A Deeper Magic
Ephesians 1:4
Introduction: Changing The Rules
In the movie Superman 2 Superman and Lois Lane decided that they’re in love, so Superman chooses to give up his super powers in order to marry Lois Lane. He is warned in advance that if he surrenders his powers he can never have them back. Still, he chooses to surrender his powers and become just ordinary Clark Kent. Shortly afterwards, he discovers that three evil super-villains have taken control of the Whitehouse and are attempting to establish themselves as rulers of planet earth. Now, more than ever, the world needs Superman--but it’s too late!
A dejected Clark Kent hikes through a raging blizzard back to Superman’s fortress of solitude. Now, it is in ruins. As Clark Kent walks through the rubble, he cries out loud, "Father, I have failed."
All of a sudden the scene changes to Metropolis. The super-villains are wreaking havoc and terrorizing the townspeople, and then, the music starts. Suddenly, up in the sky--it’s a bird--it’s a plane—no it’s Superman! Somehow, someway he regained his superpowers and he is back.
And we all know that the movie ends with Superman defeating the villains and winning the fight for truth, justice and the American way. (Whatever that is?)
A. The writers of this film put themselves in quite a bind: They established a rule that if Superman surrenders his powers he can never get them back.
1. Then, he surrendered his super powers. If the writers had stuck to the rule, the movie would have ended there.
2. But the writers took some liberties: They changed the rules in the middle of the story in order to get Superman off the hook.
B. If you read the Bible you might think that is exactly what God did.
In the book of Genesis God tells Adam in (2:16,17) And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
2. And yet we know that Adam and Eve did eat the fruit of that tree and though death did come, God seemed to renege on his promise and made concessions, providing an ”escape” from the consequences as it were, a pardon through Jesus Christ.
C. We are ending today a three part series on the Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
1. And as we look at this story we find many parallels to the Biblical account of the fall of man and the redemption God provides us through Jesus Christ.
I. So lets go back and review the book for a moment.
A. The Pevensie children Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy first find their way into that magical world.
1. And when we look at the four children it is very evident which of these children we find the most reprehensible. Edmund.
(Now I really like what the opening of the movie where we see the bombs dropping and the interaction between Peter and Edmund. I think it allows us to see that there might have been reasons for Edmunds behavior beyond just being a nasty person. That is not exactly the reason Lewis gives but nonetheless before we are too judgmental it is always good to walk in the shoes…)
He treats little Lucy awful, he lies about Narnia in the first place, and he chooses the wrong side! He becomes a betrayer of his own family; he rebels against all that is pure and right. He is in a word… a brat.
Did you ever have a brother or sister or perhaps a schoolmate who was like that? Perhaps someone you work with today?
2. This guy turns your stomach.
Until you realize that there is a little bit of Edmund in all of us. In fact there is a lot of Edmund in all of us.
3. Left to our natural selves, our natural bent, we are repulsive, betraying little rebels going against everything that is pure and right.
When I first started in the ministry in Lowland N.C. I was still single and I ate a lot of meals at the Lowland Café. For some reason I have always drank a lot with my meals. Ms Hope got tired of refilling my ice tea so she got me this huge glass. She would say, “Scott, I swear it’s a good thing you don’t drink beer or you’d be an alcoholic.” And she might have been right.”
But you know, if Christ was not a factor in my life there is no telling what I would be, a conman, a thief, a rapist, a murderer because I find that I have a natural bent to do the things that are selfish and self satisfying and left unchecked by Christ that is what leads to those horrible crimes.
4. Now Edmund meets the White Witch and her Turkish delight on his first trip to Narnia and with his natural tendencies he was sunk long before he ever ran into Aslan.
I. You see Edmund represents the natural man.
This is what every one of us are if left to ourselves
A. God created the world and when he did he pronounced it to be good.
1. But the sad truth is since the very beginning men and women have rejected God’s authority and denied his commands by doing things their own way.
Some of us are better at suppressing or hiding it than others, perhaps circumstances in our lives have been more favorable?
But the Bible puts it this way in Romans 1:21, 22 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
2. And we all do this. We don’t like someone telling us what to do or how to live- least of all God- and so we rebel against him in lots of ways.
You might not stand and shake your puny fist at him but you might just go on doing what you want to do because you prefer your own desires, you prefer to run things your won way without God.
3. This is what the Bible calls sin. And Romans goes on to tell us in Romans 3:23 There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
B. The trouble is, in rejecting God we make a mess not only of our own lives, but also of our society and the world.
1. Basically we are all like Edmund, people bent on doing what pleases them.
We want our Turkish delight. Which by the way in the book is simply a sweet chewy candy. In reality it can be anything that tempts us, that one thing weakens our will anytime we are confronted with it. I don’t know what it is for you, I know what it is for me, Blackberry Pie. I know that I don’t need it but every time I see one in the grocery store I begin a battle within myself about buying it.
How easily we are tempted and lulled over to evil by the temporary pleasures.
Titus 3:3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.
It is important to realize that the White Witch did not force Edmund to eat the Turkish delight or to leave his friends. Edmund did so out of his own desires within him.
Likewise Satan will never make you do anything; he can’t force you to sin.
We all want to be little kings or queens sitting on our thrones with our crowns. We choose enchanted Turkish delight as Edmund did, over our families and friends, over what is pure and right.
2. The result is misery. The suffering and injustice we see all around us all go back to our basic rebellion against God. We have all been affected by it; we all have been hurt by it.
3. It is our sin that separates us from God.
The prophet Isaiah wrote 59:2 “Your sins have made a separation between you and God.”
Do you remember when Mr. Beaver tells the children about Aslan they all feel something jump inside them? Peter feels brave and valiant and Susan feels beauty and Lucy like she just woke up from a beautiful dream, but Edmund… Edmund is filled with a mysterious horror. And is found asking questions about how to get rid of Aslan or asking who can destroy him the rest of the night until he finally disappears seeking out more enchantments from the Witch.
4. Edmund is really separated from Aslan even before he hears about him.
And that is how it works with you and me. No tale from a faun or from a beaver can keep us from sinning, we all start out wrong.
The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3:23 “All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” We start out on the wrong side, and we need to find ourselves on the right side before it’s too late.
Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 those who do not know God...will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord.”
D. There comes a time when we grow weary of our sin.
1. This happened to Edmund. Once he left the Beaver Hut and found his way to the Witch’s castle. He thought that now he could enjoy the pleasures of Turkish delight.
2. He is in for a rude awakening. The Witch wants him as nothing more than bait to lure the others into her grasp. Insteaf of candy he is given dry bread and water.
3. He soon finds himself bound and wet and cold. Edmunds misery knows no bounds. He is appalled at the witch’s cruelty.
4. And so he is beginning to learn a little about himself until finally Edmund has an awakening of sorts.
They come across a family of squirrels and other creatures celebrating the coming of Christmas, this of course infuriates the Queen and she turns them to stone. For the first time, Lewis notes in his narrative “Edmunds feels sorry for someone other than himself.
Paul wrote to in his second letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 2:25-27) Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
Edmund was at last on the right road in his heart but there was still a large wall between him and salvation. He is still enslaved by his sin. Edmund has become aware of his sinful condition and that is a start.
Because there is another factor in this drama… The Deep Magic.
II. The Deep Magic represents the Law.
Knowing that her power is weakening the witch decides that if she kills Edmund the prophecy of four thrones being sat upon by the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve cannot be fulfilled. But just as she is about to do the deed, Edmund is rescued by a troop of Narnian creatures and brought to Aslan. (What a picture of evangelism.)
Edmund is repentant and a changed person but he is not out of the woods yet there is still the matter of the Deep Magic.
A. The Bible teaches us that it is the Law that condemns us.
James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
I John 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
1. The Law like the Deep Magic was written at the beginning of time.
2. When we think of the Law primarily we think of the Ten Commandments and that is the formal written law but the law goes further back than that it was there from the beginning.
Gen 2:17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
Before Cain killed his brother Abel God talked to him in Genesis 4:6-7 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
3. All through the book of Genesis before the Law was given we see that there was knowledge of right and wrong that God had written upon the hearts of mankind.
B. And there is a payment that is due because of sin.
Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death.”
In the Chronicles the White Witch claims that because Edmund is a traitor (isn’t it amazing that she tricks him into betraying his brother and sisters and then uses it against him) that according to the Deep Magic every traitor belongs to her and every treachery entitles her to a kill.
1. The Deep Magic is an irrevocable law. Sinners in Narnia belong to the witch just as sinners in our world belong to Satan.
I John 3:8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
2. It seems like a harsh reality, but if you think about it, our old rebellious, repulsive lives deserve death and judgment.
Susan asks Aslan if he can do something to work against the Deep Magic. Aslan becomes fierce and says “What work against the Emperor’s Magic.
No the Deep Magic and the law are irrevocable because they express the character of God.
Gene Vieth in his Book “The Soul of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” brings up an interesting point here. He says that after Edmund leaves the Beaver’s house Lewis begins writing from Edmunds point of view and that forces us see things from Edmunds point of view and it reminds us we have done things similar to what Edmund has been doing without the amplification of the fantasy framework.
The same thing that Aslan offers for Edmund alone, God offers every human being who has ever lived on planet earth. But there is a cost.
III. The Deeper Magic represents God’s Eternal Grace.
But Aslan, the son of the great emperor beyond the sea makes an offer the White Witch could not refuse. And offer that is a mere echo of Jesus true offer to all mankind in the real world. Aslan offers a trade of lives.
He offers himself in exchange for the life of Edmund. Edmund is freed from his chains, reunited with his family, but Aslan, is led up to the ancient stone table, just as our Jesus was led up Golgotha with his heavy wooden cross. Aslan is tied down as Jesus was tied down, Aslan was pierced through by the Witch’s dagger, as Jesus was pierced on the Roman tree. The stone tabled cracked, the temple curtain was torn in two.
Aslan died for Edmund. Jesus died for the Edmund in you and me.
A. We know the Narnia story well, Aslan did not stay dead, he came back to life.
“But what does this all mean?” asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.
“It means,” said Aslan, “that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know of. Her knowledge goes only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. 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 backwards…”
And that’s how it worked in Narnia. Aslan’s sacrifice saved Aslan and actually saved all who under the witch’s spells were turned into stone. Death worked backwards as Aslan breathed life into the lifeless stone creatures.
1. But that is fantasy that echoes of truth. What is the truth in the world we live?
Ephesians 1:4 (NLT) “Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
2. God did not suddenly look down on earth and say things have gotten out of hand. He was not suddenly remorseful that through the law He was condemning everyone to Hell. He did not decide to change the rules.
B. His unchanging plan has always been to send his Son to pay the ransom for our sin.
1. This was Jesus game plan from before there was time. Seek and save the lost, bring them in adopt them.
2 Timothy 1:8-10 … the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
2. God had a plan all along to save us a Deeper Magic that Satan knew nothing about and it involved sending his own son into the world to become a man- Jesus of Nazareth.
Unlike us, Jesus didn’t rebel against God. Not even once. He lived daily under God’s rule. He always did what God said, and so he himself alone did not deserve death or punishment. Still Jesus did die. He had the power of God to heal the sick, walk on water, and raise the dead, but he allowed rebellious mankind to kill him on a cross.
Conclusion: Edmund ends up being a great king and wise ruler. And we can get there too, but it takes a life exchange to get there.
Jesus Christ died for us and rose again on the third day (seen by over 500 witnesses) so that we might live. Holy Scripture describes this wonderful news!
“...Now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.” (Romans 3:24-25 NLT)
“Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to God except through me.” (John 14:6)
This is great news, but it is not enough just to know about it. In fact it is not enough to even repent of your sin. You have to come face to face with Jesus and say, “I am wrong. You are right! I accept your gift for me.
That is a humbling experience. To know that it is your sin, your betrayal that lead to Jesus death but if you want to live with Jesus forever, if you want all that betrayal to be forgiven and washed away. That is what you have to do. You have to give yourself to grace
Jesus said “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39)
C.S. Lewis once wrote in his book “Mere Christianity” these thoughts…
Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the Devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? Is it that He is not strong enough? Well, Christian’s think He is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely. I do not suppose you and I would have thought much of a Frenchman who waited till the Allies were marching into Germany and then announced he was on our side. God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realize what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what good of saying you are on his side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else- something never entered your head to conceive- comes crashing in: something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will have been too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing; it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last forever. We must take it or leave it.
This is your life. Are you who you want to be? Are you ready to be adopted into the family of God? Are you ready to be accepted by the one who matters most? Then in response to Jesus laying his life down for you, lay down your life at his feet.
On the final page of the final book of C. S. Lewis’ work entitled The Chronicles of Narnia, some of the children who have been to Narnia lament that they once again must return to their homeland. But Aslan has the best news of all for the children. “[Aslan speaks to the children and says,] ‘You do not yet look so happy as I mean you to be.’ Lucy said, ‘We’re so afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back into our own world so often.’ ‘No fear of that,’ said Aslan. ‘Have you not guessed?’ Their hearts leaped and a wild hope rose within them. ‘There was a real railway accident,’ said Aslan softly. ‘Your father and mother and all of you are — as you used to call it in the Shadow-Lands — dead. The [school] term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream has ended; this is morning.’ And as he spoke he no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”
