ONE RING TO RULE THEM ALL

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

If you are a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, and the “Lord of the Rings”, you will recognize the above quote.  If not, it means nothing to you; however, I ask that you bear with me and continue reading.  Let me explain first of all, very briefly, the “One Ring”.  The “One Ring” was forged by the dark, evil, fallen lord Sauron at Mount Doom.  It was one of twenty magical rings.  Nineteen of the rings were made by elven-smiths.  The 19 rings were for the rulers of the various “people groups” of Middle earth.  They were intended to by Sauron to seduce the rulers to evil.  The “One Ring” had power over the 19, who were dependent on the “One Ring”. The wielders of the 19 could be controlled by the wielder of “The One”.  If “The One” was destroyed, the power of the 19 would fade.  With this limited information, even readers, not familiar with the “Lord of the Rings”, can easily see the allegorical potential within the “Lord of the Rings” book/movies.

Tolkien was a friend and contemporary of C.S. Lewis.  Tolkien was instrumental in C.S. Lewis’s journey back to his Christian faith.  Lewis had abandoned his faith after the death of his mother, becoming disillusioned by God’s failure to heal his mother.  They worked together at Oxford.  Both wrote fictional children’s books that are enjoyed by adults. C.S. Lewis wrote the the Chronicles of Narnia and Tolkien wrote the The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.  These books, which now have been made into movies, are considered by many to be children fantasy that have a deeper allegorical theme.  C.S. intended his fantasy as an allegory of the Christian faith.  Tolkien never did, even though the fantasy was a fight between good and evil in the fictional “Middle Earth”. 

Fantasy books are not new.  They have been around since at least the 8^th century B.C.  The Iliad and Odyssey are probably the oldest even though they are written as poetry.  100’s of fantasy books have been written just in the last few years. The most popular examples are The Harry Potter series, the Marvel “books”/movies and the Star Wars books/movies.  The struggle between good and evil, “good warlock” vs “evil warlock”, good wizard vs evil wizard, good super heroes vs evil super villains is the common thread in all of these; as well as spiritism and supernatural ability.  

Recently, I went to the latest Star Wars movie with two of my grand daughters.  Four of the 5 previews were fantasy/super hero movies.   It is not my intent to debate the “good or bad’ about these books/movies.  I do, however, want to discuss the inward “spirit awareness” or “the search for God” that dwells in each of us that draws us to these books/movies.  We want heroes. We enjoy the struggle between good and evil.  We like to see good defeat evil in fantasy and real life.  We yearn for the supernatural.

Paul encountered this, when in Athens, he came upon their altar “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD”

Paul wrote about it in Romans:

From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

It has never been more evident than in the New Age Movement and the spiritism/spiritualism religion of today.   

Paul tells the Corinthians:

The god of this age has blinded the minds of those who don't have faith so they couldn't see the light of the gospel that reveals Christ's glory.

He tells the Ephesians that they “once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” He then warns them:

we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places

Yet, in spite of this, It is sad to say that the “non-Christians” are more conscious of spiritual evil around us than most Christians. That is not to say that we deny it, but fail to recognize it when we see it. We fail to give credence to it.  We live in a world where satan is actively seeking to destroy the church, while the church primarily sits on the sidelines like spectators at some football game, ignoring their command to do battle against satan.  We know the final outcome and piously mouth the phrase, “God is in control, nothing happens without God’s will”.  Why pray “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?  Does God will “sin”.  Did He not tell us to “resist the devil”?  Did He not command us to “put on the whole armor of God”?  We ignore the warnings to the church in the only book of the Bible that has a specific blessing included in it’s introduction:

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Sadly, it is probably the least read book by the majority of Christianity.  It is the most controversial.  It is the most ignored.  It is viewed as allegorical by many.  Rarely taken literally.  When read, it reads more like a Tolkien fantasy novel.  Hollywood has made 100’s of fantasy movies, but none are more violent than what is written in the book.  None are scarier.  None visualize the struggle between good and evil clearer.  None more relevant.  The thing that sets this book apart from all other fantasy books, is that it is NOT fantasy.  It is real. It is happening.  It will continue to happen.

The Book of which I speak is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.  To me, it is the most exciting, inspiring book of the Bible.  I challenge you to read it, study it and take it to heart, and be blessed.  Good will prevail, good will win; BUT more than that, GOD HAS WON, Satan has lost.  Every man will have to decide.  Every man will kneel; either in worship, adoration and in eternal victory, or in submission, surrender, defeat and eternal hell.

Jesus Christ, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:6-11

 Let me close with my re-write of the quote that I started this blog with.  This is real, accurate and a matter of life or death:

One Lord to rule them all, One Savior to save them all,

One Spirit to bring them all, and in the heavens unite them all.

I pray that everyone, reading this, will join me, in joining with this Lord, Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord

For J.R.R. Tolkien fans: