“The LORD your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” ~ Zephaniah 3:17
“So it is written: The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth and made of dust; the second man is from heaven. Like the man made of dust, so are those who are made of dust; like the heavenly man, so are those who are heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of the man made of dust, we will also bear the image of the heavenly man.” ~ 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
It is written on our hearts to long for a Warrior-Lover. We long to be worth fighting for, to be worth the struggle. However, we also long to be a warrior-lover for someone else – to fight passionately for our beloved, no matter the cost. We want to be both the beloved and the warrior-lover, and in God’s story, we get to be. He is our Warrior-Lover, who saw us as worth fighting for, even unto death. After experiencing such lavish love, we are called to be warrior-lovers to those around us – to show them the same love shown to us.
And yet, we don’t always feel like we have a Warrior-Lover, and often we fail to be warrior-lovers ourselves.
It’s why Prince Phillip is so wonderful. He is the perfect picture of the warrior-lover, pursing his beloved despite her not being his equal (he thinks). He valiantly fights “all the forces of hell” (as Maleficent says) to save her.[1]
If Aurora is a second Zellandine, then Phillip is a second Troylus – a better Troylus. Philip is everything Troylus was: noble, valiant, strong, brave. But unlike Troylus, Phillip does not betray his beloved. Rather, the warrior-lover saves his beloved once and for all.
This is where Zellandine’s story changes. This is where it is redeemed.
A Better Adam
In the very beginning of this series, I discussed how Adam was the very first Sleeping Beloved. He is also the very first warrior-lover. As Eve’s warrior-lover, he had this one chance to stand up for his beloved in the midst of her distress…but he didn’t (Gen. 3:1-7). Like Troylus, he failed; and the beloved’s heart fell into a death-like sleep…
Then, another Adam came – a better Adam. He is everything Adam was: noble, valiant, strong, brave. But unlike Adam, Jesus the Messiah does not betray his Beloved. He pursues His Beloved, despite her not being his equal. He quite literally fights “all the forces of hell” to save us.
On Calvary, our story changed. That is where we were redeemed. Yes, Jesus our Warrior-Lover saves the Beloved once and for all.
Phillip and Aurora’s story is the quintessential “happy ending”. It’s perfect. It echoes the longing in our hearts and reminds us that our “happy ending” is secured by our Warrior-Lover.
It inspires us to take heart in a broken world, and to heed the awakening call of our Warrior-Lover…for we know it will all be made right.
Sources
[1] Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, 1959.
