The story behind The Chronicles Of Narnia is a love story. By watching Aslan, we are reminded of the heart of the One who died for us and rose bodily from the dead to be declared as the King and Savior of all who will trust Him. The Bible proclaims that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Creator, King, Savior, and Friend.

The Chronicles help us appreciate with a fresh understanding the real story behind the stories. For example, when Aslan gives his life for the traitorous Edmund, it gives us a different perspective of Christ’s personal sacrifice for our own redemption.

As various Narnian characters are helped by the great lion in dealing with sins of pride and lust, we find in Christ a longsuffering Lord who graciously transforms the yielded heart into greater obedience.

Finally, the anticipation of a new Narnia helps us recapture the anticipation of being with the Lord Jesus in a new world where new adventures await us.

That’s the message of The Chronicles Of Narnia, and that is why they will endure in challenging the mind and stirring the hearts of children and adults alike.

At the end of the last book we hear the great lion say:

“The [school] term is over. The holidays have begun. The dream is ended. This is the morning.” And as He spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page. Now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before (p.767, The Chronicles Of Narnia).

SUGGESTED READING

The Chronicles Of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (New York: Harper Collins, 1982).

Inside Narnia by Devin Brown (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005).

Finding God In The Land Of Narnia by Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware (Carol Stream: Tyndale House, 2005).

A Family Guide To Narnia by Christin Ditchfield (Wheaton: Crossways, 2003).

Into The Wardrobe by David C. Downing (San Francisco: Jossey- Bass, 2005).

A Field Guide To Narnia by Colin Duriez (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2004).

Companion To Narnia by Paul F. Ford (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2005).

Knowing Aslan by Thomas Williams (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005).