Sermon Tone Analysis

Kids are learning today

I love psalm 18 because David has such an imaginative view of God.

I mean David is not interested in a safe, soft, and cuddly view of God.

He is more interested in speaking in ways that give us an awesome and terrifying view of God.

you don’t find God depicted as an old guy in the sky

you don’t see God often depicted as sweet and soft

In Psalm 18 David is struggling, he is distressed so he calls out to God for help...

David then describes how God came to him...

God comes like an Earthquake v. 7

God comes like a Fire Breathing Dragon v.8

God comes like a Great Storm vv.9-13

God comes like a Warrior v.14

This is how the bible describes God.

And this is how we should describe God.

The Holy Spirit inspired David to tell us that God is like a fire breathing dragon.

I mean, look at this verse

8

I’d love to see a kids book where God is depicted as this powerful fire breathing dragon who rides on the clouds, rather than the old guy who looks like Santa Clause feeding kids cookies in milk next to a peaceful fire.

Deeper Magic

You know who does this well?

CS Lewis...

The last few weeks the Chronicles of Narnia books have been read often in our home.

Karis is working through the books

Mandee is reading through the series again

Lewis’ timeless stories have come up randomly in conversations

and I have run across references in different books the last few weeks.

One thing that Lewis does, with words of a poet and the detail of an exegete, is give us power pictures of incomprehensible truths in prose that are simple and engaging

In his book, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, the lion named Aslan is the Christ-figure.

One of the children, Edmond, got sick and tired of all the snow and followed the White Witch to eat Turkish Delight.

📷

But the Witch knew that Edmond’s actions made him a traitor and he must die.

She also knew that Aslan would come and take his place in order to save him.

This was her plan to humiliated and kill Aslan.

But the Witch knew that Edward’s actions made him a traitor and he must die.

She also knew that the great Aslan would come and take his place.

This is how she humiliated and killed her greatest enemy.

The morning after the Witch killed Aslan, Lucy and Susan mourned Aslan’s death in the cold, But then, the great lion stood up having come back to life.

You can imagine the girls response.

Lewis then writes,

“But what does it all mean?” asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.

“It means,” said Aslan, “that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still…when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.

This deeper magic that Lewis talks about is the power self-sacrificing love.

As Jesus says, “No one has a greater love than this, to lay down your life for your friends.”

For lewis,

Deeper Magic = The innocent dying for the guilty

A love so deep that someone would actually die in the place of another

This deeper magic has been called many things throughout history

unconditional love

the great exchange

the theological name is , Substitutionary atonement

Middleton was a medium security jail and most of the inmates were in for less than 10 years.

We find echoes of the “deeper magic” all throughout the OT.

Isaiah the prophet expresses the propositional teaching of the substitutional death of Christ when he writes that “he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, with his stripes we are healed . . . the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

().

Likewise Paul the apostle states the proposition of penal substitution, writing that Jesus “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification,” () and that “Christ died for the ungodly” ().

In the dark prophecy of we see this deeper magic foretold when he says,

Isa 53

The deeper magic is bound up in the nature of the bloody sacrificial system,

But the doctrine of penal substitution is likewise set forth typically throughout the Scriptures.

It is bound up in the nature of the bloody sacrificial system, when God first slays the innocent animals to cover the guilty shame of Adam and Eve (); it is depicted ritually when the sinner is instructed in the law to bring a sacrifice and lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, thus confessing that the sacrifice is taking his place in bloody judgment as he goes forth free ().

when God first slays the innocent animals to cover the guilty shame of Adam and Eve ();

it is depicted when the sinner is instructed to lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, thus confessing that the sacrifice is taking his place in bloody judgment as he goes free (lev 1.3-4)

Rebekah understood the deeper magic when she said to Jacob, “Let your curse be upon me my son” ().

Moses offers himself in the place of Israel in

When David hears of his son Absalom’s death he wishes he could have died in his place (2 sam 12.14)

Anticipating nothing less than the love of Christ for His own people (), Moses charges Israel with great sin in the matter of the golden calf and then begs God to forgive their sin if necessary by blotting his own name out of God’s book ().

Similarly, Paul so loved his Jewish kinsmen according to the flesh that he would have wished himself accursed if only Israel could be forgiven ().

When David hears of his son Absalom’s death he wishes he could have died in his place (2 sam 12.14)

However there was one day when the mood of the jail was different.

David’s great grief for his son Absalom is another illustration of the soul that would offer to die in the place of another.

“O my son Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom!

Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” ().

David’s grief for his wicked son follows his mourning for the death of his innocent son, Bathsheba’s firstborn.

In a striking anticipation of the death of David’s greater Son, the innocent son born to Bathsheba was appointed to die as a consequence of David’s sin () while David went forth free ().

There is a further illustration of the transference of the curse in the account of Naaman’s leprosy.

Elisha’s wicked servant Gehazi disobeyed his master in pursuing Naaman to ask for a money reward after the prophet had healed the Aramean warrior from his leprosy.

Gehazi willingly received Naaman’s silver and clothes, but for his disobedience was made to receive his leprosy as well ().

[2]

It is a matter noteworthy to all four Gospels that Jesus, the innocent (), in His condemnation and death took the place of Barabbas, who was a notorious criminal (; ; ; ).

[3]

The guards were on edge, the prisoners were had a hushed but alert presence.

Finally, there is a magnificent dynamic of redemption that is unleashed after the terrifying curse cried out by the crowd in Jerusalem at Jesus’ trial before Pilate.

To encourage the Roman governor in his unjust judgment, the people cried out, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

().

The implicit ambiguity of this statement [4] is construed in grace when Peter announces the possibility of repentance to Israel, proclaiming that “the promise is to you and to your children!” ().

The overall feel of the jail was one of restlessnesss

In all of these things stories we find shadows of the deeper magic, but it is not until the life of Jesus that this deeper magic is so fully realized that it begins to make death work backwards.

The reason for the restlessness was because a particular inmate had transferred in for 72 hours before moving to another prison.

This inmate was serving multiple life sentences for murder.

He was a massive man standing at about 6’9 and weighted over 350 of solid muscle.

and had a history of being aggressive with both inmates and guards.

I remember talking to one of the guards and he was saying he couldn’t wait for him to leave.

This man had a reputation, this man was dangerous, this man was notorious.

It struck me, this man who is serving a life sentence, is so dangerous that the jail didn’t even want him.

What would happen if we was released?

What would happen if one day the guard came to his door opened it up, and told him he could leave, that he was free to go.

Jesus Took our

So as we look at may the spirit of God open our eyes to the deeper magic of Christ.

So here they come, all the religious leaders having, in their minds, just cause to have Jesus put to death.

They bring him to Pilate hoping that he would send Jesus to his death as a revolutionary, one who would revolt against the regime as a reckless rebel (R is among some of the most menacing of sounds)

Rome would crucify rebels who would dare think about revolting against the throne.

Caesar himself wanted to make sure there was no riots or recklessness when the Jews would come to Jerusalem for Passover.

So when Jesus told the the Sanhedrin that he is the fulfillment of and they bring him to Caesar knowing that he would execute anyone who claimed to be king over all the nations of the world.

And this is Pilate’s first question he asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

This all that Pilate really cares about,

Pilate doesn’t like the Jews, the Sanhedrin are annoying with all their religious regulations and so on.