Me? My Feet?

I want to begin at one of my frequent stepping off places, something I read in the Bible that seemed to jump off the page at me.  I was reading the closing of Paul's letter to the Romans, where he writes this in verses 19-20:

" 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."

In these final words of warning and encouragement Paul includes the somewhat startling fact that the Roman believers themselves will defeat Satan, using an image drawn from hand-to-hand combat, crushing him with their very feet.

Satan, the great and powerful enemy of God.  That he will one day go down to defeat, and not just a temporary setback but an ending that will have no end, should not be a surprise to Christians.  The Bible frequently gives witness to this fact, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly.  But Christians clearly understand that this final defeat of God's enemy will come at the hand of God Himself. 

But still…Paul's words…they seem to be spoken in a very clear way.  Perhaps they are meant like this:

I open my Bible and read.  I read God's good news on every page.

I fold my hands and pray.  I lift up praise.  I confess sin.  I give thanks.  I seek help.

All of these things, as acts of faith, are direct attacks on the enemies of God, chief of whom we often call Satan.  He is powerless in the presence of faith in God. It is as if he was on the ground and my acts of faith are my feet, choking off his breath.

Me?  My feet?  Apparently so. 

And by faith in Jesus, yours too.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.