The Magician’s Nephew: Chapter 15 “The End of This Story and the Beginning of all the Others”
C.S. Lewis Read-Along, Vol. 6, Issue 16
The closing chapter of The Magician’s Nephew highlights lessons on sovereignty, obedience, warning, and hope. Lewis connects Narnia’s creation and dangers to the modern world while pointing readers back to the source of meaning and renewal. We gain hope despite our circumstances by looking to God’s face.
Chapter 15 “The End of This Story and the Beginning of all the Others”
Aslan says, “You need no rings when I am with you,” and the children realize they have left Narnia and are now in the Wood Between the Worlds (with a still sleeping Uncle Andrew).
Several times in the Narniad, Aslan notes the distinction between traveling between worlds with Him or through some other means. The characters also often acknowledge the differences.
That doesn’t mean Aslan is unaware when someone from Earth comes to Narnia without his immediate presence. As he tells Jill in The Silver Chair, “You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you.”
Lewis gives us a working example of God’s sovereign, perfect will compared to His permissive will. Lewis frequently acknowledged humanity’s free will, but also God’s active control over the situations and circumstances in this world.
Also in The Silver Chair, Puddleglum declares, “There are no accidents. Our guide is Aslan; and he was there when the giant king caused the letters to be cut, and he already knew all things that would come of them; including this.”
Traveling between worlds with Aslan is like our walking with Christ and following Him obediently in God’s perfect will. We will encounter difficulties, but life is smoother because we are following His path.
Sometimes, however, we go off on our own like those who stumble into Narnia by other means. Because of God’s sovereignty, we may take a longer, harder road, but we will end up where we need to be. He is so powerful that He can use our mistakes and failures and still work all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.1
