The Character of the King
One of my favorite things about teaching The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to the Upper Elementary students has been to show them how well C.S. Lewis renders the person of God in the character of Aslan. Upon completing the book, the students were required to draw a picture of Aslan with a quote from the book describing him. Each of the quotes that the students chose highlights a different facet of Aslan’s being, and likewise the King of King’s person. As such, they were able to take a small glimpse into the immense glory of God as He possesses a multiplicity of amazing attributes.
For example:
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight/ At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more/ When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death/ And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”
Here we see a pleasant rhyme about the King of Narnia, Aslan the great lion, with huge implications about Jesus. When Jesus comes again, He will right all wrongs, sorrows will cease forever for believers, at His word the enemy is defeated, and when death has passed He will make all things new.
And again:
“‘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.’”
In describing Aslan this way, Lewis is getting at God’s power, justice, holiness, and goodness all at once. Though believers do not have to fear God as mean or angry, they do fear Him in reverence and awe. The Scriptures record instances when the Israelites experienced the power of God and fell face down, trembling. We should see the Lord as mighty and powerful while knowing He is a Good King.
It is far too easy for Christians in America to become comfortable with the culture’s depiction of the King rather than hold tightly to His Biblical portrait. The culture today wants to put Jesus forward as timid and striving for social justice, but the Bible tells us another story entirely. Indeed, the end of the Gospel of Matthew tells us, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me,” and Paul reminds us in the letter to the Philippians that the day will come when “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” These two points in Scripture alone paint a picture that is completely antithetical to the image of Jesus that the culture would have us hold.
It is the earnest longing of the staff at PCA that every student who comes through our doors would walk out with the Truth of the majesty of the King of Kings. Every book read, every assignment given, every lesson taught is aimed at the heart of the hearer in order that the Spirit would work into that heart an awe of His glory in every facet of His being.
