Encounter The Power: You Will Never Be The Same
Matthew 1:21; John 1:12
Intro…
The past two weeks we have been talking about Finding God in Narnia. This past Friday, December the 9th, the movie of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe opened in theaters everywhere. We encourage you to see this movie to witness to your friends about the true meaning of Narnia and Aslan.
We have looked at the themes of What If There Were No Christmas? And Discover The Wonder: He Is Closer Than You Might Think. Today we talk about Aslan and encountering the power of Jesus Christ to change our lives. This is the central theme of C.S. Lewis’s book and we need to understand it to be able to share it with our unchurched friends who miss the meaning of the movie. Let’s begin with…
I. Waiting…
The people of Israel were waiting for the Messiah to come. That hope had come from the prophecies of the Old Testament.
Isaiah 7:14 (NIV) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Micah 5:2 (NIV) "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
Jeremiah 23:5 (NIV) "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.
Yet that hope was dim. In fact, darkness might be the word. They seemed to be waiting in darkness. It is a time of oppression as God’s people were a conquered people. They were a beaten and defeated people. Under Roman rule they were persecuted and taxed…it was even the event of taxation that brought all of the central characters together for the birth of the Christ.
Now darkness is a metaphor. It symbolizes confusion, evil, uncertainty…
1. The People…despised God. (thought Him not worthy of their worship)… Read Malachi. They had broken the covenant. They had wearied God by offering less than their best. (blemished offerings, insincere worship, went thru the motions of religion—their lips praised Him but their hearts were far from Him.)
2. The Priests… had turned from the Way. Their teaching actually caused others to stumble.
3. The Prophets… Jeremiah 23:16-22 (NIV)
This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of
the LORD. 17They keep saying to those who despise me, ’The
LORD says: You will have peace.’ And to all who follow the
stubbornness of their hearts they say, ’No harm will come to you.’
18But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see
or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?
19See, the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath, a whirlwind
swirling down on the heads of the wicked. 20The anger of the
LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes
of his heart. In days to come you will understand it clearly. 21I did
not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I
did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. 22But if they had
stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to
my people and would have turned them from their evil ways and
from their evil deeds.
Ex. Of C.S. Lewis…The Land of Narnia was always winter and never Christmas. The Land was under the spell of the White Witch. 100 years of winter. And those not in cahoots with the White Witch were waiting for Aslan, the rightful King of Narnia to return.
II. Wondering…
Into all of this atmosphere, the baby Jesus is born. Luke 2:4-6 (NIV)
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
The angels were appearing, the shepherds were coming, and the Magi came, and Mary pondered all of these things in her heart.
What does this mean? Is He the one?
1. Simeon thought so. Luke 2:25-32 (NIV)
2. Anna thought so. Luke 2:36-38 (NIV)
3. He certainly had everyone else wondering too:
Mark 4:41 (NIV)…They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
Luke 7:49 (NIV) The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"
John 4:29 (NIV) "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
Ex. “They say that Aslan is on the move—perhaps has already landed.”
“Who is Aslan?” asked Susan. “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….
<<< <<< III. Winning… Matthew 1:21 (NIV) She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Have you ever wondered why Jesus came? 1. To give us a good example? 2. To be a good teacher? 3. To show us God’s love? 4. Matthew 1:21 (NIV) She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Sin…we don’t like to talk about it, do we? I mean, here it is Christmas time—I’m feeling great, the tree is up, gifts are being bought, food aplenty, parties, good will is abounding everywhere, and now you have to go and bring up SIN. Well, sin is the very reason we have Christmas! We celebrate that God did something about the sin problem and it now no longer needs to be a problem… We have eaten “Edmund’s Turkish delight”. This was a candy that the White Witch gave to the little boy Edmund to betray his friends. << Jesus has come to free us that inner curse that has us wrecking our lives and those around us… Jesus is so much more than a baby in a manger. He came as a suffering Savior who has come and died on our behalf—in our place—to save us from our sins. It is indeed a war that He won against Satan our enemy who would destroy us… Col. 2:13-15 (MsgB) When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, 14the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s Cross. 15He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets. Ex. Movie clip of Aslan being slain and coming alive again. Ex. “She would have known that 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.” IV. Welcoming Him In… John 1:12 (NIV) Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— There is one final step… we must welcome Him into our lives. We must receive Him, to experience the forgiveness of sins…It is when we repent and give ourselves unreservedly to the Lordship of Jesus that “Joy To The World” really becomes understandable and why it is a real joy all year round. Ex. Of Aslan and Edmund having a talk…a conversation that Edmund never forgot. Aslan presented Edmund to the others saying “Here is your brother and there is no need to talk to him about what is past”. When you Encounter The Power, You will Never Be The Same.
