In the Bible, the dragon is a symbol of chaos and disorder.

It's a way of thinking of an impersonal force that actually feels very personal, a relentless power that almost feels like a

creature. Today we look at how the Apostle Paul talks about death in this same kind of way.

And we begin with Paul's letter to the Romans.

The big shadowy specters of evil and badness

in Romans are the twin powers of what we call sin and death.

And sin and death, they're personified.

They act upon us, they capture and trap us, they deceive us.

So often it's our fear of death that drives us to become dragons ourselves,

but Jesus offers us another way.

Those who are in the Messiah, even though they may die. Their truest selves in being are held in life and

love of God in the hope of resurrection. The Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus will destroy every enemy of God.

And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.

And that enemy already met its match

when Jesus rose from the dead.

And so, what if we really believe that death will be defeated?

What if we didn't live by the fear of the dragon?

And that's why the last enemy really is, the thing that has the ability to put hooks in our flesh bags and drag

them back down to the dirt. Today Tim Mackie and I continue on in the theme of the

dragon in Romans and first Corinthians. I'm John Collins and you're

listening to Bible Project Podcast. Thanks for joining us. Here we go.

Hey Tim. Hey John, hi. We're doing it. We're really doing it. We're really doing it.

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