What If Your Favorite Fantasy Trope is Actually True?

Royalty is among the most popular tropes in fantasy. It may be because of the high stakes, the character development, the surprises and secret identities, even the dramatic battles to take the throne and wrestle the power away from a tyrant. This trope has been resonating with young and old for years, as proved by works such as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. There is something in each of us that is drawn to a normal human discovering they were meant for greatness. In fact, I believe we all have the desire for royalty echoing deep within ourselves.

This begs the question: why does the royalty trope resonate so deeply within us as a society? I’d like to propose that the reason this trope seems to always be around and never runs out of style (even though it does undergo a few changes) is because we were all created for something bigger than ourselves. I believe our fascination with this trope in fiction and entertainment is because there is a part of us that recognizes we were made to be royalty.

Our Original Design

At its root, this trope has its origin in God and His creation of all things. God, the Lord and Ruler of all, created humans to co-reign over the earth alongside Him.

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'” – Genesis 1:26, NKJV

The Fall and the Need for a Hero

As we know, Adam and Eve failed to trust in God’s plan for their lives and thus sin entered the world. Adam and Eve, the King and Queen of creation, signed their power and authority away to Satan. Now there would be a perpetual struggle between humanity and evil, a battle to obtain the upper hand and restore the power and glory that had been lost. But no matter the attempts of humanity to restore itself to its original position, evil always seemed to win.

And so humanity found itself in a position of needing an external power, a hero, who could defeat the hold of sin and re-establish the royal status of humanity. The solution was found in Jesus. But at what great cost? This man with the power to restore humanity to its royal status before a righteous God could only do so by offering Himself as a sacrifice and dying to fulfill the debt humanity had incurred before the Lord of all. And so, at the hands of His very own creation, Jesus was put to death.

“He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.” – Colossians 2:14, NLT

The Victory and Restoration

When all hope seemed lost, and after three dark days, Jesus rose again. He had paid humanity’s debt in full, and had taken back the stolen power, authority and glory of humanity.

“I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.” – Revelation 1:18, NLT

He made a way possible for the brokenness of man to be made whole. Now the way was fully paved and prepared for humanity to retake their place as co-regents of God and ambassadors of His Kingdom.

The only thing left to do was re-teach humanity how to come back to the King and how to live like royalty.

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.” – Matthew 6:33, NLT

Why Your Heart Burns for These Stories

And that is the Gospel. That is the Good News preached worldwide for centuries. It is a truth that when presented fictitiously in a fantasy world sets each heart ablaze with dreams and desire. Why does it echo so strongly? Why does it resonate so deeply? Why do we wish for all these fantastical stories to be real? Because at their very core, they are. We were made for greatness and there’s a part within each one of us that hasn’t forgotten the glory into which it was created. Why do we continuously aim higher and reach for the stars in the pursuit of bettering ourselves? Because we were made to live like royal sons and daughters and co-heirs with Christ.

God made you for so much more, and I believe your heart burns within you in the stories you read because your spirit realizes that God is calling it higher.

Your Call to Return

What, then, should you do? Come back to the King. Give Him your brokenness and let Him restore you to the glorious person you were always meant to be. You’re never too far gone for Him. Trust me, He saw the darkest parts of humanity and still sent a perfect man to redeem it.

“But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” – Romans 5:8, NLT

So come back to the King. Give Him your heart. Let Him shape it and mold it in whichever way He pleases. Let Him teach you to walk like royalty, live like royalty and serve like royalty. Let Him shape and mold your heart into the masterpiece He’s had in mind for years.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” – Ephesians 2:10, NLT

And whenever you find yourself drawn to a story about royalty, whenever your heart burns wishing the story was real, remember that it is. It’s real and it echoes within you like a whisper ready to be sung. You were created to be a royal son or daughter of the King, and He is calling you back.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” – 1 Peter 2:9, NKJV

“For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'” – Romans 10:13, NKJV

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Photo by Chelsea Essig on Unsplash