Dragon Slayers

The Chaos Dragon

Genesis 1:1-2

The Chaos Dragon has 3 realms: the waters, the darkness, and the wilderness.

Biblical illustrations are like 2 pieces of paper glued together: the metaphorical picture and literal meaning cannot be separate.

The Dragon in the Garden

Main idea: The Chaos Dragon wants to drag us away from God as we give in to our own desires.

Genesis 1:26-27

God created mankind to work alongside Him in bringing order to chaos. Man and woman were created to point to God and be in relationship with Him.

Genesis 3:1-5

The Chaos Dragon enters the scene. The word for serpent is moreso used to describe a sea monster than a snake, hence, we see the beginning of the Dragon in the Bible.

The Chaos Dragon’s objective is to pull God’s Creation back into chaos by getting His Creation to choose to live their own way rather than God’s way.

Ultimately, humanity chooses to live their own way, and to put their own desires before God. Sin enters the world, and the Dragon as separated humans from God.

Genesis 3:14-15

God makes a promise, that eventually He would slay the Dragon through a descendant of Eve’s, which will reunite God with His Creation once and for all.

What does this mean for us?

Satan, the Chaos Dragon wants to drag you away from God’s presence and promises. He wants to make you his agent of chaos and does this by enticing you to give into your own desires.

God offers you His presence now and forever, through Jesus.

Colossians 3:14-15

Through Jesus, God promises to save humanity from their own decisions and from the destruction of Satan, the Chaos Dragon by restoring us back to who we were supposed to be in the garden of Eden — God’s image bearers.

David the Dragon…Slayer?

Main idea: David is an example of how faith in God helps us slay the dragon, but faith in ourselves turns us into the dragon’s agents.

1 Samuel 17:1-8

Goliath is described using dragon imagery. He’s big, his armor is covered in scales, and he comes from the wilderness — one of the realms of the chaos dragon.

1 Samuel 17:32-37

As a shepherd, David lived in the wilderness and protected his sheep from beasts that would try to hurt them. David remembers how God protected him in those times, and now he sees Goliath, a wilderness beast, here to hurt the people of Israel, God’s sheep…and through his faith in God he slays the dragon Goliath.

1 Samuel 17:41-51

David dives into battle with nothing but a sling and a stone, because his real weapon is his faith in God. It was God’s power that enabled David to slay the dragon.

2 Samuel 11:15, 14

Unfortunately, we see David fall to the dragon’s weapon of temptation. Satan (the dragon) uses David’s desire for Bathsheba to get him to sin against God and others.

We need a new dragon slayer, one that won’t fall victim to the ways of the evil one.

What does this mean for us?

1 Peter 5:8

Like we see with David, Satan hunts his prey when they are weak and alone, like David was when he should have been in battle. We need to be on guard for the ways Satan will try to tempt us away from God.

John 3:16

Even in our sin, God never gives up on us. David found God’s forgiveness and we can too. In fact, we find God’s forgiveness in a more powerful way than even David could have, through Jesus.

Jesus the Dragon Slayer

Main idea: Jesus entered the realms of the dragon and defeated him each time. Ultimately, Jesus defeated the dragon by dying in our place.

Matthew 1:1

Our better, perfect dragon slayer, the one who would crush the head of the serpent forever, comes from the line of David.

Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus enters into the wilderness and defeats the dragon by resisting temptation.

Matthew 11:23-27

Jesus enters into the waters and defeats the dragon by rebuking the storm.

Matthew 27:45-50, Genesis 3:15

God promised in Genesis that the offspring of Eve who would crush the head of the Serpent would first have his heel struck. At first, it seems like the Dragon has defeated Jesus in the realm of darkness.

Matthew 28:1-8

But then, Jesus comes out of the realm of darkness and defeats the dragon by raising back to life.

What does this mean for us?

Ephesians 2:8-10

This story isn’t about us, it isn’t about the Dragon, it’s all about Jesus. Nothing we have done or will do could ever earn us a place with God again. Only through faith in God’s grace do we find a relationship with God again.

Living as Dragon Slayers

We live as dragon slayers by following Jesus’s example, dying to our old selfs and being made into new Creations.

Galatians 2:20

Like Jesus, we allow our old selves to be crucified. We are then raised to life, restored to how we were supposed to be in the first place: glorifying and worshipping God.

Galatians 5:22-25

Our new life in God produces fruit that points to Jesus. We practice this fruit as a way to slay the Dragons that we face in our lives.

Ephesians 6:10-20

We don’t wage war like the dragon does. The dragon wages war with lies and deceit. We wage war with God’s truth and love. We use our relationship with God as armor to take into battle as we bear His fruit against the enemy, and slay the dragon each day.

What does this mean for us?

Through our faith in Christ, we experience God’s grace that allows us to live a new life in the forgiveness of our sins.