Theology 3: A Deeper Magic

A Deeper Magic

Romans 5:6,8, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

“Though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that 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." (Aslan, from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)

If you cut to the core, every single religion says this, “If I do X or Y, I can satisfy or make myself right before the gods.” Behind the shallow differences, every religion sings the same song: I can do something. It’s about me.

Except one. God uses a deeper magic. Christianity chants a different tune: We can’t do anything right. We are sinners, hostile to God, unable to satisfy his justice. Praise be to God that Christianity is about what Jesus has done for you. Jesus died for our sin, in our place. Jesus makes us right before God. Jesus destroys death itself and gives us eternal paradise. Why? Because God loves you.