Snowflakes in a Delightful World

“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.