A Dangerous Hero!
Aslan is on the move!
Of all the beasts in the animal kingdom, none has captured as grand a place in most people’s imagination as the lion. Even the scriptures use lions to portray very powerful images:
STRONG - "…What is stronger than a lion?" – Judges 14:18 NIV
COURAGEOUS - “…the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, …” 2 Samuel 17:10 NIV
FEROCIOUS - “…Like a lion they crouch and lie down, like a lioness - who dares to rouse them?” Numbers 24:9a NIV
STEALTH - Lamentations 3:10 – “…like a lion in hiding” NIV
“… like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.” Psalm 10:9 CEV
[thanks to David Sulcer for this intro, The Bearing of a Lion, sermoncentral.com]
Gene Veith says, “Lions … are also awe-inspiring. Their strength, their dignity, their ferocity fill us with wonder and admiration. These qualities are “kingly.” The animal itself evokes feelings that make it a worthy symbol for authority and majesty.” (Gene Veith, The Soul of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, p. 71.)
But, in our day, many have grown up having a slightly different picture of lions:
• Born Free – for me this 1960 book gave me a love for lions, but planted some ideas about lions that were rather different than the ferocious beasts they truly are.
• The Lion King – Hakuna Matata
But, make no mistake, Aslan is not a tame lion!
Aslan – the name comes from the Arabian Nights and is the Persian word for Lion.
The Bible itself uses the lion as a symbol for Christ
Revelation 5:5 - Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
So, when we look at the Chronicles of Narnia, we see in Aslan a picture of Christ. And in many ways, a rather accurate picture of him.
There are five characteristics of Christ that come out in the Narnia tales and particularly TLWW. The first is…
1. His expected coming is cause for HOPE
[Clip of the children speaking to Mr. Beaver – Aslan is on the move!]
In the early chapters of TLWW we hear this message repeated that “Aslan is on the move.” It is a message of hope. In the midst of a 100 year winter, this land that is always winter and never Christmas, the idea that “Aslan is on the move” is a statement of hope that things will not always remain the way that they are, even though this is all many have known for an entire lifetime.
The nation of Israel had gone 400 years of spiritual winter with no communication from God. But still the message burned hot in many hearts: The Messiah is coming!
Micah 5:2 (NASB) “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”
When we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate not only the advent of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, but we commemorate the long and hopeful wait of our spiritual forefathers.
In the same way, we as believers in this age live with the hope of our Savior’s second advent. We live in the light of His promised return when
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)
This verse is embodied in the 11the point of our doctrinal statement which says:
We believe in the personal premillennial and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and that this "Blessed Hope" has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.
… a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.
Hebrews 6:19 (NIV) [context: God will fulfill His promise] 19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
Titus 2:13 (NIV) 13while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
As believers in Jesus Christ we are called to live out this hope, holding fast to the anchor of our soul with the steadfast assurance that Jesus will keep His promise and return for His church. And in so living, we should live pure lives that are ready and prepared for his return.
2. He embodies a terrible GOODNESS
“I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh!” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” (LWW, pp. 79-80)
Imagine standing face to face with a full grown lion. Not the Hakuna Matata Simba – but a full grown, untamed lion. There would be a terror in the heart of anyone who faced such a prospect.
As the narrator in TLWW explains:
“People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time. If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now. For when they tried to look at Aslan’s face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn’t look at him and went all trembly.” (LWW, p. 126)
This is the same sort of reaction that people have when they are in the presence of God. Many people have strange ideas about what it would be like to stand before God. But Scripture is consistent in describing this experience.
Hebrews 10:31 (NASB) It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
This was the uniform response of those who stood before God.
And the same is true of Jesus in those moments when His Godhood shone the brightest. After calming the storm on the sea of Galilee, Mark’s gospel tells us:
Mark 4:41 - They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Lewis made sure to emphasize the terrible goodness of Aslan. But many today have lost this sense about God.
Gene Veith describes it this way: “Today we have domesticated God. People tend to imagine him as a kindly old man with a white beard. (Note that such a human picture of God is no less figurative and symbolic than Lewis’s lion.) [and I would add – much less accurate of a depiction.] ‘The God that I believe in,’ they say, ‘would never punish anyone.’ They assume that because God is benevolent and loving, he must be nice.” (Gene Veith, pp. 73-74.)
Veith goes on to say: “Jesus, in particular, has been sentimentalized. ‘Gentle, meed and mild’ has become a stereotype. … He has come to be thought of as so soft and benign that, to many people, he has become nonthreatening, someone they can mold to their own desires … It is true that Jesus is gentle, meek and mild; but he is also the man who threw out the money-changers, who castigated the Pharisees as whitewashed tombs, who will gird on his sword and come again in glory to overthrow the Antichrist and the Beast and to judge the living and the dead.” (Gene Veith, p. 74.)
HOLINESS
• Makes him a “consuming fire” (Heb 12:29
• Is why sinners cannot stand before him lest they be consumed
• Is why we must have a sinless mediator who covers us with sacrificial blood.
“The point is that God’s holiness means that he is dangerous. He is not safe. But his holiness also means that he is good. He is, indeed, loving; but he changes lives.” (Veith, p. 75.)
It is because of God’s holiness that he will never leave us the same as he finds us! But we’ll look at that more in a few moments.
3. The FRAGRANCE of His name
2 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV) 14But thanks be to God, who…through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
Even the name of Jesus has a pervasive power about it. Paul tells us that a day is coming when “every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” In 2 Corinthians 2:14 (see above) he compares the knowledge of Jesus to a fragrance… (pervasiveness)
In Narnia, just the mention of Aslan’s name has an impact on the children.
“And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different. Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone says something that you don’t understand but in the dream it feels is if it has some enormous meaning - either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream again.”
“It was like that now. At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.” TLWW, p. 67-68
In the same way, when we allow Jesus to have His proper place in our lives, the fragrance of Him begins to pervade our lives. What smell is on your life? Is it the fragrance of Jesus or the stench of sin and the world?
And this fragrance is more than just some sort of spiritual deodorant that covers up the stench, because…
4. His PRESENCE brings change
As we saw before, it is not Jesus’ desire to simply save us and then leave us the same. Whatever Jesus touches, changes. When you see the movie or read the book you will see the changes that come over Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy as their lives are touched by Aslan. You will see the coming of Spring and of Father Christmas that show the beginnings of change in Narnia because Aslan is on the move.
And those changes are more than mere window dressing. The coming of Spring and the accompanying thaw of the Witches 100 year winter causes her sledge to get stuck and allows the Beavers to get the children to Aslan before the Witches arrival.
Jesus brings real change to our lives as well.
1 John 3:8b (NIV) The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
Jesus wants to destroy the devil’s work in your life! He wants to change you from the inside out as Aslan does with Edmund and bring out the very best of who you are. That’s what Jesus does.
Lastly we see in Aslan and in Jesus that they are similar in their saving work. Mr. Beaver tells the children when they worry about Mr. Tumnus and their brother Edmund that they need to look to Aslan, because…
5. He must do the SAVING !
Colossians 1:19-20 (NIV) For God was pleased …through him to reconcile to himself all things…by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Aslan?" said Mr Beaver. "Why, don’t you know? He’s the King. He’s the Lord of the whole wood, but not often here, you understand. Never in my time or my father’s time. But the word has reached us that he has come back. He is in Narnia at this moment. He’ll settle the White Queen all right. It is he, not you, that will save Mr Tumnus."
“Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.” John 12:31 NIV
Ultimately The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a story about redemption. It is the story of God sending His Son to purchase us out of our slavery and condemnation to sin.
The Bible tells us:
Colossians 1:19-20 (NIV) For God was pleased …through him to reconcile to himself all things…by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
TLWW illustrates a very important principle:
PRESENT THE GOSPEL
GOSPEL SLIDE 1: Separation from God by our sin
GS2: Good News #1: Christ died for you. [Cancer illustration]
GS3: I would die in your place, I would die instead of you…
GS4: You can be saved through faith in Christ
GS5: But you may say…
GS6: Prayer doesn’t save you, trusting in Christ saves you. Prayer simply tells God what you are doing.
Invitation
