Christian The Lion

Well, tonight was the night I had prayed and prepared for a long time. The Rodeo was at the Comcast Arena.

I spread the good word of the gospel.

The security guard came up to me afterward and said, are you going to be here speaking Spanish tomorrow evening. I asked what was going on tomorrow night that I needed to speak Spanish. He told me, they were going to have a Mexican Music Festival. I said, "no, I won't be able to be there". Then he said, I like to hear what you have to say. He said, we get complaints about you, but I just tell them I like to hear you.

Here's what I said...

Hi friends, my name is Keith, and I’m a born-again Christian.   I've been blessed beyond measure.   I have peace with God and a future in heaven; and I’d like to share that with you, so I hope I can have your attention for a few moments.   There's a video on YouTube that recently went viral; It caught my attention.    It's a video about a lion and two Australian travelers.   The video is from 1971, but the story began in 1969 at Harrods department store in London.  Harrods brought a real lion cub into their store as a promotional stunt.  And these two Australian men, Ace Bourke and John Rendall, a couple of bohemian filmmakers actually purchased the lion cub and took it home with them.  They named the cub Christian; Christian the lion.  They fed him and cared for him, and treated him like a pet.  But when the cub grew too big for them to adequately take care of, they made arrangements to have him shipped back to Africa, and reintroduced to the wild, in Kenya.  An entire year went by, after they had Christian shipped back to Africa and Ace and John decided to go to Kenya themselves, to try to find Christian.  Which they did and they were able to find the him, and they filmed the reunion.  The film shows Christian (now full grown) come up over a mound and catch a glimpse of Ace and John;  my fear was, that the lion would begin to stalk them, instead he recognized them and trotted up to them and jumped up on them with his paws on their shoulders and began to nuzzle them like a big old kitty cat.

Two film documentaries were made and a book was written about this whole experience back in 1971.   Now, fast forward forty three years later, the video of Christian the lion has gone viral on YouTube.  You can look it up. It's quite touching.

But think about it, those men should have been lunch for a lion.  It's natural for a lion to eat things that look like food to it. Those men would have looked like food to any lion.  They should have been an afternoon snack for a lion, but Christian wasn't just any lion, he recognized Ace and John as the two men who had raised him, and cared for him over a year before.  Instead of attacking and eating them, Christian was like an over-sized kitten the way he was affectionate toward them.  That same lion, who under normal circumstances would have eaten men, was completely safe and tame toward the two men with whom he was well acquainted.

The story of Christian the lion is a very much a Christian story.  Let me explain…  I’d like to draw a comparison between Christian the lion and God Himself.   As with any analogy, it isn't perfect, it breaks down, but I think it's valuable to illustrate a point.  I’m going to describe God, who He is and what He is like, His Character, Nature, His attributes, and I'm going to use some adjectives of God that He uses of Himself from the Bible.

1 John, chapter 4 says, “God is love”.  That doesn't sound like a lion you say, hang on, I’m not finished.  Mark 10:18 says, “God alone is good”.  That’s nice.  Keep listening.  Ephesians 2:4 says God is rich in mercy.   Isaiah 6:3 says, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, the whole earth is full of His glory.”  God is holy, which means God is pure, righteous, set apart from you and I, without sin.  This same God, who is love, good, merciful and holy, is also Sovereign.  In other words, God is boss; He is in control.  The Bible describes God as King… Just like we call the Lion, the King of the beasts, God is King of Kings.  He has the authority over our lives.  Now I know we as Americans value freedom and self-determination, I understand that; but according to the Bible, not only is God in control, but He has every right to be in control because He is the Creator of the universe.  Daniel 4:17 ...to the intent that the living may know that the most High [God] rules in the kingdom of men....    Psalm 115:3 Our God is in heaven! He does whatever he pleases!    Psalm 135:6 He does whatever he pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the ocean depths.   In fact Revelation 5:5 calls Jesus “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah”, so I think it’s fair to compare God with a lion.

Because just as by nature, a lion is not compatible with a person, so also God's nature is not compatible with our nature. The Bible says without holiness no man shall see the Lord.  The Bible says For our God is a consuming fire.  No that doesn't mean God is a blast furnace, but it does mean that people like you and I, who are sinful by nature cannot dwell in the presence of a holy God.  Just like a dry leaf cannot dwell with fire, and a person would not walk into the Lion’s cage at the zoo, we humans, in our sinful state, cannot dwell in the presence of Almighty God.  Psalm 50:21-22 ...you may have thought that God was altogether like you and I, but I’m going to correct that... Consider this, you that forget God, lest He tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.  The Bible says its a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  So contrary to popular religious culture, God is not our good buddy in the sky… He’s not the man upstairs and he is certainly not our Divine Butler.   In fact, the Bible goes so far as saying that we are enemies with God in our minds through wicked works.   The Bible says God’s wrath and anger abides upon us because we've sinned  against Him.   He is the Holy and Righteous, Just Judge of the universe who will judge the secrets of men’s hearts?  We can know why this is true if we examine ourselves under the spotlight of God’s law the Ten Commandments.  The Bible says in Proverbs 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light…

The Commandments

The Gospel

Repentance and Faith

Just like Christian the lion accepted and loved Ace and John because he knew them, we can be safe with God if He knows us,  Acts 10:35  ...whoever fears God, and works righteousness, is accepted with him.  The only work of righteousness that you can do that will be accepted by God is put your faith in the one He sent to be the sacrifice for your sins.  The Bible says in more than one place, the just [or righteous] shall live by faith.  Ephesians 1:6  [By God’s’] grace, He has made us accepted in the beloved.  That’s Jesus Christ; if you are found in Christ, you will be accepted.   If you are left in your sins, only a fearful judgement awaits you.   Here is a grave warning, from Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus said, “Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out demons? and in your name done many wonderful works?  And then will I say to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you worker of iniquity.  John 10:14, Jesus says of Himself, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep , and I am known by my sheep”.  1 Corinthians 8:3   But if anyone loves God, that one is known by God.  2 Timothy 2:19, “Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."   Matthew 10:32-33 Jesus said, “Whoever confesses me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven.  But whoever denies me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”  Ephesians 2:14 For he [Jesus Christ] himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

This is important too, 1 John 3:6  Whoever abides in Christ will avoid sin, but whoever lives in sin, has not seen him, and does not know Him.   Jesus said, Enter by the strait gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the path that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in there at, but strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that find it.   Jesus said, I am the Way, I am the Truth and I am the Life, and no one comes to the Father, but by me.   1 John 2:3 says, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.”  So you will see changes in your life when you come to know Him and He knows you.   Ephesians 5:9 says, “For the fruit of the God’s Spirit being in your life will be goodness, righteousness and truth” 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

The New Birth

Addendum [9/1/2014]

1 Chronicles 29:11-12

Psalm 115:3

Proverbs 16:9

Job 42:2

Isaiah 46:9-10

Psalm 103:19

Proverbs 19:21

Lamentations 3:37

Ephesians 1:11-12

Ephesians 1:11

Romans 8:28

Romans 9:18-21

Psalm 135:6

Isaiah 45:7

Proverbs 21:1

Ephesians 1:4

Proverbs 16:4

Job 23:13

Ephesians 2:10

Daniel 4:35

1 Timothy 6:15

Isaiah 14:27

Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

2 Chronicles 20:6

John 6:44

Job 12:23

Job 12:13-14

Genesis 50:19-21

1 Samuel 2:6

Deuteronomy 32:39

Philippians 2:13

Jeremiah 14:22

Ezra 6:22

Acts 13:48

Lamentations 3:38

Isaiah 43:13

Isaiah 14:24

Proverbs 21:30

Proverbs 16:33

Isaiah 40:23-24

Job 12:13-16

Revelation 13:7

Philippians 1:12

Daniel 2:21

Jeremiah 27:5

Isaiah 46:11

Isaiah 10:5-19