Pastor Michael Adams teaches on "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" in this Sunday morning celebration.Reel Life PT1
Pastor Michael Adams
Sunday, July 8, 2012
www.mylifegatechurch.com
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Sermon Notes:
Reel Life- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Big Idea: We are made in God’s image and will never find fulfillment in anything but His presence, His Kingdom, and His will.
Facts on Lewis and novel:
- Almost wasn’t published due to criticism of overt Christian allegory and violence
- Idea came from a picture of the faun he remembered seeing as a boy
- Lewis began the book during WWII while hosting 3 young girls sent from London to escape the blitz bombings.
- Aslan is an allegory of the substitution and the ransom work of Christ
- Time magazine lists the book as one of the 100 most important English works
Intro:
- We all have an instinctive desire to be fulfilled, to have purpose and find significance
- We are all faced with the same question- will we be what God created to be or will we spend our lives searching for fulfillment in other places?
In the beginning:
Genesis 1:26-27
New Living Translation (NLT)
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”27 So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Genesis 3:1-4
3 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
- God clearly laid out our purpose in the beginning
- We are all faced with the question, “Did God really say?”
- Warning! The serpent challenged Eve’s purpose! It should send up a red flag anytime the enemy is telling you what God said.
Edmund, Eve and all of Humanity:
Scene 1:
Edmund returns to the White Witch’s castle thinking he would be welcomed. He sits on the witch’s throne trying it out for size and we see his desire for Turkish Delight turn to hunger for power. He learns of the witch’s real intentions and realizes that his choices might have cost him everyone he loves.
*See the “Big Picture”
- Live for the eternity instead of only for the moment. We serve an eternal purpose
- Sin is never about sin, it’s about purpose (Turkish Delight)
- When we are selfish our world shrinks; when we serve others our world expands
- Outside of a loving God and serving others there is no purpose
Colossians 3:1-3
New Living Translation (NLT)
3 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:1-3
The Message (MSG)
1-2 So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.
*Protect your Purpose
Colossians 1:15-23
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,16 for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.17 He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.18 Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. 23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.
Galatians 1:6-7 (SOAP Verse)
I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.
- Distracted by the idea of the “perfect call”
- Knowing God’s will is result of a lifestyle of worship
- Know his presence and you will know His will
- If you are ever uncertain of His will be certain of His presence
Romans 12:1-2
New Living Translation (NLT)
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
- We, like Edmund, get tricked into thinking we must attain our place with God when it has already been provided. God already has the plan and we are the original plan
- This was also the way the serpent deceived Eve. She was already made in God’s image.
Psalms 139:15-16
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
*Stay Humble
- Avoid the Blame Game: Edmund blamed, Adam blamed and we blame
- The redeeming work of the cross begins in our lives when we take responsibility for the state we are in.
- He is more than able if we are more than willing
Ex. David “I am the man”
2 Samuel 12:13
Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan replied, “Yes, but the LORD has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin.
Scene 2:
In this scene we see Aslan crown the four children as kings and queens of Narnia. They each take their rightful place on the throne to rule and reign.
Psalm 8:4-6
“what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority”
We are created in the image of God. We have been a part of his plan from the beginning. Real fulfillment only comes from living in His presence and allowing His presence to live through us- loving God and loving others. We were made for this!
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