80. Bruise Satan under your feet
Romans 16:20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.
The First Gospel promise in Genesis 3:15 says: “He shall bruise your head.” The offspring of Eve is the Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth; He is the one who bruises the head of the serpent, who is Satan. The clear implication is that it is the heel, or foot, of Jesus that crushes the power of the Devil. Surprisingly, that promise is changed here to your feet. It is the feet of the believer that bruises Satan. God does the bruising, but He does it under our feet.
When Christ died He crushed the power of Satan once and for all, but the outworking of that bruising takes place in real time in the history of our lifetimes on the earth. Satan keeps on attacking us and nipping at our heels, but God uses our feet to continually crush him. This promise gives us great confidence. The God of peace will do this, but He uses us to carry it out. Every time we hear and believe the Gospel Satan is crushed again. Every time we confess our faith in Jesus as Lord Satan is crushed again. Every time we repent and believe Satan is crushed again. Every time pray and ask God’s help Satan is crushed again. Satan keeps on lying, tempting and scaring, but we keep resisting him firm in the faith, we keep conquering him by the blood of the Lamb, and we keep commanding him to “get behind me.”
In many specific instances during our daily life the bruising continues. The God of peace is always present to help in time of need. The daily problems we face may not look like snakes (Satans) but the God of peace knows what he looks like, and He does the bruising. By believing in Christ and applying the Gospel to the particular temptations and issues God is using our feet to crush. The Gospel is the power that overcomes: therefore I proclaim, “Jesus is Lord; Jesus died for me; Jesus overcomes; Jesus forgives and rules; thank you, Jesus.” Jesus wants to use us to exercise His authority and power. Jesus wants us to believe the promise.