ty and the Beast with my little niece (rather, I watched segments of it as my mum was braiding my hair as I was multitasking on the computer haha). Anyway, I've seen it before, quite a few times since we own the video, but this time I kinda saw it from a different perspective which I wanna share. So buckle up! and let's ride =) (If you have no patience/time then just read the closing remarks :)
~~~Prologue~~~
For those who are not acquainted with this Disney classic here's the Prologue (2.52min) : http://youtu.be/2IZaBeWgFqo
-> So yeah, according the the fairy tale, this one
young Prince had everything his heart desired but one day an Enchantress came along to test him.. He failed the test and was therefore turned into a hideous beast due to a selfish decision he made, the decision not to love. Not only did his decision affect him but also his whole castle and all who lived in it were placed under a powerful spell which would only be broken if he could learn to love another and earn their love in return before the last petal fell. If not he'd be doomed to remain a beast for eternity. "As the years passed, he fell into despair, and lost all hope, For who could ever learn to love...a Beast?
-> This prologue reminded me of yet another prologue, not of a fairy tale this time but of the story of reality. A story of a man and a woman (Adam and Eve) created in God's image enjoying life in the Garden of Eden until the Tempter came along to test them. They failed the test. They choose a candy-coated life sentence. They choose not to abide in the love and harmony created for them, but choose to satisfy their lust and greed hence they choose not life but death. They leave the garden ashamed and under a curse, in fact, all of creation falls under the same curse. The only way to break the curse is through a relationship with Love.
~Love came to the Rescue- The First Coming~
*Belle( "Beauty")- In the story, Belle (Beauty) ended up being separated from her father and got stuck living with the Beast and she later started to fall in love with him despite his obvious flaws. The love of Beauty, the antithesis of his 'beastliness' is what was necessary to break the spell.
*Jesus ("Savior")- In reality, God sent His son not just to live among us but to take upon Himself the punishment of our sin. It is the love and sacrifice of this loving and Holy God that sets us free from the curse.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinne
rs, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:10)
Lumiere:
Ha ha, we, my friends.
The day we have waited for may be at hand!
Cogsworth:
When I'm human again
Only human again
When the world once more making sense
All:
When I'm human again
So sweep the dust from the floor!
Let's let some light in the room!
I can feel, I can tell
Someone might break the spell
Any day now!
All:
Sweep up the years
Of sadness and tears
And throw them away!
Lumiere/Babette:
Shine up the brass on the door!
Alert the dustpail and the broom!
All:
If all goes as planned
Our time may be at hand!
We'll be gliding again!
Stepping, striding as fine as you please
Like a real human does
I'll be all that I was
On that glorious morn
When we're fin'lly reborn
And we're all of us human again!
->This song rings true for reality. It reminds me of this passage.
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." (Romans 8: 18-25)
(If this passage doesn't make sense just read on, it will make more sense by the end, hopefully :)
*Redemption & Restoration- The Second Coming*
So just when they had started falling in love, Belle had to leave the Beast to be with her father who was ill but she had promised to go back to the beast. The Beast started to lose hope of her return the more she delayed... Belle had ran into complications named Gaston and his angry mob lol, who ended up trying to kill the beast in a battle between Gaston and his mob versus Belle and her castle friends trying to defend the beast. That's what happened right before this clip. Here are my favorite quotes from the clip:
Beast: You came back
Belle: If only I'd come here sooner
Beast: Maybe it's better this way.
Belle:No! Don't talk like that. We're together now.
Everything will be fine. You'll see.
-> Then the beast dies. And undergoes his long-awaited transformation into the handsome Prince he once was. Belle gets to see him as he is and as they reunite in a passionate kiss, the spell is also broken off the castle and its subjects and they are transformed! Their prayer was answered! They were finally reborn! Made human again! In the words of Lumiere, "It's a miracle!" And they lived happily ever after =)
*Back to reality: Jesus came, lived among us, demonstrated His love for us by dying on the cross and taking our punishment upon Himself, He rose from the dead thus conquering even death and setting us free from the curse of death, freeing us to be who we were created to be: sons and daughters of God, royalty! He then returned to be with God the Father in heaven where He is preparing a place for us. And He is coming back for us so that we can be with Him forever and we can live happily ever after with Him in His Kingdom of Heaven :D
" See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure." ( 1 John 3: 1-3)
"Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18)
We started with Genesis in the Garden of Eden so let's end in Revelation when Eden is restored: (Revelation 22)
"No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever." (vs. 3-5)
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. (vs. 12-14)
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. (vs. 16- 17)
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
____________Closing Remarks_____________
For me, seeing the bigger picture gives me Hope.
I get discouraged a lot since I'm not as close to God as I used to be. Yeah He still speaks to me through His Word and speaks through me and stuff but communication is possible without intimacy, but I want intimacy as well. Sometimes He seems so far away. So I'm praying that He gives us the power to believe in Him and His promises. He said He'll never leave us nor forsake us- even when we stray He is right there waiting to receive us with arms wide open. I pray that He gives us the power to understand this kind of love and grasp all that He has freely given to us. I pray that He also gives us the power to persevere through all the difficulties of this life (all the Gastons and angry mobs that try to weigh us down and keep us from experiencing God's love).
Listen to this really powerful song:
"You're Never giving up" by Jonathan & Melissa Helser:
"What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(Romans 8: 31-35, 37-39)
His Love NEVER fails...(1 Corinthians 13).
Be encouraged! Let's place our HOPE in His unfailing love.
He is coming back soon!
Songs:
"Midnight Cry" by Michael English:
"Yeshua" by Fernandinho:
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