"Aslan is on the move"

Most level-headed people today enjoy a good "Chronic-what-cles of Narnia" story. Personally, I struggle to get through a whole book (particularly The Horse and His Boy)... but nonetheless, I do love the series. C.S. Lewis is a personal hero of mine... and in his writings there is an unbreakable thread running through each one: Christ--in whom Lewis finds all joy

A prime example of this theme would be this quote by Lewis from his book, The Weight of Glory:

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased."

This is true. After one year at school I have seen the desire for satisfaction played out in these very same ways. I see two traps, two cultural trends. One...the very obvious party scene. Get drunk. Get high. Have some sex. Get drunk again. Two...the not so obvious-not-party scene. Ace the courses, ace the field or gym, ace the dating scene, ace "ministry", ace the fashion trends, ace the "Office" quotes ace "uniqueness", ace having a political opinion, or whatever else you wanna ace.

In any case--these things do not have the capacity to satisfy a soul.

C.S. Lewis said, "You do not have a soul. You are a soul, you have a body" (thank you Kate Drahosh). So why then, all this effort to satisfy a temporary thing? Because people are blind to the issue. People are born dead--spiritually. Do not try to tell a drunk friend, "you're not having fun--this isn't actually fun." Do not try to tell your roommate making out with her boyfriend, "your body is a temple--treat it like it." Because sin is powerful for these reasons: it is what we naturally desire and tends to give us pleasure, or we think it will...therefore we actively choose to do it. And if someone is dead and blind, that person is not alive (obviously) and unable to see.

I myself chose to be a number in the #2 group last year at times. "i'll be happy when i get more playing time" or "i'll be happy when a boy pursues me" or "ill be happy when i get this 'ministry' stuff checked off" or "ill be happy when i ace these classes". I battled with my flesh. Desiring what the world enjoys...and tasting some... and then God in his mercy and kindness led me to repentance.

These pursuits are passionate, by anyone and everyone for satisfaction apart from Christ. The means to reach satisfaction differ, but the end is the same--despair.

The Bible says in Psalm 107: 9, "For he satisfies the longing soul". God alone has capacity to satisfy a soul because we are relational beings, created in His image. God alone has no beginning nor end--therefore he satisfies our desire for longevity (?). God alone does not change, so he satisfies our desire for consistency. God alone is the being that it will take an eternity to know--in other words, we will never completely know him--yet know him more every moment throughout eternity. Mind boggling.

So this presents a dilemma. Blindness. Deadness. We need eyes to see. We need life. Without which we cannot even begin to know God because of our sin. This is where and why the Gospel is central to all history--therefore should be central in your life.

Jesus Christ bore God's wrath on the cross, so that anyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we are able to know the one true God. This is the good news!

So if this is life which it is...we need to make it known. We need to speak it. We need to write about it. We need to sing about it. We need to be saturated in our speech with the words about Jesus, who is our only hope. Therein lies satisfaction beyond measure.

So who is Aslan? And why is he moving?

Jesus Christ is depicted in some ways by the character of Aslan in the books by Lewis. (He gave up his life for Edmund, that Edmund might live--even though he was a filthy traitor and deserved death!... Aslan took his place...and he rose...conquered death. no big deal). Mr. Beaver told the kids at the beginning of the story, "Aslan is on the move". Something huge was about to happen. The brink of war--battles to be fought and won.

In parallel...God is on the move at my campus, Concordia University in St. Paul. He will set out to conquer hearts there--to remove blindness. To call people from death to life. That they will see Christ as no longer foolishness, but treasure. And that their desires for satisfaction will completely shift from temporary things to a relationship with the unchanging God of the Bible. It is my prayer and hope and work that I might be a means to God's movement.

"According to 2 Corinthians 4, people are spiritually blind until God gives them eyes to see, that is, until God causes them to be born again. But here Jesus says in verse 18, “I am sending you to open their eyes.” The point is not hard to see. God opens the eyes of the blind to see the truth and beauty and worth of Christ. But he does by sending people to tell the good news from hearts of love and lives of service. " (from Desiring God ministries)

God willing, one year from now, I will be able to see what He has done, and say with new believers, "My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:26). God is sovereign. He will accomplish his purposes. He declares the end from the beginning. All praise be to His glorious grace in Jesus.

"For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it" (Isaiah 46:9-11).

Grace abounds... all around...
sather

The Absolute Sovereignty of God

By grace, as my pastor John Piper would say, may I always start as a Bible-believing Christian that desires to put the Bible above all sytems of thought... not start with a doctrine in order to defend a system.

So here I am, at the tail end of about 8 hours a day of study for the past three days, absolutely enjoying, being encouraged by, challenged by, and in awe of the Scriptures. And so helped by Martin Luther, John Calvin, Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, Pastor Piper, J.I. Packer, and C.S. Lewis (The Weight of Glory).

God's sovereignty over all things has brought me down to me knees literally and humbled my heart more times in these past few days in the Word than ever before. Reading the Word is not only a command, but what a delight!

Isaiah 46:8-10
"Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,'”

Daniel 4: 34-35
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?"

Psalm 115:3
"Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases."

Romans 9: 18-23
"So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, 'Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?' But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this?' Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vesseld of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory."

Job 42:2
"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted."

Psalm 33:8-10
"Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the word stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples."

Ephesians 1:11-12
"In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who are the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory."

Psalm 135:6-7
"Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses."

Romans 13:1
"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God."

Proverbs 19:21
"Many are the plans of man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand."

Proverbs 16:33
"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD."

Proverbs 21:1
"The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will."

Amos 3:6
"Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?"

Isaiah 45:7
"I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things."

2 Thessalonians 2:11-12
"Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

Matthew 10:29
"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father."

Three stroies of God's sovereignty:
Job 1:1--2:10: the Sabeans killed his servants and stole his possesions, The fire of God burned the sheep and servants, The Chaldeans took the camels and killed his servants, a great wind knocked down the house killing his family, and Satan struck Job with sores--yet the Bible says "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord," "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" God has power of Satan.

Joseph in Genesis "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." (Gen 50: 20a)

Luke 23:1-46 The most evil act ever commited, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Acts 4:24-30: "And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'—for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

Isaiah 53:10
"Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand."

Romans 8:32
"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?"

"God wills in one sense what he disapproves of in another sense."
God is fully good, with absolute sovereignty.

Grace abounds,
Sara