Dragons Can Be Beaten
Posted by Chris on June 16, 2013 under Front Page Posts, Sermons
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June 16, 2013 – Dragons are featured in ancient stories, modern classics, and video games:
Beowulf
Beowulf, The Hobbit,
The Hobbit
Skyrim
and Skyrim. Even the new movie Pacific Rim is about knights in shining armor defending the world from terrible monsters. In every form, there’s something about the story of the knight and the dragon that reminds us the there is a conflict between good and evil in the universe.
The best known story of a knight fighting a dragon is the story of St. George. St. George and the Dragon is everywhere! You will find it represented in nations from England to Ethiopia. Monuments and illustrations depicting St. George slaying the dragon are visible in cities in the Americas, Europe, and Africa.
Why does the story of a knight fighting a dragon appeal to us?
Revelation 12
“Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”
Revelation 19
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”
Dragons Can Be Beaten
“The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.” – G.K. Chesterton
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” – Neil Gaiman
The dragon may be the most fearsome thing that we can imagine, but even the dragon fears something!
- these limitless terrors have a limit
- these shapeless enemies have enemies in the knights of God
- there is something in the universe more mystical than darkness, and stronger than strong fear.
The dragon fears the rider on the white horse!