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Galatians 3:10,21-23, 4:4-5
INTRODUCTION: Today is the second of three messages in our Narnia Christmas Series, drawing from C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. As we saw last week, the Chronicles are a collection of seven books that were written by C.S. Lewis during the middle of the 20th century. They are fantasy books about children who travel from our world into an imaginary world called Narnia, and yet the books also contain many parallels to the Bible and to Christianity. This is because C.S. Lewis was himself a Christian, and throughout the books he shares and explores various aspects of his Christian faith.
Last week we looked at the most important character in the stories, the lion called Aslan. Aslan is the Great Lion of Narnia, the King of Beasts, the Son of the Emperor-Beyond-the Sea, the ruler of all of Narnia. We saw that Aslan is representative of Christ. Jesus Christ is the Lion of Judah. He is the King of kings, the Son of God, the ruler of all.
This week’s message is called “Always Winter, Never Christmas.” Our Scripture text comes from several verses in Galatians 3 and 4. Let me read these verses now, and we will see how they apply a little later on in the message.
Galatians 3:10,21-23 and 4:4-5 > 10 “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ . . . 21 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22 But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. 23 Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. . . . 4:4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”
Can you imagine what it would be like if it were always winter, never Christmas? First of all, just imagine if it were always winter. Now maybe some of you happen to love the winter, but how would you like to deal with ice and snow, sub-freezing temperatures, and having to clean and scrape your car every morning, every day? Check out this coffee commercial from Norway. (Show video clip.) A “friend” from Florida sent that up to me shortly after we moved here last January.
So, this “always winter” thing would be bad enough. But what if it were always winter, never Christmas? That would be even worse! You know, we may not always like the ice and snow and cold, but at least when it gets cold around here, it’s a sign that Christmas is coming. And for many people, Christmas is that bright spot in the middle of winter that somehow makes it all worth it. But what if there were no Christmas? What if the Christmas season never came? Think about it – no holiday decorations, no family gatherings, no Bright Nights at Forest Park, no Christmas carols or concerts, no Christmas trees, no Christmas presents, no Christmas vacation (!), (kids, that means you would be in school all December long), no Charlie Brown Christmas specials, no Jimmy Stewart and “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It would be all winter, all the time, but never any Christmas.
It is a terrible thought. And yet that is exactly the situation C.S. Lewis presents us with in the first book of the Narnia Chronicles, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” When we first encounter the land of Narnia, it is under the terrible curse of the White Witch.
I. The Curse of the White Witch
A young girl named Lucy is the first of the children to discover Narnia. She enters Narnia unexpectedly through an old wooden wardrobe that sits in an empty room in a huge house where she and her brothers and sister are staying during the war. One moment she is walking through a wardrobe filled with coats, then she feels the branches of trees, and next she finds herself “standing in the middle of a wood . . . with snow under her feet and snowflakes falling through the air.” She begins to explore the woods and along the way she meets a faun called Mr. Tumnus who explains to her about the White Witch.
“The White Witch? Who is she?” [asked Lucy.]
“Why, it is she that has got all Narnia under her thumb. It’s she that makes it always winter. Always winter and never Christmas; think of that!”
“How awful!” said Lucy.
We soon learn that the White Witch is an evil creature of great power who opposes Aslan and all that is good. As Lucy explains to her brother Edmund: “She calls herself the Queen of Narnia, though she has no right to be queen at all, and all the Fauns and Dryads and Naiads and dwarfs and animals – at least all the good ones – simply hate her. And she can turn people into stone and do all kinds of horrible things.” (pp. 37-38)
And so Narnia is a world that is in slavery and bondage to the White Witch. It is a world that is under a curse and waits for that curse to be lifted. It is a world that is not as it should be and awaits restoration. It is a world very much like ours.
Our world is also under a curse, the curse of sin, and the whole creation waits for that curse to be lifted. Romans 8:19-21 tells us: “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Romans 8:19-21) This is the reason why we have hurricanes, and earthquakes and tsunamis. The world is under the curse and judgment of sin, and awaits its full restoration when Christ returns.
Our world is also in slavery and bondage to an evil being of great power. The White Witch of Narnia is in many ways symbolic of the devil in our own world. Don’t be deceived. The devil is a true being. He is an angel of great power who rebelled against God and opposes Christ and all that is good. The Bible calls the devil “the prince of this world” (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11), “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4), “the ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), “him who holds the power of death” (Hebrews 2:14), “the ancient serpent . . . who leads the whole world astray” (Revelation 12:9).
God created our world good, and yet because of Satan and sin, our world is not as it should be and not as it was created. We are not as we should be, and we are not as God created us to be. We are prisoners of sin, locked up, needing redemption. We need a savior. We need someone who can rescue us from the curse.
II. The Curse of the Law (Galatians 3:10,21-23)
There is a very specific curse that we need to deal with in our world, and that is the curse of the law. We read about this curse earlier in Galatians 3:10: “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’”
The law refers to God’s commands. If you think following God’s commands will get you into heaven, think again. Galatians 3:10 says that “all who rely on observing the law” are not under God’s blessing, but “ under a curse.” But aren’t we supposed to follow God’s laws and commands? Why would someone who is relying on observing the law be under a curse? The answer is simple. None of us “continues to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Have you ever tried to measure your life against the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount? None of us even comes close. The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
Now there is nothing wrong with God’s commands. Romans 7:12 says: “The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.” No, the problem is not with God’s law but with us. Galatians 3 continues in verses 21 and 22: “Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin.” So there is nothing wrong with the law. If we were holy, righteous and good, then the law would bring us life. But the problem is that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, and therefore we constantly break God’s law. And that is why if we rely on observing the law we are under a curse.
So what is the solution then? If you do not gain acceptance with God by observing the law, how do you receive God’s promise of salvation? Galatians 3:22 continues: “that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.” You do not earn salvation by observing the law. You receive salvation by trusting in Jesus Christ.
In many ways Narnia’s perpetual winter is a symbol of our dark world before Christ came and brought the good news of salvation by faith alone. Galatians 3:23 says: “Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.” In the law God gave the nation of Israel instructions for sacrifice. Year after year countless bulls and goats and lambs were sacrificed for sin. And yet the killing of an innocent animal could not really remove the guilt of sin. It was all temporary, looking forward to the time when Christ would come and make one sacrifice for sins for all time – the sacrifice of himself upon the cross.
God freely gives salvation and the forgiveness of sins to all who place their faith in his Son, Jesus Christ. But “before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.”
Are you relying on observing the law this morning? Are you trusting in your own good works for salvation? Then you are under the curse of the law, because you cannot keep the law. You are still waiting for faith to be revealed. You are trapped in the middle of winter and still waiting for Christmas. Well, I have some good news for you this morning. Christ has come. You no longer need to be held prisoner by the law, for with the coming of Christ at that very first Christmas, the curse was lifted. The promise of God’s salvation is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all those who believe in him.
III. The Coming of Christ (Galatians 4:4-5)
Galatians 4 speaks of the coming of Christ. Listen to verses 4 and 5: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” God sent his Son at Christmas, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem us from the curse of the law.
Jesus Christ fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of a Savior who would come from God to deliver his people from sin and darkness. Our advent reading earlier this morning came from Isaiah 9 which said: “In the future he [God] will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan — 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:1-2) Isaiah 9 continues: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
That wonderful child was born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. As the angels proclaimed to the shepherds that first Christmas night: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11) Jesus grew and came to “Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan,” and “the people walking in darkness there saw a great light.” The long curse of darkness was over because Jesus Christ had come as the light of the world at Christmas.
In “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” Aslan also comes into the world of Narnia at Christmas in order to break the curse of the White Witch. In doing so he also fulfills the old Narnian prophecies which spoke of his coming. In chapter 8 Mr. Beaver shares one of the prophecies about Aslan with the children:
“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.” (p. 74)
In chapter 11 Lewis gives us a marvelously written chapter in which the White Witch begins to see the curse lifted once Aslan has arrived. The witch is traveling with her servant, who is a dwarf, and with the boy Edmund, who is her prisoner. They are riding along atop of the snow on a sleigh drawn by reindeer when they come across a party of squirrels – celebrating Christmas of all things. The witch is so furious at this sight that she raises her wand and turns them all into stone. (Don’t worry – Aslan turns them back again later.)
As the Witch and the dwarf and Edmund continue on their way, the snow gets wetter and patches of grass begin to appear. Eventually the sleigh is stranded on dry ground, and they have to get out and walk. The frozen streams thaw, and the air is filled with the sounds of running water. Beautifully colored flowers emerge, and birds begin to sing.
“This is no thaw,” said the dwarf, suddenly stopping. “This is spring. What are we to do? Your winter has been destroyed, I tell you! This is Aslan’s doing.”
“If either of you mention that name again,” said the Witch, “he shall be instantly killed.” (p. 118)
When Aslan comes in sight, Christmas comes to Narnia at last. The long, dark spell of winter is broken, and the newness of spring arrives in all its beauty. With the coming of Jesus at Christmas, the curse on our world has also been broken, and God offers newness of life for all who believe. 1 John 3:8 says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
Just as Aslan broke the curse of the White Witch, so Jesus has broken the curse of the law. Jesus came as a human child at Christmas to free us from the power of Satan and sin. Hebrews 2:14-15 says: “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil – 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” That is the good news of Christmas.
CONCLUSION: C.S. Lewis was not always a Christian. There was a time when he was actually an atheist. J.R.R. Tolkien, who would later write The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was Lewis’ friend and fellow professor at Oxford, and actually helped in bringing Lewis to Christ. You can read Lewis’ whole account of his conversion in his autobiographical book, Surprised By Joy.
The point is this. There was a time in Lewis’ life when he was trapped in winter with no Christmas in sight. But when he came to know Christ personally as his Lord and Savior, it changed his life. It was like the lifting of winter and the coming of spring. It not only changed his life, it changed his eternity. He was saved, he was forgiven, he was rescued from the curse of the law.
You see, the story of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” is so powerful because in reality it is our story. It is the story of Jesus Christ who came at Christmas to offer us new life and hope. It can be your story, too, if you put your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Christ has come; the curse is lifted; spring is in the air. Spring is a symbol of new life, and the Bible says: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) That is the good news of Christmas. Or, to paraphrase an old Narnian prophecy:
“Wrong will be right, when Jesus 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.”
© Ray Fowler
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