Lies We Are Told About God — Pt 11

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s first book of the Lord of the Rings tri­logy (The Fellowship of The Ring) you are intro­du­ced to a cha­rac­ter known as “Stri­der.” Stri­der is one of a group of wil­der­ness men known by the locals as “ran­gers.” Ran­gers were men who lived in the wil­der­ness, known both for their sur­vi­val pro­wess as well as their dis­dain for the com­pany of others. They lived on the fringe of civi­li­za­tion and gene­rally pre­fe­rred to be left alone. Stri­der meets the hero of the series (Frodo Bag­gins) and acts as his guide through the wil­der­ness to reach the city of Riven­dell.

When you first meet Stri­der it’s easy to view him as a minor cha­rac­ter in the ove­rall story that is being pla­yed out in Middle-Earth. He is a rough-shaven plainly-dressed man who to the casual obser­ver is unre­mar­ka­ble. It is only later in the series that you begin the learn the true story. Strider’s real name is Ara­gorn, and he is the des­cen­dent of the fai­led Kings of Gon­dor. As heir to this lineage, he bears the shame of his great grand-father Elen­dil, who when faced with the choice of des­tro­ying the evil ring of power, chose ins­tead to use it for him­self. Elen­dil was sub­se­quently killed, and the great­ness of the nation of Gon­dor fai­led.

In shame, Elendil’s decen­dents aban­do­ned the throne and lived in iso­la­tion. In memory of the bro­ken nation, the elves of Riven­dell had had kept Eledil’s bro­ken sword (Nar­sil), which was bro­ken in the great war of Middle-Earth. The sword was a potent remin­der to Ara­gorn of both what had been lost, and what he belie­ved could never be again.

But the story doesn’t end there. A prophecy had been fore­told that an heir of Elen­dil would return some­day to res­tore Gondor’s past great­ness. That the sword that was bro­ken would be for­ged anew and rai­sed in battle once more. That the great enemy would finally be van­qished, and that the King of Gon­dor would return to claim the throne.

In this great story, and in this ama­zing cha­rac­ter, there is a dis­con­nect bet­ween what Ara­gorn belie­ves, and what is true. Ara­gorn sees the past and his family’s shame. He sees his own weak­ness and belie­ves he is not the man that this prophecy speaks of. He has accep­ted (because of his doubt in who he is) obs­cu­rity. Almost that is.

Even though Ara­gorn is filled with self-doubt, he is surroun­ded by those who believe in him – and the truth of who he was born to be. It is this great com­pany that cha­llen­ges and ins­pi­res him to renew the fight, take up the sword Nar­sil, and res­tore the throne of Gondor.

If you have not read the series I highly recom­mend it. It is a epic tale that reflects both the great­ness and trad­gedy of a fallen world. Yet it reminds us of the pro­mi­sed redemption.

The tra­gedy of Ara­gorn is that he fai­led to see who he really was. That is often our tra­gedy as well.

Romans 4:17 says that “….God…gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” NIV This pas­sage refers to the pro­mise given to Abraham, who was told he would be the father of many nations.

Think about it — an elderly child­less cou­ple given a pro­mise that some­day many nations would be bles­sed through their chil­dren. And yet God spoke it as though it was a done deal.

This is what it means when he “calls things that are not as though they were.” God is not bound by time. He sees the future as if it were today. He doesn’t des­pair that we (like Paul) are not yet what will be some­day.
When we put our faith in Christ, he adopts us into the family. We are no lon­ger orphans but heirs to the throne with Jesus. And though we fail and fall, God is intent on finishing his work in us.

2 Corinthians 4:8–9 “We are pres­sed on every side by trou­bles, but we are not crushed. We are per­ple­xed, but not dri­ven to des­pair. 9 We are hun­ted down, but never aban­do­ned by God. We get knoc­ked down, but we are not des­tro­yed.” NLT

The lie we have belie­ved about God is that he is fixa­ted on our past – on our sin. The devil would have us believe that when God looks upon us he can’t see past the taint that covers us. But love rejoi­ces in the truth of who you are – not who you were. To those who put their trust in him, he is a father. He does not stand in con­dem­na­tion over us saying “what a bunch of losers, can’t they get this thing right?!” Though we are a work in pro­gress, God sees us with the eyes of eter­nity. He knows us bet­ter than we know ourselves.

You are not your sin. God is calling you by name. And that name is belo­ved. Jesus is invi­ting you to “come, you who are bles­sed by my Father; take your inhe­ri­tance, the king­dom pre­pa­red for you since the crea­tion of the world.” Matt25:34 NIV Could there be a hap­pier ending to this story?

~Truly Free