Crushing Satan

Today’s reading: Romans 16:10-27

“For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” - Romans‬ ‭16:19-20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We have to start today’s post with this quote from Jack Cottrell:

“The power that wins this victory is God’s power; he is the one who actually crushes Satan. But the enemy is crushed under our feet, i.e., in our own experience. The word for “crush” (συντρίβω, syntribō) is very strong; it means “shatter, smash, crush” (AG, 801), leaving no doubt as to who is the winner in this battle.”

Don’t you love the way that God includes us in the crushing of Satan? God doesn’t need us to defeat him. In reality, He’s the one who disarmed him by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Yet as we see in Revelation, there will be a final “smashing” of our enemy.

Yet in our world, we seem to be “shattering” each other.

God, flood us with your grace and peace. May we recognize who our enemy is (not each other) and how we will win the victory.