But Narnia is in bondage, held captive for a hundred years by the magic of the evil White Witch. Under her rule, it is ‘always winter, but never Christmas‘—no life can grow; loved ones are turned stone, and everyone in Narnia lives in fear. Robbed of all joy and peace, the once beautiful Narnia has become a land of defeat and despair.

When I look at our world today, I see that it’s not so dissimilar to the magical land that the four Pevensie siblings first discover in the beginning of this story.

Already, in our latest issue of Be Love Magazine, you’ll have read about Amira who was forced to marry as a little girl of just 12 . . . and you’ll have seen the heart-breaking reality of the Rohingya crisis, as families flee—in fear for their lives—to overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh . . .

Always winter, but never Christmas.

If this was our world’s entire story—if bondage, decay, injustice, war, conflict, and suffering were its unhappy conclusion—then, who could blame us for feeling a little bit hopeless?

Thankfully, we know that it’s not!

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there is only one thing that can break the White Witch’s curse . . . a great lion and the true king of Narnia, Aslan.

Aslan has not been seen in Narnia for many years, in fact, he hasn’t even been sighted in living memory. Still, all of Narnia lives in hope of the prophecy of his return:

‘Wrong will be right when Aslan comes in sight, at the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more. When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death and when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again‘.

Just like Narnia, our world is not as it should be; and, just like Narnia, our world is awaiting the return of its true King to bring about restoration.

In Isaiah 65, we are given an incredible vision of the world redeemed and made right—a new heaven and a new earth, where there will be no sorrow, death, or injustice.

This is a world without poverty, where there is more than enough for everybody. It is a world where all people will be safe and enjoy a relationship with God. There is no place for oppression or exploitation in this world. Child marriage and violence are things of the past—the sounds of weeping and crying will be heard no more!

This is the grand story of the Bible—our relationship with God, redeemed; humanity’s relationship with creation, restored; our relationships with one another, made right.

Throughout the Gospels Jesus talks about the kingdom of God being here, in our midst. Not just a future world that we look forward to, but an active breaking in of that world through His reign. Here and now.

This is God’s plan and as NT Wright says, ‘He has dramatically launched this project through Jesus. Those who belong to Jesus are called, here and now, in the power of the Spirit, to be agents of that putting to- rights purpose‘.

So, as agents of that transformation, of God’s kingdom here and now, we work with him to put right what has gone wrong.

Wrong will be right, when Jesus comes in sight.