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| More than a Fairy Tale | by Greg Noller for Grove Evangelical Church |
| The pantomime season is upon us (“Oh no it isn’t!” “Oh yes it is!” etc etc). A time to be enchanted again by fairy tales that seem so far removed from our own existence. Or are they? There are familiar elements to most of the panto storylines. Inevitably they often hinge on the eternal fight between good and evil. So for every Jack, there is a giant; for every Cinderella there are the ugly sisters; and for every Snow White, an evil queen. Snow White’s story itself bears many similarities with the real story of Christmas. Miss White was born into a happy home, the daughter of the King and Queen. She thus enjoyed a privileged relationship with her parents. Doesn’t sound like Jesus in the stable, does it? But the Christmas story doesn’t begin with either Matthew or Luke’s accounts in the gospels. We need to go back much further to how God intended things to be in the Garden of Eden. In the early chapters of Genesis we discover a world in harmony with its Creator and the pinnacle of that creation is Man and Woman. God’s simple verdict on all He created was it was all good. No defects. No blemishes. Faultless. Meanwhile, Snow White’s idyllic home life was about to be shattered. Her mum died and it wasn’t long before a new mum appeared and boy was she jealous of Snow White. That mirror of hers couldn’t help telling the truth and the truth was no one, not even the new Queen, was as beautiful as the princess. The Queen wanted her done away with, so Snow White literally ran for her life. Things changed in God’s plans too. The evil queen reminds us of God’s adversary the devil or Satan. He wasn’t always God’s enemy. Satan was once part of God’s family, one of his angels, but he wanted the spotlight just like Snow White’s step-mother. He was banished from God’s presence but he was not going to give up. Neither was the evil queen. She planned to disguise herself and trick Snow White. The first time we encounter the devil in the Bible he is doing just that, disguising himself as a Serpent, deceiving Adam and Eve, enticing them to listen to him and pouring scorn on what God had said. | Our heroine has now fled and taken refuge with the 7 dwarves. They were only too willing for some companionship but they warned her never to open the door to strangers, no matter how tempting it may appear. They didn’t reckon on the cunning of the evil queen. She disguised herself as a helpless, frail little old lady, selling apples to make ends meet. There couldn’t be any danger here Snow White thought. In the beauty of God’s garden, Adam and Eve convinced themselves there could be no danger in listening to the words of the serpent (how attractive they seemed) and taking the fruit from the tree. God’s warning had been clear. If you do, you die. The serpent convinced them God couldn’t possibly allow that to happen……but God never lies and Satan can’t help lying. So sin entered the world and death through sin. Snow White ate the apple which unbeknownst to her was poisonous. The evil queen left her for dead. The dwarves could do nothing to revive their friend. It all looked like a hopeless situation but help was on its way. The Prince arrived to save the day. His love saved the Princess, she fell in love with him and they all lived happily ever after. The end. What about Adam and Eve. They died, but God promised them that one day a Saviour would appear. It’s the first prophecy concerning Jesus Christ found in Genesis 3 verse 15. Look it up for yourself. Take that dusty old Bible down from the shelf and engage with this sacred text. Read on and you will discover the gradual unfolding of God’s rescue plan for the human race. In Isaiah’s Old Testament prophecy we learn of a Prince who will come to save us. He would be the Prince of Peace no less. The New Testament reveals Him through the vividness of the gospels as the Son of God, sent into the world to rescue us from sin and ultimately from the affects of death. Snow White and her prince, yes and the 7 dwarves too, would die one day, and the same fate hangs over us all. Yet if we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and believe He appeared to rescue us from sin, then we will live happily ever after, as part of His Kingdom which will never end. This Christmas return to the real story and you will discover it is no fairy tale. |