Happily Ever After: Snow White

I love fairy tales. Growing up, you couldn't drag me away from books and movies that were full of princesses and happily ever afters. Right now, my church is doing a series where we're studying Fairy Tales to find Biblical principles, called Happily Ever After. This week, we studied Snow White.

Now, I'm sure you know the Snow White story: the beautiful girl who was banished to the forest by her evil step-mother. She ends up finding shelter in the woods, where she sings with the forest animals, meets the seven dwarfs, and is taken in and is accepted and loved and has peace. The dwarfs told Snow White that when they left for work, she shouldn't open the door to anyone. Unfortunately, when Snow White was alone one day, an old woman came to the door and offered her an apple. Snow White allowed temptation to rise, and she opened the door, took the apple - which happened to be poisoned. When she bit the poisoned apple - she died.

Back when God first created the world, he set up a beautiful garden for Adam and Eve. It was a place of acceptance and love and peace. God told them they could eat from any tree in the garden, except one. (See: Genesis 2:17-18) They were in a perfect world... but temptation came, and Eve gave in, eating from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and offered it to Adam who eat from it as well. Then - they died spiritually. By committing that act of disobedience, they sinned, and therefore became disconnected from God.

Get it: by opening the door, Snow White disobeyed the dwarfs who made the rule for her own protection - and she died. By allowing temptation to lead to sin, Adam and Eve died. In Snow White, everyone is in mourning. Adam and Even are thrown out of the Eden. It's hopeless.

Back to Snow White: a prince comes, and he finds here in the middle of the dying forest. Even though she's dead the prince still sees her beauty and worth and he gives her the Heimlich maneuver (yeah, that's not in Disney version!) and she comes back to life as the poisoned apple is dislodged from her throat. He offers to marry her, and Snow White agrees. They go back to the the Prince's kingdom, and they live happily ever after.

The same way, a rescue mission was sent to Earth from God himself. The Son of God came down, and sacrificed his own life so to save his beloved ones. We were DEAD and yet when God looked at us, He saw something - and He valued it as worth saving. He brought us back to life. And just like the prince in Snow White, he offered to let us come back with him. Never forced, but offered to give us that Happily Ever After in His kingdom, where we're going to find acceptance, and love and peace again.

Hopefully, this will make you want to reread the story of Adam and Eve (Genesis 1-3 specifically) and maybe reacquaint yourself with your own personal Prince, who went on the ultimate rescue mission to bring you back to life.

"For God so loved the world, He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16

Thankful for the Happily Ever After,
Casey

P.S. If you want to hear the sermon online, you can go to: www.forwardfellowship.com
and click the "Listen to Forward Fellowship Sermons Online" button. You won't regret it!