"Tale as Old as Time" Kingdom Living

The Farmer has sole control of the TV remote in our household, and whenever we all come together as a family to watch a movie, he promptly pauses it when the rest of us begin to engage in discussions during a particular scene. "Are you all done?" he'll asked a bit annoyed before he pushes the play button again. lol 

Last weekend I had the privilege of being the sole controller of the remote when my grandchildren and I watched Disney's original 1991 classic "Beauty and the Beast." We had a charming time because Gigi always allows for much movie talk among the little people. 

It's such a great story, isn't it? My favorite. 

The kids immediately identified Beauty ( Belle ) as "good" and the protagonist Gaston as "the bad guy," but they weren't so sure about the Beast. 

"Is he good or bad?" 

"He's both. He's complicated. You'll have to keep watching." 

As the movie plays out, one comes to find the Beast tolerable, then engaging, dare we say "lovable?" 

He was once a handsome prince living in his stately castle when an old woman came begging at his door for shelter from the cold. When he refused to offer her a refuge in his huge home, because he was "spoiled, selfish, and unkind," she revealed her inner beauty and placed him under a spell by turning him into a brute beast, confined to his castle until he could show love to another and be loved in return. 

That's the backstory to the Beast. 

Then there's the conceited hunter Gaston who is a picture of narcissism if ever there was one. He has his sights set firmly on marrying Belle, thinking he's doing her a favor, but the last thing on her mind is to become the little wife of a megalomaniac. 

Belle, with her nose in a book surrounded by sheep, is looking for something other than her "provincial life" and is in for her own twisted, romantic surprise. 

When Belle first meets the Beast she is scared and repulsed, but as time sings along, her heart begins to melt toward him. What became of the prideful, spoiled prince who refused to offer kindness to an old beggar woman? What is the difference between the Beast and the egotistical, self-absorbed Gaston? 

One thing. 

The prideful Prince-turned-Beast has been humbled. 

And this is a plot changer. 

Humility transformed the prideful, selfish prince into a handsome beast. 

And Belle falls head over heels because there is no character trait in a man as attractive as humility, strength under control, looking out for the needs of others above his own, able to say he's sorry. 

In the biblical narrative, Jesus is the Beauty. He's the Beautiful One, and we're the Beast. We're sinners, humbled and granted repentance, given grace, mercy, and faith to believe, adopted into the family of God by our Savior's sacrifice, and nothing spectacular that we have done, but still dragging around our baggage, our sinful nature. We live in this continued state of working humility in the kingdom as we are conformed into the glorious image of Jesus. 

We have a past, a backstory. We are good and bad. We are complicated, and we live in a complicated world, learning what it means to love and to be loved. 

We live in the "already and not yet" kingdom. Jesus has already won and secured the victory for us on the cross and by his resurrection and ascension, but he has yet to consummate the victory by his return. 

I love how I recently heard Sinclair Ferguson put it: "The implications have yet to be worked out in the church or the world or in ourselves as individuals. Sin is still in the world. People still rebel against God. Satan is wounded but active. We still stumble."

"Only when Christ returns will his enemies be made a footstool for his feet. Jesus has done the big thing. Victory is certain, but we live in between two moments." 

And the key to living in between these two moments is humility, remembering what we were and what Christ has done to redeem us when we could do nothing to save ourselves. And looking forward to the glorious future he has already secured. 

Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 18:3 that unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven, and that whoever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 

Humility is needed to enter the kingdom and to be the "greatest." Unless we recognize our need, we will never come to Jesus. And unless we continue to walk in humility, we will not be great. If we think we are better than other Christians, or at a higher spiritual level because of our gifts or status or whatever it may be, we are fooling ourselves right out of the kingdom. 

There is a purpose for us in this already but not yet kingdom or God would not have left us here battling the sin within and the power of the Holy Spirit to do so. Life in this kingdom is making us Christ-like. We are confined to our "castles" until Love sweeps us away to himself one day. 

Christianity is a life of humility as we confront our stubborn, indwelling sin, weaknesses, and suffering, the enemy and the world's system, learning to master evil and bring good out of it. God chooses to develop his children this way, not changing us immediately into goodness, but through the slow, beastly  processes of sanctification. 

"Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.'" ( Matthew 16: 24-25 )  

"And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." ( Matthew 10:38 ) 

Crosses are intended to kill people. 

And we aren't called to walk in the lead with Jesus; we're called to follow him, dragging our crosses as we go. Killing ourselves daily, mortifying our sin when it seeks to have us. The change doesn't happen overnight, and it's painful. 

But the promise in Scripture is that if we share in Christ's sufferings, we most certainly will also share in his glory. The results of our journey on this hard, narrow path of life is our glorification in the life to come. His Kingdom come. (  Romans 8:17-18, 1 Peter 4:13, Matthew 6:9-13 ) 

Dare we say, "lovable?" 

One of the most delightful surprises in Christianity is just how satisfying and joyful this humble, transforming path with Christ becomes once we understand the nature of our journey and what it promises to provide within us. 

Yes, throughout the movie there were lots of questions, teaching moments, and reminders, especially for Gigi. It's such a great story, isn't it? 

Tale as old as time.

Song as old as rhyme. 

Beauty and the Beast. 

Happy Weekend!

💜🐾

Shasta as a sweet pup from the HBF Archives