a picture of Aslan..

"in only a moment truth was seen

revealed this mystery

the crown that showed no dignity, He wore

and the King was placed

for all the world to show disgrace

but only beauty flowed from this place

would you take the place of this Man

would you take the nails from His hands

would you take the place of this Man

would you take the nails from His hands

He held the weight of impurity

the Father would not see

the reasons had finally come to be to show

the depth of His grace

flowed with every sin erased

He knew that this was why He came

would you take the place of this Man

would you take the nails from His hands

would you take the place of this Man

would you take the nails from His hands

and we just don’t know

the blood and water flowed

and in it all He showed

just how much He cared

and the veil was torn

so we could have this open door

and all these things

have finally been complete

would you take the place of this Man

would you take the nails from His hands

would you take the place of this Man

would you take the nails from His hands..."

~ "this Man"... by jeremy camp

I have loved this song from the first time I ever heard it, but.. my fascination with it grew when I saw "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." If you have ever seen this movie.. think of the part when they are killing Aslan. Think of the look in His eyes. Think of the jeering and mocking and yelling of the White Witch's crowd.

One day this song of Jeremy Camp's came on the radio, I think while I was on the way to or from school, and it suddenly hit me how much the two relate - the song "This Man" and that scene with Aslan and the murderous mob. The song is talking about Jesus as He was led to His death on the cross that would bring about our forgiveness and life. And.. Aslan is a picture of Jesus. Aslan, like Jesus, held the weight of impurity - Edmund's impurity and selfishness, and our own - and since He chose to hold that for us.. the Father wouldn't see it. He forgave it all. The price was blood. Either Edmund's or Aslan's.. either our's or Jesus'. "The proof of Love, the price of grace, You traded all to take my place, and died for me so I could be a child of God..." ("Child of God" - by Todd Proctor)

"The depth of His grace flowed with every sin erased.. He knew that this was why He came..." Jesus knew. Aslan knew. As each sin was erased with His blood, His grace flowed deeply. Through how much we have been forgiven we see the true depth of His amazing grace. As cliched as that phrase is, it is so true. I don't want to ever get to the point that I think of amazing grace as a cliche.

Anyway, this view and scene of the movie and this song always make me think of each other now. I can just picture a music video that says it all so much better than I have, and without even explaining it. Just the song with the film edited into a video for it. (as I actually commented to one of my friends the other day as we sat and watched some music videos he'd made.. one was a video of Narnia, which was what brought it to my mind...)

It's something I encourage you to think about.. not the music video, but just the song and the movie, the whole picture they both paint. The picture of God's great Love for us. How great is our God. How great the Father's Love for us...

Would you take the place of this Man? Would I?? Could I?? Remember the look in His eyes. Remember as He silently pleads "Know that I Love you. Know that this is for you.." Those people showed Him such disgrace, such disrespect. They spit on Him, they made fun of Him. They taunted Him in every way they could. Yet He stayed there through it all, and He did it for us. My life is His. He gave it to me, and I want - and choose - to honor Him with it. If it doesn't honor God, then it is not going to happen in my life. No, that doesn't mean I don't sin. We all do. We're human. But it means that I am choosing deliberately to honor God with my life. I still stumble and fall. But I get back up again and again, and I know that He Loves me throughout it all.

Sing with me - how great, how great is our God...