White Witch herself,
along with her followers, the name of Aslan brings anxiety and terror. As
Christians, we should proclaim the name of Jesus every day and every chance.
Let His name and His Word do the talking. Just His name can make an enormous
difference in the world. Share His name! Share His story! Share His love!
Christmas and Commandments
We do have something special that the
Narnians did not have under the Witch’s reign. Unlike the discouraged, dismal
Narnia, where it is always winter and never Christmas, we can celebrate the
birth, the life, and the resurrection of our Lord every day that we live. We
get caught up in the Christmas presents and the Easter Eggs, but we forget the
reasons behind the merriment. Learn from the Narnians, and do not take
advantage of the freedom we have to celebrate. Learn from Ebenezer Scrooge, and
keep Christmas in your heart throughout the year. Learn from an American
Founding Father, and acknowledge more than the holidays. Benjamin Franklin
said, “How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, his precepts! O! 'tis
easier to keep holidays than commandments.” Jesus was born because His purpose
was to die a terrible death on a cross for the sins that we committed. This is
the reason we can celebrate Christmas and Easter. He sacrificed Himself out of
love, and we are supposed to return His love. John 14:15 says, “If you love me,
keep my commandments.” If we love God, we have to turn from sin. Ask Him to
replace your sin with obedience, your pride with humbleness, and your fear with
joy. Remember the celebrations and the commandments. This is true love.
Lovingly, Willingly, Obediently.
Speaking of true love, there is one
thing I have always been puzzled by in the sacrifice of both Jesus and Aslan:
the willingness to die for the underserving. Like the disciples praying that
Jesus would come down from the cross and display His glory and power, Lucy and
Susan beg Aslan to fight the monsters and the Witch from tormenting Him. Both
Jesus and Aslan had the ability to stop their death. Why didn’t they? One word:
love. Without the loving, willing sacrifice, we would not have eternal life
with our Father. Now, let me make one point very clear. Jesus is the Son of
God. Aslan is the King of Narnia. They had the option of saying, “No, I don’t
want to do this.” I can think of a few good reasons why they would not want to
die a traitor’s death. The pain, the agony, the death, or simply just the
innocence of them both are reasons enough. What about us? What about us
deserves this love? Against all logic, they both willingly and lovingly gave up
their lives in the place of those who deserved it. Jesus did not use His power
for His use, but instead, He gave us the ultimate example of obedience. His
Father asked Him to die on a cross, and even though it scared Him so much that
He was sweating drops of blood, He let the Father’s will be done instead of
refusing. Read the following verse about our Lord’s obedience.
“In your relationships with one
another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being
made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled
himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:5-8
A perfect, sinless, sacrifice had to
be made to pay the price for our sins. The White Witch announces to the
Narnians that Edmund, because he is a traitor, belongs to her or the land of
Narnia would be destroyed. “His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my
property... unless I have blood as the Law says all Narnia will be overturned
and perish in fire and water.” Likewise, we as sinners belong to Satan. We
belong in Hell with the wailing, the knashing of teeth, and the eternal
damnation the Bible speaks of. Try to picture it if we measured our sins in
snowflakes. It would not be a Winter Wonderland that we dream about around
Christmas time; it would be a cold, dead, barren wasteland. Thankfully, Edmund
has a Lion, and we have a Lord to bring the warmth of hope to the world.
A Cracked Table, A Torn Veil, and a
Risen Lord
After Aslan’s horrific death and
terrific resurrection, He explains to Lucy and Susan, “When a willing victim
who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead the Table would
crack and Death itself would start working backward." A sinless Aslan
willingly gives His life for a sinful Edmund just like a perfect Jesus gave His
life for an imperfect people. The Stone Table cracking represents the ending of
all the old, severe laws in the Old Testament just at the veil in the temple
was torn after Jesus’ crucifixion. Read what Paul writes in Romans about Jesus’
sacrifice for our sins:
“Therefore, there is now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus
the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what
the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God
did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.
And so he condemned sin in sinful man.” Romans 8:1-3
When Jesus died on the cross, He went
to Hell and through Hell. (Just ask Dante.) Because of Jesus Christ and His
willingness to die for us, we can spend eternity with our Father in Heaven.
“There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” This is one of
the most beautiful, most assuring promises in the entire Bible. We are safe in
His arms! And when God makes a promise, we can bank on it. “Because through
Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and
death.” Jesus paid our price, and the law of sin and death do not have power
over us any longer. Jesus outranks sin and sin’s laws. Now, God condemns the
sin, not the sinner. He melts the cold, snow-filled, sinful heart and warmly
embraces us into His family.
In conclusion, it might be a cold,
sinful world we live in, but we have the hope in the promise that one day Jesus
will return. Winter will melt away. Satan will be defeated. And we will have a
spring so glorious that words will not be able to describe it. By creatively
using the magical land of Narnia, C.S. Lewis brilliantly enlightens us on the
power of temptation, the love of a Savior, and the hope in His return. All the
snowflakes will melt, and our delight will be fully in our Savior and not in
worldly things, including chocolate.
