Today, the 28th of July, is the 28th anniversary of the day Keith Green was killed in a plane crash at the young age of 28. Keith Green was one of those lights that burned bright and fast. In the brief years that he lived as a follower of Jesus, he wrote some of the best worship music of the 1970s, he influenced greats like Bob Dylan and Rich Mullins, and he inspired thousands of people to head out to the mission field. He also played a mean piano.

If you’re 40 or older, you will probably remember Keith as a zealous recording artist who wore his convictions on his sleeve. If you’re younger than 40 you may at least be aware that Keith wrote some of the songs we sing in church, classics like O Lord, You’re Beautiful and Create in Me a Clean Heart.

Keith Green was a firebrand for Jesus. People used to compare him to John the Baptist, and not just because of his passion. Keith had little time for hypocrites. Keith was very open and honest about his personal struggles, but if you weren’t on fire for Jesus, he was going to let you know what he thought about that! He was famous for saying things like this:

“If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies, or talking to friends, rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing him, sharing his cares and his burdens, weeping and rejoicing with him, then how are you going to handle forever and ever in his presence? You’d be bored to tears in heaven, if you’re not ecstatic about God now!”

Keith stepped on a few toes when he started holding concerts for free. He then proceeded to jump on those same toes by claiming that Christian musicians who charged for their concerts or Christian bookshops who sold records for profit were sinning. How could you put a price-tag on the gospel? Keith had strong convictions about things and those who didn’t share his convictions were likely to be judged guilty of compromising.

Of course Christian young people just loved it! Those who were too young to notice – myself included – got fired up about these things later when reading about Keith in the book No Compromise. We wanted to be as sold out and radical as he was.

But what many people don’t know was that Keith’s zeal often led to crushing disappointment with his own perceived failings. He’d promise God that he was going to pray for an hour or read five chapters of the Bible before breakfast and then, when he’d slept in late, he would be devastated at having let God down. Like many zealous Christians, Keith based his relationship with God on his own performance. If he didn’t “feel” right with God then he believed he wasn’t right. This self-centered view sometimes blinded him to the love of God. He once confided to a friend, “Sometimes I’m not sure if God loves me” (No Compromise, p.355).

Happily, in the final year of his life, Keith the Firebrand encountered the grace of a loving God who accepted him just the way he was. He met John Dawson, of YWAM fame, and through that relationship began to re-discover the love of Christ. As his wife Melody tells in The Keith Green Story, Keith softened and began to rethink his approach to ministry. He wrote letters apologizing to those he had offended, including those profiteering Christian book-sellers:

“My desire to not exclude anyone, has not decreased at all… I hope you can understand that I am a man of principle, and yet, like a pendulum, I have a tendency to go too far to make a point. I fear that in the past I have done just that.” (No Compromise, p.352)

Without compromising his beliefs, Keith became a giver of grace. Relationships were restored and he knew real peace. Having encountered the Father-heart of God, Keith released his final, and most worship-oriented album of all, Songs for the Shepherd. Remember, this was 1982, years before most Christian recording artists started releasing worship albums.

One of the songs on that album is There is a Redeemer. This song was originally written by Melody Green in the late 1970s. When she and Keith went to record Songs for the Shepherd, she introduced him to her song by singing these now-famous lyrics:

There is a Redeemer,
Jesus, God’s own Son,
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,
Oh, Holy One!

Thank you O my Father,
For giving us Your Son,
And leaving Your Spirit,
‘Til the work on earth is done.

As Melody remembers in No Compromise (p.327), Keith loved the song but wanted to make it longer. Within a few minutes he had come up with the following verse:

When I stand in Glory,
I will see His face,
And there I’ll serve my King forever,
In that holy place.

Five short months later Keith was standing in Glory, seeing his Father face-to-face.

About 10 years ago I watched a film of Keith Green leading a Bible study. I guess it was recorded after his grace-awakening because he just shone with the peace of God. I recall he said something like this:

“When I was a new believer, people used to call me a prophet, and I liked that label. But after a while I began to realize that being a ‘prophet’ was just an excuse for being moody. I don’t want to be known as a prophet. I just want to be a Christian.”

Me too. Whatever your talent or field of expertise, whatever your ministry or platform, to be recognized by others as a follower of Christ is just about the greatest honor there is.

If you remember the late 1970s, you may recall the brouhaha that occurred when Dylan famously became a Christian. For a while the Christian world was abuzz with its latest celebrity convert. Dylan even became mates with Keith Green and performed on So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt.

And then everything died down again.

People wanted to know, was he saved or wasn’t he? God knows. (If that’s not enough for you, Darren Hirst wrote a nice piece on Dylan’s spiritual journal for Crossrhythms magazine here.)

But what I know is that Dylan wrote some of his best music at around the time of his conversion experience. The classic Slow Train Coming of 1979 was followed immediately by Saved in 1980. Although Saved didn’t do so well on the charts, I like it just fine. My favorite track on that album is the eponymous Saved. I used to play it loud on the church sound system after meetings. It rocks, and the lyrics are the uncomplicated and grateful confession of a man who knows he’s been set free from sin and death.

But don’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourself below. And happy birthday Bob!

Saved, by Bob Dylan and Tim Drummond

I was blinded by the devil
Born already ruined
Stone-cold dead
As I stepped out of the womb
By His grace I have been touched
By His word I have been healed
By His hand I’ve been delivered
By His spirit I’ve been sealed

I’ve been saved, by the blood of the lamb
Saved, by the blood of the lamb
Saved, saved
And I’m so glad
Yes, I’m so glad
I’m so glad, so glad
I want to thank You, Lord
I just want to thank You, Lord
Thank You, Lord

By His truth I can be upright
By His strength I do endure
By His power I’ve been lifted
In His love I am secure
He bought me with a price
Freed me from the pit
Full of emptiness and wrath
And the fire that burns in it

I’ve been saved…

Nobody to rescue me
Nobody would dare
I was going down for the last time
But by His mercy I’ve been spared
Not by works
But by faith in Him who called
For so long I’ve been hindered
For so long I’ve been stalled

I’ve been saved, by the blood of the lamb
Saved, by the blood of the lamb
Saved, saved
And I’m so glad
Yes, I’m so glad
I’m so glad, so glad
I want to thank You, Lord
I just want to thank You, Lord
Thank You, Lord

“Have you forgotten the Deep Magic?” asked the Witch.
“Let us say I have forgotten it,” answered Aslan gravely. “Tell us of this Deep Magic.”
“Tell you?” said the Witch, her voice growing suddenly shriller. “Tell you what is written on that very Table of Stone which stands beside us?… You at least know the Magic which the Emperor put into Narnia at the very beginning. You know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a right to a kill.”
“Oh,” said Mr Beaver. “So that’s how you came to imagine yourself a queen – because you were the Emperor’s hangman. I see.”
“Peace, Beaver,” said Aslan, with a very low growl.
“And so,” continued the Witch, “that human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property.”
“Come and take it then,” said the Bull with the man’s head in a great bellowing voice.
“Fool,” said the Witch with a savage smile that was almost a snarl, “do you really think your master can rob me of my rights by mere force? He knows the Deep Magic better than that. He knows that unless I have blood as the Law says all Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water.”
“It is very true,” said Aslan, “I do not deny it.” (pp.128-9)

In Narnia, the Deep Magic is a law of justice much like the old covenant law in the Bible. Just as the Biblical law was written on stone tablets, the Deep Magic was engraved on a Stone Table. Although both serve a just purpose, both are ultimately ministries of death (2 Cor 3:7). Knowing this, the Witch attempts to use the Deep Magic for her own nefarious purposes.

Like Satan in our world, the White Witch is a legalist who uses the Law to accuse and condemn men. She is a religious spirit whose desire is to control and rob people of freedom and joy. She entraps Narnians in stone and has the whole country under her wintry curse.

Now, because of Edmund’s sin, all of Narnia is in peril. The whole land is in danger of being destroyed “in fire and water.” Edmund is thus a type of First Adam:

“Sin came into the world through one man, and his sin brought death with it. As a result, death has spread to the whole human race because everyone has sinned.” (Rms 5:12, GNB)

The result of Adam’s sin and Edmund’s, was a death sentence for the entire world. And in both cases, propitiation, or satisfaction, demanded blood.

You know what happens next. Aslan gives his life up for Edmund satisfying the bloodthirsty demands of the Law. Edmund is spared and Narnia is saved. Happily, Aslan rises from the dead revealing a Deeper Magic:

“Oh, you’re real, you’re real! Oh Aslan!” cried Lucy, and both girls flung themselves upon him and covered him with kisses.
“But what does it all mean?” asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.
“It means,” said Aslan, “that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treason was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table and Death itself would start working backwards. And now – “
“Oh yes. Now?” said Lucy, jumping up and clapping her hands.
“Oh, children,” said the Lion, “I feel my strength coming back to me. Oh, children, catch me if you can!” (p.148)

Our lives were forfeit, but God loved us so much that He sent us His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 Jn 4:10). If the Deep Magic of Narnia represents the old covenant law which condemns, then the Deeper Magic represents the grace and goodness of God which redeems and sets men free. As you can probably guess, the Deeper Magic is better than the Deep Magic!

Grace trumps law. Just as Aslan’s sacrifice undid the Witch’s diabolical scheme, Jesus’ death and resurrection destroyed the devil’s work. This was not a contest of equals. Aslan was never in any danger of losing to the Witch. In what she thought was her moment of triumph, he was actually disarming and defeating her. The Stone Table – that vile place of execution – became a place of deliverance for the whole land. Future Narnians would come to revere the site as hallowed ground.

On the cross of Calvary, Jesus became the propitiation for the sins of the world (1 Jn 2:2). On the cross, the righteous demands of the law that stood against us were fully satisfied. If those demands had not been fully satisfied, Jesus would not have been raised from the dead.

“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Rms 4:25)

When we see the risen Jesus we can rejoice knowing that our debt has been fully paid. His resurrection testifies to our justification. For the Christian who apprehends this truth, every day is Easter Sunday.

This is pretty mind-blowing stuff when you’re a teenager who thinks anyone who doesn’t go to your particular kind of church is deceived and in danger of hell-fire!

But reading this again as a middle-aged man what struck me most was not Aslan’s inclusiveness, but the name he gave to Emeth. This also had a deep effect on the man himself, for he says:

“Then he breathed upon me and took away the trembling from my limbs and caused me to stand upon my feet. And after that, he said not much, but that we should meet again, and I must go further up and further in. Then he turned him about in a storm and flurry of gold and was gone suddenly.

“And since then, O Kings and Ladies, I have been wandering to find him and my happiness is so great it even weakens me like a wound. And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me Beloved, me who am but a dog – ” (p.155)

Do you know that God calls us Beloved too?

At the River Jordan the Voice from Heaven said of Jesus,

“This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17, KJV).

Ephesians 1:6 tells us that God has accepted us “in the Beloved” (KJV). This means that God relates to us in the same way that He relates to Jesus. He accepts us, is well pleased with us, and He calls us His beloved sons.

Joseph Prince writes about this in his book, Destined to Reign. He notes that in Matthew 3 God says of Jesus, “this is my beloved Son,” but in Matthew 4 the devil says, “If you are the Son of God…” The devil did not remind Jesus that He was the beloved Son of God and neither does he remind us. The devil doesn’t want us to know what God thinks of us because once you know you are beloved, says Prince, everything changes. We rise up against the enemy’s temptations and we stand secure in our God-given identity.

“Beloved, there is nothing you can do today to make God love you more, and there’s nothing you can do to make Him love you any less… Beloved, it’s not enough that you know that God loves everyone. You need to know and believe that He loves you, and let that revelation burn in your heart, especially when you fail.” (Destined to Reign, pp.300-1)

It is such an awesome privilege to be adopted as a son of God (Gal 3:26). But we are more than sons; we are His beloved sons.

Lewis was onto something here. He knew that when we apprehend the divine audacity of God calling us Beloved, our joy is so overwhelming that it weakens us like a wound. And knowing that we are His Beloved, it is the easiest thing to turn our backs on the world and set out to find Him and to be where He is.