The Dragon Slayer

The great dragon was hurled down.

Revelation 12:9

In recent times, there has been an effort to rehabilitate the public image of dragons. Rather than fire-breathing monsters that pose a terrifying threat to humanity, they have become misunderstood creatures that just need to be trained and embraced. 

That idea might make for a good children’s film, but the Bible’s take is more blunt. The dragon imagery is used to depict the devastating enemy that stands opposed to God and all of his plans. He appears as the serpent in Genesis 3 and as the dragon in Revelation 12. He is called Satan, the devil—an angelic being, who was gripped with pride and rebelled against God and then set out to destroy everything God had made. The dragon has two great aims. Firstly, he is a deceiver. Jesus refers to him as “a liar and the father of lies”(John 8:44). Secondly, he is a destroyer; Jesus says he has been a murderer from the beginning. These are his operational tactics: to deceive and to destroy. He has no other weapons in his arsenal.

So, the dragon flatters and flirts with humanity. He is a con artist who offers people a version of reality that is not true. He sets himself up against the God of truth and twists God’s word in order to lead people into unbelief and pride. All lies can be traced back to him as the source.

False propaganda is particularly effective with people who are all too willing to have their egos flattered and their appetites satisfied. He has been working to cast this spell on humanity since the Garden of Eden. His deception has been disastrously effective.

And when the lies don’t work, he will simply lash out to cause as much harm as possible. He hates all of God’s image-bearers and especially those who would love God. You can see his hand in the very first murder when Cain killed his brother, Abel. And he has been continuing to stir up violence ever since.

This is the dragon. He has been deceiving and destroying and has caused untold harm. But in the face of this enemy the gospel holds out great hope. In 1 John 3:8 it says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” 

Jesus came to defeat the dragon, but he doesn’t overcome the dragon by becoming a more violent dragon with superior strength. Instead, he defeats the dragon by being the Lamb. It is so counterintuitive to a world that is obsessed with power. In a battle between a dragon and a lamb there is only one winner—the lamb will be ripped to pieces and his blood will be poured out. But here is the great paradox: it is the very blood that the dragon draws

from the lamb that is the means of the dragon’s great defeat (Revelation 12:11) The moment when the dragon seemed to be winning was the precise moment when his defeat was sealed.

Jesus destroyed Satan by deploying his great weapons of truth and love. At the cross, Satan was dealt a fatal blow. He is mortally wounded but he has not yet been fully destroyed. He still prowls the earth like a roaring lion looking for those that he can ruin. He still seeks to deceive the nations with his flattery and lies. But his final defeat is inevitable. When Jesus returns, he will complete the work he began at the cross. Jesus is the truth, and that will always be more powerful than lies. Jesus is pure love and that will always be more powerful than murder. So Jesus will win and the great dragon will be cast down to the place of eternal punishment that he fully deserves.

We are still in danger of falling for his flattery and lies. We may still hear his violent roar and find our hearts shaking. But we do not need to fear—Jesus is the Dragon Slayer. We are kept safe as we fill ourselves with the truth of Jesus. We are protected as we rest in his gentle love.

Jesus is wonderful because he is the humble Lamb who has defeated the treacherous dragon.

Where do you find your heart is deceived by the dragon’s lies? How does his defeat bring you hope and strength?

This is an excerpt taken from More of Jesus, an uplifting devotional that takes a fresh look at 50 incredible truths about Jesus.