NARNIA – WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU By Ron Hutchcraft Disney knows how to tell a story. C. S. Lewis knew how to write a story. Put the two together and you have a much-talked about movie event called Narnia. Inside this magic land where the animals talk, where the White Witch rules without mercy, where the ultimate battle is decided by the majestic lion-king, Aslan, there is reality that can change a life forever. Maybe even yours. You can watch the movie and simply see an inspiring tale of loyalty, self-sacrifice and the victory of good over evil. Or, you can see the greater Story behind the story – the one that transformed the brilliant spiritual skeptic who created Narnia. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first of seven of Lewis’ much-loved Chronicles of Narnia. In it, he unfolds the story of four British children who discover a passageway to another world through the back of an old wardrobe. They discover a wintry land where the White Witch “has got all Narnia under her thumb. It is she who makes it always winter. Always winter and never Christmas.” Those who dare to defy her heartless rule in any way are turned into stone. There seems to be no hope. Until Lucy, the first child to discover Narnia, learns that hope is five words, spoken by one of the animals: “Aslan is on the move.” Aslan is a lion, “the Lion, the Great Lion . . . the king of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea.” It is Lucy’s brother, Edmund, who sets the stage for the events that rock Narnia – and in which you and I can discover an ancient truth that has rocked millions of lives. Deceived by the White Witch, Edmund betrays his own family and unknowingly breaks a sacred law of Narnia. The White Witch announces the awful consequences: “Every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and for every treachery I have a right to kill.” Edmund is sentenced to death on the Table of Stone, the spiritual center of Narnia. What happens next is the real Story – the death of one who is totally innocent in the place of the one who is totally guilty. It is no one less than Aslan himself who is brutally killed on the Table of Stone. He appeals to a higher law, unknown to the evil ruler – “ a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead.” And Edmund, the one who should have died, goes free. And that’s where the story of Narnia becomes my story and your story. Because, in our real world, we’re all “Edmund.” We have chosen a way that ends in an awful death penalty – and our only hope is the King who died in our place. The Bible, the world’s all-time best-selling book, tells about the darkness and sin that has seduced each of us as the White Witch deceived a child in Narnia. We think we will be happiest if we do what we want with our lives – which invariably ends up defying g what God wants. So, in the Bible’s words, “All of us…have left God’s paths to follow our own . . . all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23). God said to only tell the truth – we’ve told so many lies; He said to not hurt people - we’ve left a lot of scars; God said to keep our mind and body pure – there’s been a lot that’s dirty; He commanded us to put Him first – we’ve pushed Him to the margins of our life. It’s not the rules of some religion we’ve violated. We’ve violated God Himself! And with sin staining our soul, we cannot experience God’s presence – which mean s we live without His love – which we were made for…without His meaning – which we were made for…and ultimately without His Heaven for all eternity. Like Narnia, our lives are “always winter but never Christmas.” Life has been too cold, too dark – in spite of our repeated attempts to give it meaning with a relationship, an accomplishment, a religion, an experience. The “Christmas” we’ve looked for our whole lives never seems to come. That’s because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). We are cut off from the One we were made by and made for. And when we take our last breath, we face the horrific prospect of the hell of being cut off from God forever. As Edmund faces certain death at Narnia’s Table of Stone, his sister cries to Aslan, “Can anything be done to save Edmund?” “All shall be done,” said Aslan. “But it may be harder than you think.” And Aslan, the great king, is laid on the Table of Stone where he is savagely put to death. He gives up his life for one who deserves only to die. That’s what Jesus did for me. It’s what He did for you. Not on a Table of Stone, but on a Cross of Wood. That cross is the spiritual center of the staggering Plan of God to save one who deserves to die for what they have done. Me. You. In God’s own words, “This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (I John 4:10). The fantasy of Aslan’s sacrifice for a “son of Adam” is deeply moving. The reality of the sacrifice of the Son of God for me, for you, is overwhelming beyond words. “He loved me and gave Himself for me!” (Galatians 2:20). Aslan did not stay dead. And neither did Jesus. The Table of Stone “was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan.” Three days after His horrible death on the cross, Jesus’ friends found the stone that sealed His grave rolled away – “and there was no Jesus.” He was alive! And He’s alive today. A front page feature in USA Today led with this headline next to a drawing of Aslan – “Is that lion the King of kings?” Yes, he is. The question on which your eternity depends is this: Is the King of kings your king? He truly is your only hope. Because no one else paid your death penalty with God. No one else could. It had to be someone with no sin of his own to pay for. That could only be the Son of God. His death in your place will not save you unless and until you grab Him as a dying person would grab a rescuer. He desperately wants you to be with Him, now and forever. But He won’t make you belong to Him. You’ll have to choose that. And He’s offering you that opportunity this day. You aren’t guaranteed any other day but this one. This can be the day you bow before the King who died for you and say, “Jesus, I have been doing my life my way. I’ve broken Your laws, I’ve defied Your right to rule what You have made. But I’m done with that now. I know You are my only hope because You alone died to pay for my sin. Today, I turn from my sin to put all my trust in You to be my Rescuer from my sin.” You woke up this morning condemned to die for your sin. You can go to sleep tonight clean…forgiven…and forever free from the awful penalty for your sin. That penalty has been paid. By a king. By the King. When the eternal question was, “Can anything be done to save this one who deserves to die?,” Jesus said, “All shall be done.” And He carried a cross up a hill and died there for you. ALWAYS WINTER, NEVER CHRISTMAS “The White Witch has got all Narnia … she makes it always winter and never Christmas.” “Always winter and never Christmas”– that describes the bleakness of too many of our lives. In the Bible’s words, “11† Therefore, remember ... 12*† were at that time without Christ, alienated from the community of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. ” (Ephesians 2, 11-12). We keep hoping that the winter of our loneliness will eventually become the “Christmas” of an “un-loseable” love (agape) … that our search for life’s meaning will somehow answer the question, “Why am I here?” But our “Christmas” never comes. The longer we live, the more it seems like things will never change – and that’s hopelessness. We are “without hope”, because we are “without God.” The Lion King, Aslan, ended Narnia’s long winter – just as the coming of Jesus ended the long, cold darkness in the lives of millions. The Bible says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13). He died so we could have life. The day you tell Him, “Jesus, I’m Yours,” is the day your winter can end. HE ISN’T SAFE – BUT HE’S GOOD! When the children first hear about Narnia’s Lion-King, Aslan, they ask if he’s safe. The answer? “Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king, I tell you.” Aslan represents Jesus Christ in Narnia – the one the Bible calls “ ... the King of kings and Lord of lords.” (1 Timothy 6, 15b) And “He isn’t safe. But He’s good.” And you’re not safe until He’s your king. His invitation then is His invitation now – “Follow Me.” Not a religion or a rulebook, but HIM. It isn’t what you do with Christianity that decides your destiny – it’s what you do with Christ because of what He did for you. The Bible says, “yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me. ” (Galatians 2, 20). In Narnia, it is the Lion-King’s sacrifice that pays for the sin of another. That’s what Jesus did for you when He died on the cross. And He doesn’t ride – He drives … to take your life where He created it to be. THE HIGH COST OF GOING FREE “Can anything be done to save Edmund?” Lucy asks Narnia’s Lion-King, Aslan. Her brother is sentenced to die for what he has done wrong. “'All shall be done,’ said Aslan. ‘But it may be harder than you think.’” And the King died in Edmund’s place. We are all “Edmund.” We have all run our own life and broken God’s laws – and, in the Bible’s words, “But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6, 22-23). Can anything be done to save us from a life and an eternity without God? Jesus, the One Aslan was created to represent, carried a cross up a hill one day and said, “All shall be done.” And it was. For you. As the Bible says, “But He was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, upon Him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by His stripes we were healed.” (Isaiah 53, 5). That’s how much He loves you. That’s how much He doesn’t want to lose you. You receive what He died to give you the moment you pin all your hopes on Him. A BROKEN TABLE, A CONQUERING KING It’s an amazing image from the story of Narnia - “The rising of the sun made everything look so different … the Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack . . . and there was no Aslan.” Aslan, the great Lion-King, had just been put to death on that Stone Table – the substitute for one who was supposed to die for his sins. Aslan had been “the willing victim who had committed no treachery (who) was killed in a traitor’s stead.” Here are the Bible’s words describing how Jesus was killed in your stead – “He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” (I Peter 2, 24-25). Every sin you have ever committed or will commit is paid for in full by Jesus’ death. But like the Lion-King who represents Christ, death could not hold Him! Jesus defeated death when He walked out of His grave – and now He is ready to walk into your life with eternal life. DEATH WORKING BACKWARDS The wicked witch of Narnia appeals to the “Dark Magic from the Dawn of Time” that makes every traitor hers to kill. Aslan, the Lion-King, lays down his life to save the one who deserves to die. But his friends find the Stone Table where he died cracked in two. Aslan, the Christ-figure of Narnia, reveals a “Magic from Before the Dawn of Time,” predicting that the “table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards.” What a picture of what Jesus has done for you and me! The Bible says “Now since the children share in blood and flesh, He likewise shared in them, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life.” (Hebrews 2, 14-15). Jesus shattered death’s power by dying for ALL our sins and then walking out of His grave. If you belong to Him, death is “working backwards” – all death can do is send you home to heaven! ASLAN IS ON THE MOVE! The land of Narnia has endured endless winter because evil has ruled so long. But hope comes in this five-word announcement – “Aslan is on the move.” This Lion-King of Narnia, the Christ-figure of the story, is about to unleash his power and change everything. That may be exactly what’s going on in your life right now. There’s been a stirring in your heart recently – and you are tired of the spiritual winter that has left you empty inside. Jesus is on the move. The Bible says “... all things were created through him and for him ...” (Colossians 1, 16). Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with Me. I will give the victor the right to sit with Me on My throne, as I Myself first won the victory and sit with My Father on His throne. Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3, 20-22). His move in your direction started a long time ago – when He died on the cross to pay the death penalty for your sins. He’s ready to move into your life, forgive your sins and lead you into your created purpose. Jesus is on the move in your life – but it’s your move now. If you want to open that door and get started with Him, drop us a line and tell us how to contact you. NARNIA – WHAT’S IN IT FOR SOMEONE YOU LOVE The Disney film Narnia is far more than a movie. It’s a unique spiritual opportunity for anyone who belongs to Jesus Christ – and who knows someone who doesn’t. Last Friday’s front page USA Today headline was amazing. It featured a drawing of Aslan, the lion-king who is the Christ-figure of Narnia, and it asked this question: “Is that lion the King of kings?” “America’s newspaper” was asking that question! And the answer is yes! C. S. Lewis, the creator of the much-beloved Chronicles of Narnia, was a dedicated spiritual skeptic who, later in life, discovered what Jesus did on the cross was for him. He knew there were many people who didn’t understand that life-saving message. People who might never understand it if it came in a traditional religious package. His hope for the Chronicles of Narnia was that “casting all these things into an imaginary world, stripping them of their stained-glass and Sunday school associations…one could make them for the first appear in their potency.” Thus, he created his moving story of four children who wander into a land where it is “always winter, never Christmas” because of the rule of an evil witch…of one of those children who ends up condemned to death for his crimes…and of Aslan, the king who gives his life as a substitute for the one who deserved to die. But death cannot hold the king. He rises from the dead. Edmund, the guilty, condemned child, goes free. Those who have been turned to stone come back to life. And Aslan builds from them an army to crush the forces of darkness. We are all “Edmund,” the one who deserves to die for our sin. The one whose only hope is the King who died in our place. This movie provides you what may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tell someone you know about what Jesus did for you…and for them. It’s Disney. It’s a cultural event. It’s not religious. It’s a great opportunity for you to help a person you care about see the love of Jesus for them. Ask God to lay on your heart those He would like for you to invite to see Narnia with you. If possible, buy tickets for them. Don’t just make it a movie; make it a movie followed by dessert or pizza at your house. Pray much for the conversation there. Ask them what they saw and felt during the movie. And take that opportunity to tell them that you are “Edmund” – that the scene depicting the King’s sacrifice moved you deeply because it brought you back to the cross where the King of kings died for you. And for them. Ultimately, it’s not about taking them to a movie. It’s about taking them to heaven with you. That person you love? Their winter” can finally end. Their “Christmas” can begin. |
