Do we know who we are?
I love the Chronicles of Narnia and believe that Mr. Lewis did an excellent job in writing a fictitious depiction of our relationship with Christ (the Lion named Aslan) and who we are as the Church. My favorite story from this series is The Horse and His Boy.
Like the beginning of many great tales, the protagonist is a baby who was separated from his birth parents and raised by a cruel, fisherman who treated Shasta like a slave. Shasta overhears his supposed father is willing to sell him to a man on his way to another land. Shasta is so poorly treated by this fisherman, whom he thought was his father, he declines to think this might be for his best and says aloud that he will go peacefully with this new master.
This causes the potential master’s horse to speak up and declare this master to be even more cruel than the man posing as Shasta’s father. This talking horse is from Narnia explains they should together runaway to his homeland where they could both be free from slavery. This horse named Bree explains that many animals talk in the land of Narnia and along the way they meet another talking horse, Hwin, and her newly emancipated rider named Arivis. Together they venture toward Narnia but there are lions that cause them veer off course and go into an unknown land.
I’ve read this story more than a few times and must admit I weep when I get to the parts of the story where it seems hopeless for Shasta. He grew up believing he was the son of a cruel fisherman and was made to feel like less than human. Shasta had to learn who he really was. He had to endure many hardships along the path until he discovered his true identity as an heir to the throne of his original homeland. If he had even a hint of knowledge of the amount of people that cared about him and wished him the best, he would not have felt so discouraged.
If he had known that he possessed the authority in the land to send away his enemies, he would not have felt so helpless in the face of danger. If he had known is true identity then Shasta would have stood tall and brave. It still would have been a difficult journey but the knowledge of what he had waiting for him, a kingdom, would have given him hope to press on.
Who are you? The Word of God says you are a royal priest. You are a joint heir with Christ. You are seated with Christ in heavenly places. You are blessed and favored of the Most High God. You are accepted. You are the righteousness of God in Christ.
Maybe somehow the enemy of your soul has convinced you that you are a slave to sin and a dishonorable subject of the kingdom. Maybe this enemy has taken advantage of you and told you are unworthy because of your sin. You think this is true because your true birthright has been hidden from you. The Gospel is the good news that Jesus came and paid the price for you to have life and have it more abundantly. Your sins have not only been forgiven, but removed as far as the east is from the west and you are now righteous in God’s sight because Jesus donned you with this robe of righteousness. You do not have to jump through a series of religious hoops to get God to accept you. You do not have to prove your worth. Being in Christ means that Jesus is all you need. He paid the price. I like the saying: Jesus plus nothing.
Just like Shasta, you are royalty and once you are aware of who you really are in Christ, then I will send my condolences to your enemy cause he is through with bullying the sons of God.
