Further Up and Further In

O come, Thou Key of David, come

And open wide our heavenly home

Make safe the way that leads on high

And close the path to misery

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel

My first reading of the Chronicles of Narnia came when my kids were young. I remember having the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on my shelf as a kid, but for some reason, even though I was into science fiction and fantasy, I never picked it up and read it. When I first read it to my son, he and I were both swept into the world of Narnia and couldn't get enough. We read all seven books and wanted more.

There are a lot of favorite and treasured moments I have from reading through those books, but there is nothing quite like the final scenes in The Last Battle. Without spoiling anything, the end of the Chronicles finds all the characters you have come to know and love entering Aslan's Land, the place in Narnia that stands in for the Kingdom of God. They are running. Everyone is running. The anticipation is great, and the call is always to move "further up and further in!" Jewel the Unicorn even cries out, "I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now." It's a beautiful scene (you have to read the whole thing to really appreciate it), full of wonder, anticipation and joy.

I believe C. S. Lewis has captured some of what we will feel as we with unveiled eyes first glimpse the full Kingdom of God. Joy! Truth! Contentment! Peace! And it's all possible, as the Advent hymn reminds us, because Jesus has come and "opened wide our heavenly home." He's made it possible for us to go to "Aslan's Land," to dwell in the Kingdom, which is much broader and better than our normal conception of an after-life "heaven." But we don't glimpse it now because we think far too narrowly about the Kingdom of God. Kingdom life begins now. Jesus came to make that possible. He brought the Kingdom, and it's available to us now. He closed the path to misery and opened up a safe way for us to walk with him now, today, every day. He is Emmanuel—God with us.

So...further up and further in! Let's rejoice! The Kingdom of God isn't just coming—it's here!