"And the God of peace shall crush satan under your feet in quickness. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." [Rom 16:20]
In Genesis we read of the first promise regarding the Messiah. The LORD speaks to the serpent, who is satan, saying,
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; He shall crush thy head, and thou shalt crush His heel.” [Gen 3:15]
From the beginning of mankind, it has been prophesied that Jesus would crush the head of the serpent; that is, the head of satan. Jesus came to set us free and defeat our enemies, and that through His work on the cross and resurrection. By coming to earth as a man, and dying for our sins, Jesus defeated all of our enemies, including satan. It is written,
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy Him that has the power of death, that is, the devil.” [Heb 2:14]
That prophesy in Genesis was gloriously fulfilled when Christ died. The very tool satan attempted to use to thwart God’s plan of restoration and salvation through Jesus was the very thing used to defeat him once-and-for all and to loose all His prisoners, (if they would but choose Christ and believe in Him). This was something that neither satan nor “[any] of the princes of this world knew;” for the cross was and is the “wisdom of God” and cannot be discerned except by The Spirit of God. [1 Cor 2:7-12] “For had they known it, [that is, had they known of God’s wisdom of the cross and exactly what it would accomplish], they would not have crucified The Lord of Glory.” [1 Cor 2:8] But in truly glorious and ironic fashion, Jesus Christ overcame satan through the cross, crushing his head and power to pieces. As it is written again, even regarding all of our enemies,
“[Jesus] stripped the principalities and powers of their armaments, He exposed them openly, leading them in triumphal procession in [His cross].” [Col 2:15]
The powers of darkness have been overcome of Christ, “because greater is He that is in [us], than he that is in the world.” [1 Jn 4:4] Yes, and as it is also written, “…for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” [1 Jn 3:8]
Jesus came to earth, among other reasons, to destroy the works of satan. Ultimately, this has been accomplished through the cross. However, like Jesus’ final kingdom which will be physically administered in Jerusalem and extend over all the earth, this has not yet been fully manifested on earth. Though all is set, and all is accomplished, (Jesus having said definitively, “it is finished.” [Jn 19:30]), yet it is not completely manifest as of yet. But let us look at our verse again, for we are promised, “the God of peace shall crush satan under your feet in quickness.” Just as Jesus was sent to destroy the works of the devil, we have been sent as well; for Jesus tells us, “peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” [Jn 20:21] Those purposes for which Jesus came, are also given to us, seeing that Christ now lives in us and through us, seeking to accomplish His work on earth through us, who are members of His body.
Therefore, dear Christian, rejoice! For Christ lives in you and will defeat satan’s power and influence in your life. Through the empowerment found in the cross and resurrection, Jesus will through you, defeat satan’s works: both in your life and the lives of those around you. But notice the word used in Romans: “crush…under your feet.” How shall satan be overcome in our lives? We shall crush him under our feet. Christ living through us, shall crush the serpent’s head, as was promised thousands of years ago. And with what? With those beautiful feet, shod with the gospel; as it is written of our spiritual armor which we are to wear in order that we might overcome spiritual warfare against satan and our enemies, “and having shod the feet with preparedness [which is] derived from the gospel of peace…” [Eph 6:15]
The power of the gospel and the peace it gives/enables, is unparallelled. Even as the meager whimpers of praise out of the lips of babes are strong enough to defeat the enemy, [Psa 8:2] even so the weakest leg shod with the gospel of peace, is strong enough to crush satan’s head. May God be praised. If you have felt the tug of evil in your life, the influence of satan, be encouraged: for God shall use you to soon crush his head.
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