Has anyone ever asked you if something really good, fun, or exciting was going to happen and you heard yourself answer, "I sure hope so!"? Hope is a powerful force which can keep us moving towards sometimes distant goals even when we can't be certain they'll come to pass.

Genesis 3:15 gave us such a hope. A hope that one day ... somehow ... evil would be defeated. I'm sure at the time it seemed a bit surreal. There was no frame of reference for such a hope other than the recent past of bliss. This was new territory.

In Romans 16:20, Paul shows us exactly where human history is going, reshaping how we see the reality beyond mere hope. Evil is real. It's hostile, but it's not ultimate. I'm always amused when once in a while a graphic comes over my social feed of Jesus and some horned demonic figure locked in a cosmic arm wrestling match as if the struggle could go either way at any moment. But Paul doesn't describe a God who is anxious, reactive, or scrambling for control. He describes a God of peace, a God of authority ... and He will really crush Satan once and for all.

One interesting point in this passage is how victory is described. The victory is God's, no doubt, but it is described as taking place under our feet. Not because we humans have suddenly become more powerful all by ourselves, but because God involves His people in His triumph. What began as a promise in the Garden has been catapulted forward into the life of the church.

It's tempting to look at the world around us with all its hardship, evil, and turmoil and feel as though we aren't making progress. In fact, sometimes if feels like we're losing ground. It feels like evil will prevail. But God's justice doesn't move with uncertain panic, it moves with intention and confidence rooted in His character and in His timeline, not ours. Seeing the world this way refuses to allow us to linger in either despair or denial. God is not ignoring evil or failing to execute judgement. We are simply living between the promise and its fulfillment.

The serpent may continue to strike our heels, but his head is already marked for crushing. He operates from a place of declared and realized defeat.  The hope of Eden has become the Truth that frames our reality.

We live in a culture that deals in fear, threat, and doubt. Even some of our church cultures say we should be utterly afraid of the Antichrist, the mark of the beast, war, civil unrest, gender confusion, or deconstruction. Voices all around us tell us to worry about "the others" and the harm they may do because they are evil. And maybe they are.

But according to this passage, how does your outlook change when you remember that evil, and the evil one, is already found guilty, sentenced, and defeated?

Identify areas in your life where you need to exchange fear-driven thinking for confidence rooted in God's ultimate victory?