Encounter the Power
Isaiah 9:6 (The Message)
For a child has been born—for us!
the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over the running of the world.
His names will be:
Amazing Counselor,
Strong God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Wholeness.
Intoduction:
In The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, the children first hear about Aslan from Mr. Beaver. Susan asks if he is a man.
"Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. 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 then 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."
C. S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, pp. 75,76.
Amos 3:8 (NLT)
The lion has roared—tremble in fear! The Sovereign Lord has spoken—I dare not refuse to proclaim his message!
“You defend God like you defend a lion-you get out of his way.”
Bill McNabb, "Wittenburg Door" (June/July 1988)
What does the Scripture tell us about this Lion
1. Amazing Counselor
“The dogma we find so dull--this terrifying drama of which God is the victim and hero--if this is dull, then what, in Heaven’s name, is worthy to be called exciting? The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused him of being a bore--on the contrary, they thought him too dynamic to be safe.
“It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him "meek and mild," and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies. Those who knew him, however ... objected to him as a dangerous firebrand.”
Dorothy L. Sayers, quoted in Dorothy Sayers: A Careless Rage for Life, by David Coomes. Christianity Today, Vol. 37, no. 9.
2. Strong God
In the Peanuts gallery of characters both Linus and Lucy are characters of some potency. But Linus is one of those who’ll fool you, since he drags that silly blanket around and still sucks his thumb. One day Charlie Brown brings up the subject of Linus’ blanket and his thumb sucking. He says to Linus "If I were you, I’d be afraid of what the kids in school would say about that blanket."
Linus extricates his thumb from his mouth long enough to respond by asking casually, "Do you have a nickel? Toss it in the air."
Charlie Brown pulls out a nickel, flips it in the air and suddenly Linus’ blanket becomes a lethal weapon that he snaps out like a rocket and hits the nickel dead center with a resounding "WHACK" and knocks the nickel out of sight.
In the last frame, Linus is shown leaving a shagrinned Charlie Brown with the tossed-over-the-shoulder remark, "They don’t say very much!"
NEWBORN BABE What a paradox that a babe in a manger should be called "mighty"! Yet even as a baby, Jesus Christ revealed power. His birth affected the heavens as that star appeared. The star affected the Magi, and they left their homes and made that long journey to Jerusalem. Their announcement shook King Herod and his court. Jesus’ birth brought angles from heaven and simple shepherds from their flocks on the hillside. Midnight became midday as the glory of the Lord appeared to men. -Warren W. Wiersbe in "His Name is Wonderful". Christianity Today-Vol. 30, #18.
3. Eternal Father
Literally “Father of Eternity”
Compare that with “father of lies” – satan, John 8:44
4. Prince of Wholeness
He is our all in all. The One who makes us complete.
All we could ever imagine, could ever hope for, He is. ... He is the Prince of Peace whose first coming has already transformed society but whose second coming will forever establish justice and righteousness. All this, and infinitely more, alive in an impoverished baby in a barn.
That is what Christmas means--to find in a place where you would least expect to find anything you want, everything you could ever want.
Michael Card in The Promise. Christianity Today, Vol. 37, no. 15.
Conclusion:
But amid all these rejoicings Aslan himself quietly slipped away. And when the Kings and Queens noticed that he wasn’t there they said nothing about it. For Mr. Beaver had warned them, “He’ll be coming and going,” he had said. “One day you’ll see him and another you won’t. He doesn’t like being tied down – and of course he has other countries to attend to. It’s quite all right. He’ll often drop in. Only you mustn’t press him. He’s wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.”
