Jesus as the One Who Defeats the Sea Dragon

In one of the prophets we have the picture of a stately ship which is a type of the world. She is all splendor and magnificence; she walks the waters like a thing of life. The fir trees of Senir and the cedars of Lebanon have contributed to her beauty; her oars are wrought from the oaks of Bashan, and her sails are of fine linen and broidered work. She has a gay and gallant crew; the multitudes who throng her decks are full of joy and thoughtless of danger. Out they sail into the great waters; her rowers bring her into the midst of the sea; and when the east wind rises she is broken in the midst, and lies a helpless wreck upon the great ocean of eternity. There was no Christ in the ship to say, “Peace, be still;” no pitying Jesus to answer the bitter cry of “Lord, save us, we perish.” But not so was it with the little fisher boat. It had no pomp and vanities of which to boast, no tinseled splendor; but it carried Jesus and His fortunes-One who could rebuke the waves of sin. The world, wanting Christ, wanted all things else and was lost; the Church, with Christ in the ship, had nothing more to ask; it was sure to be saved with His “Peace, be still.” ~ G.F. Cushman

Nature, in the sense in which we now use it, means the world of matter, and the laws of its working. If Holy Scripture be listened to, He is so of right. “All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” “God created all things by Jesus Christ.” There is no lordship like that of creation. Christ in the days of His flesh actually gave proof of His lordship on earth.

There is a class of miracles which had their place in what we may call productive nature; in those processes which have to do with the supply of food for man’s life. Wine made at Cana; feeding of the five thousand; feeding of the four thousand.

There is a class of miracles proving the dominion of Christ over animated nature. The draught of fishes on the sea of Tiberias; the piece of money in the fish’s mouth.

We have examples of the sovereignty of Christ over elemental nature, air, and sea.

We have an example of Christ’s sovereignty in the domain of morbid nature, disease and decay-“the fig tree dried up from the roots.”