“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20)
Much joy and confidence have flooded my heart through this text. This is not just a verse. Romans 16:20 is also a promise. Satan has been, and will be, crushed by the God of peace. God knows this. Satan knows this. The confident believer needs to know this.
There are a lot of times in the Christian life where it seems like darkness has ultimately prevailed. I am sure you can think of more than a few times in your life that have had a similar feeling. Christianity is not a ticket to an easy or perfect life. We are called to die, carry our cross, and ultimately glorify Jesus. That call is always met with opposition from an enemy. I want you to see, however, that this enemy is defeated.
In no way do I want to minimize spiritual warfare or say that Romans 16:20 means that opposition will cease. I can promise you that opposition will come, but God has promised us that Satan will ultimately be crushed under our feet. Although we can sometimes feel like we are losing the battle, we can rest in the promise that if we are in Christ, victory is ultimately ours.
Satan will ultimately be crushed under our feet.
Imagine that you are on a basketball team. You are playing against a team that is very competitive. Like most games, there are a lot of ups and downs throughout the game. For a stretch it seems like the competition is no match for your team. For other moments it seems like the opposing team is taking over the game. Throughout the game you may twist an ankle, take an elbow to the nose, or possibly suffer a major injury. What if, at the end of the game, you look up at the scoreboard for the first time, sweaty, bruised and possibly even injured, and see that you won 100 – 0? That is what it feels like to know that God will crush Satan under your feet.
We may go through life with bloody noses, broken bones, sprained ankles, and sweat dripping off of our foreheads, but we can trust that the scoreboard will be lopsided in the end. What an amazing truth! Satan may wage war on your soul for ninety years, but you will both look to the cross at the end of it all and know the outcome. You will see a bloody cross that guarantees your victory. Satan will see a bloody cross that crushes his head. Oh, what a day it will be!
The cross of Christ is the scoreboard that we can always gaze upon. The score never changes. We will never be losing, whether we feel that way or not. From the tip off until the sound of the final buzzer, we are victorious, no matter how the game seems to play out. If we are in Christ, and that is a huge, if, the outcome has already been decided on the cross of Jesus Christ.
Again, I do not want to minimize Satan’s unending pursuit of taking Christians out. I do not want you to believe that you will never take an elbow to the nose. I promise you that sometimes the game will feel like you are losing and that it will never change. The Christian life comes with heavy opposition, and that is to be taken seriously. The believer who minimizes this reality is the one who will not finish the game.
So, what do we do? We simply gaze upon the cross continually. In the cross we continually see beauty, glory, grace, and victory. We see our Savior who has overcome the world. We see a lopsided scoreboard that grants us supernatural freedom in our fight. An accurate view of the cross will shatter our fears. No opponent is too big for our crucified Christ. All opposition shakes in fear under the shadow of the cross.
Take heart, brother or sister. You serve a big God who has won and who will always win. Look to Him. Quit looking at the other team. Gaze upon the scoreboard. It shows 100 – 0. Let that soothe the pain of a bloody nose or a twisted ankle. We treasure the cross. Satan shakes at the thought of it. The God of peace will soon crush him under your feet.
- How can this truth change your current perspective?
- Who in your life can you encourage with this truth?