We Will Conquer (Romans 16:20)
A couple years ago our church decided to declare a message with our church logo. It’s the image of a person planting a Christian flag in the ground. And that holds a lot of meaning for me, and I hope others in this congregation.
Christ and His gospel were primary to us and we wanted to work to make Christ’s name known here in our little corner of the world. We studied the Book of Acts and made changes to our church’s functioning that more closely adhered to what we saw there. It is a statement of our trust in the work of God in the advancement of the gospel.
We believe that if Christ is lifted up, then people will be brought to Him. We believe that no matter what the world says or thinks, Christ is King and ruler over all and there is ground that we conquer here in the war that is waged against the darkness.
What is the act of planting a flag? Planting a flag in the ground is claiming ownership of the location. Christ rules and reigns and we want to plant that flag for everyone to see. Jesus is King. He rules and reigns.
As the pastor of this church, I feel obligated to help order our thoughts as a community in difficult times. There was so much violence this week. Shootings and stabbings have wracked this country. It was difficult to keep track of it all. As you’ve likely followed in the news, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed. He was an advocate for free speech and Christian values on the college campuses. He often argued against abortion, homosexuality, and especially transgenderism on college campuses. And on a lot of occasions, he had the opportunity to share the gospel with large numbers of people at these meetings. And a person shot him for it. But not only did a person shoot him for it. But people around the country celebrated his death.
And that is completely disgusting. And it is completely discouraging. We now understand just how despicable and vile some of the people out there are. And it’s easy to become discouraged.
But here is where I want us to land. This world hates Christianity. And this became immediately obvious in the aftermath of the shooting of Charlie Kirk.
I grew up with pastors and youth pastors saying that the world hates Christians, but people sort of sluffed it off. We were allowed to worship. We were allowed to speak freely. But this event took off the veil. We now understand how bad they hate us. But should we be surprised?
“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:19 ESV)
Jesus said it would happen. And this truth has become abundantly obvious to us today. It is as our Lord has said it would be.
Are we to be discouraged by this? No. For the truth of the matter is that we will be victorious.
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” (Romans 16:20 ESV)
The sinful demonic forces that are currently running rampant will not be victorious! They will be defeated. And you, dear Christian, will take part in that defeat. You will crush Satan under your feet.
Christ Has Crushed The Head Of The Serpent
Paul’s word to the church at Rome was an allusion to Genesis 3:15. Adam and Eve had rebelled against God and God handed the curses down upon them for this sin. But amid the curses God gave a promise.
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”” (Genesis 3:15 ESV)
The promise was that one would come that would crush the head of the serpent. Now, the serpent was Satan. It was Satan that tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden. And the promise is that one would come that would undue all the evil that Satan had stirred up in the Garden of Eden. One would come that would destroy Satan.
And that person is Jesus.
We rebelled against God and earned His just wrath. And God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us. He lived a perfect life and accomplished all righteousness on behalf of us wicked sinners. And He died on the cross and paid the punishment for sin. Three days later, He rose from the grave. And by doing so, He made a way for us to be cleansed from sin and be brought into right relationship with God. He made a way for us to be restored.
There is coming a day in which this victory is fully realized. Jesus undoes what Satan started in the Garden. When Christ returns and we reside with Him in the New Heavens and Earth, we will see that Christ truly has crushed Satan under His feet.
Application:
Christian, you are those people that have been redeemed. You are those people that have been redeemed. Jesus trampled Satan under foot when He lived, died, and rose from the grave and you are no longer part of his domain.
And we must also remember that Jesus is now King and Lord over all. God’s King has conquered. He has been set on Zion’s holy hill. He is ruling and reigning over all.
“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” (Psalm 2:1-12 ESV)
Jesus is King. He rules and reigns. The nations have been given to Him as His heritage. And the people that wish ill will upon Christians have to reckon with that. They must pay homage to King Jesus “lest He be angry” and they “perish in the way”. And they hate that.
People hate being told that their sinful rebellion against God will be met with the wrath of Jesus that is “quickly kindled”.
People hate to hear that their homosexual activity is sinful rebellion against God.
People hate to hear that their fornication is sinful rebellion against God.
People hate to hear that their transgenderism is sinful rebellion against God.
People hate to hear that abortion is murder and sinful rebellion against God.
They hate to hear that Jesus is King and they must submit to His rule, but that is the very message we bring. And so, they hate us for it.
This is where modern evangelicals have often gotten things wrong. Many people will look at them and say, “Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Just add Jesus to your rebellion and life will be good.”
But the truth of the matter is that Jesus is King and we have lived in rebellion against Him. He is King and we have defied His Law. We have turned our noses up at His ways and decided that we will do what we want.
You are not god. He is. You are not king. He is. You do not get to choose what you call marriage. God defined that already and the King’s wrath is quickly kindled.
You are not god. You do not get to choose what gender you will pretend to be today. God made you male or female and that is yours forever and the King’s wrath is quickly kindled.
And here is just where grace comes in. Jesus has conquered and so you can be saved from the King’s wrath. He lived for you and died for you so that you could be saved. Your response is not to add a little Jesus into your life. You are commanded to repent and believe the gospel. You have been fighting against Christ and the command is for you to lay down your arms and trust in Him.
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV)
Those who practice such things will face the wrath of the King. But those who trust in Christ, they are cleansed of their sin, made holy before God, declared righteous before God through the finished work of Christ.
If you are hearing this today and living in rebellion against God, you are commanded to repent and believe in Jesus. Christ has won the victory over sin and death by crushing the head of the serpent, Satan. And it is offered to you today. And if you do not, the King’s wrath is quickly kindled and you will perish in Hell for all eternity.
Christ’s People Will Crush The Head Of The Serpent (Romans 16:20)
The text today alludes to Genesis 3:15, which is about Jesus. But Paul does not say that Jesus is the only snake crusher. He says that God’s people will be crushing the serpent.
I have always known that Christians are in the middle of a battle, for I’ve been told this repeatedly in Scripture. But it became abundantly obvious to me what a big deal this is over the course of the last few days.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12 ESV)
Who is our warfare against?
It is against “the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” This is a spiritual war that we are involved in.
We don’t live in a world devoid of the spiritual. Satan and demons are here upon the Earth, and we are at war with them. People are killing people at a horrifying rate in America. People are celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk. The hostility against Christians is growing. What is happening?
We are in a war against “the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”.
Now, this is intimidating and some of us will be tempted to cower. But don’t. Notice what we see in this passage. We see that the Church will be victorious. We are not going to fight and fail, then someday take a ride off into the sunset while the world burns.
What we see is that God will give victory to the Church. And that is motivation for fighting. There will come a day in which the Church looks around and realizes that the head of the serpent is under their feet.
What do we do? What does this look like?
We, as the people of God, need to understand that we are not just being tossed about by the wickedness of this world. We are not just going with the flow. We are not just taking a beating in this present age. We are the victors because Christ has ensured that victory.
We don’t mope around and think that people hate us, so we’d better go hide in our little corner. That’s not the response. The response is to stand up and walk courageously in this present darkness, knowing that we will tread this present darkness under our feet. The demonic forces of this present age will not be victorious.
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” (1Corinthians 16:13 ESV)
Practically it means being outspoken about our faith in Christ and sharing the gospel with people, even though we know that they hate us.
It means working hard and raising our families to honor Christ. Do you want to defy the darkness and crush the serpent under your feet? One of the most effective ways of doing that is getting married, having children and raising them in the fear and the admonition of the Lord. It means making the sacrifices necessary to make that happen.
It means building a strong church. What more effective way to crush the serpent under our feet than to build a church here in our little corner of the world that preaches and teaches God’s Word faithfully, that grows people in the faith, and effectively proclaims the gospel to a lost and dying world? A fellowship mean where Christians love and care for one another is an act of defiance to the forces of this present evil age.
It means bathing yourself and your family in God’s Word and being transformed by it. How are you going to face the powers of this present evil age if you don’t know the Word of God?
And it means living in humble dependence upon the Lord.
Notice in our passage that it is not you that does the conquering even though it is your foot on the serpent’s head. It is God who crushes Satan under your feet.
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” (Romans 16:20 ESV)
Live in dependence upon the Lord. Pray for strength in this evil age. Pray for your family to grow in the Lord. Pray for the Church to remain faithful to Christ. And pray for the Lord to give us victory.
Our victory may not happen quickly. It may take a very long time. It may be that we are in the battle for the rest of our lives and someone long after us gets to see the victory. Or it could be that a cultural event accelerates matters and we get to see the victory in our day. It may be that the gospel advances to all peoples in our time and Christ returns.
Whatever the case may be. We will stand victorious because we are God’s people through the finished work of Christ.
Conclusion
The world hates Jesus and so it hates us. And under the curse of sin and influence of Satan and demons, they believe themselves to be upright for saying so. But such is the scourge of sin. It mangles people to the point of such wicked thought. And such is the work of Satan and demons. They will twist a person even to the point of betraying the Savior, as did Judas.
But we do not cower in fear. We do not mope as if all is lost. We defy the forces of darkness in this present evil age and live faithfully before the Lord, for we know that the victory is ours through Christ’s victory. We know that God Himself will give us victory over this present evil age.
I have thought often about Jesus’s words in Matthew 16:18 because it is just so foreign to our thinking today.
“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18 ESV)
Where is Jesus’s Church in this statement? We are so accustomed to thinking that we are being defeated that we think we’re being pushed back. But we’re not. We are at the very gates of hell and those gates will not prevail against us.
We will be victorious. Go out there and live as conquerors in this present evil age.