Deep Magic Tangles: The Deep Magic

What Is The Deep Magic?

In The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Deep Magic is The Law given by Aslan's father, the Emperor Beyond the Sea, to Narnia. It is the ultimate right and wrong, has existed since before the Dawn of Time, and is inscribed on The Stone Table.

The Deep Magic states that any treachery committed in Narnia is punishable by death at the White Witch's hands. Because Edmund is a traitor, the Witch makes plans to kill him.

"You know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a right to kill.... And so that human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property... unless I have blood as the Law says all Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water."

"It is very true," said Aslan, "I do not deny it."

After a private conference between Aslan and the White Witch, Aslan says,

"'You can all come back. I have settled the matter. She has renounced the claim on your brother's blood." ...the witch was turning away with a look of fierce joy on her face."

Aslan has agreed to forfeit his own life in place of Edmund's to satisfy the Deep Magic. The Witch slays Aslan on The Stone Table. Edmund's sisters, Susan and Lucy, having witnessed the killing, are heartbroken and hopeless. They creep forward when it is over and the Witch and her army have departed, to try to release the Lion's bonds. He is gone! And the giant Stone Table is broken in two! There stands Aslan, alive and larger than they had ever seen him! They are dumbfounded, confused...Aslan explains,

"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."

This is a perfect allegory for Man's hopeless, sinful condition after The Fall, and the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ to atone for that sinful condition.

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23 and "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

What could be more hopeless than that? We have all sinned and the punishment is death. Only one thing can satisfy God the Father's requirement for this penalty. Blood. A perfect, unblemished sacrifice.
"For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for your soul." Leviticus 17:11

The Jewish sacrificial system we see in the Old Testament is a foreshadowed picture, pointing to the ultimate, perfect, unblemished sacrifice for sin. The Lamb of God. God's own Son, Jesus Christ.
"Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." John 1:29

We are deserving of and did, indeed, receive a death sentence when Adam sinned. Christ voluntarily took our place by giving His life so that we could live.

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." 1 Peter 3:18

So, that's it? Is that all? Christ took all of our places on death row, so now we all go to heaven? Not quite...the rest of the Truth is...

In order to receive the benefits of Christ's substitionary death on the cross, we must place our faith in what Christ did on that cross. We must believe that Jesus Christ is, indeed, God's own Son, wholly God and wholly man...that He took the penalty for my own sin through His death...

"What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." Acts 16:31
God has already done all of the work. All you must do is receive, in faith, the salvation God offers (Ephesians 2:8-9). Fully trust in Jesus alone as the payment for your sins. Believe in Him, and you will not perish (John 3:16). God is offering you salvation as a gift. All you have to do is accept it. Jesus is the way of salvation (John 14:6). http://www.gotquestions.org/how-can-I-be-saved.html

This is the full truth of the Deep Magic, of salvation in Jesus Christ alone. It is my heart's deepest desire to follow Him, to honor Him in all I do. It is my prayer for you, that you will place your faith in Him, your heart in His loving hands....that you find and embrace

The Deeper Magic!