How God will crush Satan under your feet

Have you heard? God will crush Satan under your feet!

“And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.” Romans 16:20.

You won't find stronger words than these! Greater words do not exist! But the greatest and best thing about these words is that they are true. Unfortunately, I am afraid that they are not very well known or much noticed.

When Satan is crushed under your feet, dear reader, it does not mean that he no longer exists or that he is no longer free. The time will come when that will be the case. He will be bound so that he is not able to mislead anyone and, ultimately, he will be cast into the lake of fire; but now, he is free and very busy. He misleads, harms, dominates, and destroys all who will let themselves be misled, harmed, dominated, and destroyed – that is, all who have not received grace to resist his power.

When he is crushed under your feet, then his misleading and destructive power is crushed as far as you are concerned, so he is no longer able to cause you to fall. He has no more power over you.

God will bring this to pass!

It is possible to have Satan crushed under your feet!

Humanly speaking – and thinking – it is absolutely unbelievable that something so great could possibly happen to such a poor, weak wretch who has been a total slave of sin and Satan. But the Scriptures are words of truth and words of faith; Jesus said, “All things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23. Yes, it is even possible for Satan to be crushed under your feet.

It is much easier to believe that Satan was overcome by Jesus and that he was crushed under His feet. And, to be sure, it is a tremendous comfort and help that Satan was crushed under Christ's feet, but it will be much more wonderful for you when this wicked opponent, who has tormented you all the days of your life, is one day crushed under your feet!

A definite promise

“Crushed” is a strong word! A wonderful word in this context. A wonderful word for those who believe. It can only mean that his destructive power will be rendered completely ineffective in your life!

Let us repeat the scripture, “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.” This is a categorical statement. It shall be so – without a doubt. It is not written, “maybe.” No, God Himself will do it! It will not take 30 years; it will happen shortly, quickly, at the beginning of your Christian life or soon after you have heard or read this scripture. This does not mean that you will receive just a little or even a lot of help against the power of Satan. No indeed! He will be crushed! These words are like the words of Jesus, which were with authority and not like the Pharisees with their many “ifs” and “buts.”

How Satan gets power over people

Now we come to the main question: How will this be accomplished? The easiest way to find the answer is to ask a counter question: How does Satan get power over people? He simply entices them to commit sin. Once they have committed sin, he accuses them day and night. They get a bad conscience and lose their peace, joy, power, and boldness.

But how can he get us to do something so stupid as to sin? How can he get us to bite his bait? There is only one reasonable explanation: he causes us to imagine that the thing with which he tempts and entices us will be wonderful and advantageous. He makes it seem great and desirable to us!

How Satan loses power over people

How can we escape? How can Satan's power over us be broken? The answer is simple: We get our eyes opened to the fact that there is not anything with which he tempts or entices us that is great or advantageous; on the contrary, everything he has to offer is nothing or worse than nothing; it is all a great loss, an eternal loss!

When this becomes a personal, life-giving light in the very depths of your being, then Satan has lost his power over you. Then he is literally, in spirit and in truth, crushed under your feet! Who wants to let himself be drawn away and enticed, by his own lusts, into sinning against God, only to suffer a great and eternal loss? Who wants to lose his joy? Who longs for eternal pain, torment and the fire of hell?

There is only one reason why a person would sin: It is because his mind is so blinded that he believes there is something desirable in what he is being tempted to. That is what a temptation is. Satan catches people with temptation the same way a man catches a fish on a hook or a mouse in a trap.

What you admire and look up to has power over you. What is great in your eyes has power over you; you are drawn to it.

If you see the thing which Satan tempts you to as an eternally damaging and destructive thing, then Satan has lost all his power over you. The moment you see what you are tempted to in this way, Satan loses his power over your life. In this way temptation dies. It can no longer draw and entice you; in fact, it ceases to be a temptation.

Satan is the prince of darkness. As soon as God's light breaks in, he loses his power and control. Praise God!

Receiving God’s Word

God's Word gives us light in every area so that everything and everyone can be seen in the right perspective. If Satan has power over a person, it is because that person does not understand the true values, and that comes from not having received the Word of God into his heart – even if his head and mouth are full of it.

The Word of God teaches us clearly that nothing in this world is great in itself! God is great! Salvation is great! Faith, hope, and love are great! Wisdom, righteousness, and truth are great! “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6. In other words, to be content with very little or even nothing is great! That is the exact opposite of all human understanding. Why don't people see this? Because they have not received this word, this light into their hearts. They are in darkness about it and, thus, Satan rules. He entices people with a desire to get more and more of this world's goods, and because of their darkened minds they see this as gain, and bite his bait. This is very clear and simple, and easy to understand.

Light shining in our hearts

He who is like a little child is great. According to Jesus' words it is so. But who has taken these life-giving words to heart? Who has received them in all earnestness? Many, many sins, like self-conceit, domination and lording over others, envy, strife, lust for power, etc., are committed because people do not have this light shining in their hearts. Through these things, Satan has great power in this world.

The words of Jesus shine like bright stars against the dark sky at night. We must get this glorious light shining, by faith, in our hearts so that the darkness is driven out and Satan is crushed under our feet which, according to Romans 16:20, is God's intention.

“Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.” Matthew 20:26. Again, this is the exact opposite of what Satan causes people to believe. All sinners want to exalt themselves. Jesus humbled Himself under all men.

“For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” Luke 16:15. In other words, it is less than nothing! It is a great minus!

Once we really see this, the instant we receive and hold fast to this light of God's Word, Satan loses his power. Oh, how Satan has deceived and continues to deceive people! He has called black white and white black; up down, and down up; small great and great small. What a confusion of values he has brought into people's minds. It reminds one of a little child who chooses a penny over a dime, because the penny is larger!

The deception of this world

Neither money, food, drink, clothing, house, car, airplane, fiancée, husband, wife, honor of man, a “great” position, a “great” salary, “great” power in this world, the applause of the masses, “great” human abilities and knowledge, a “great” education, nor anything else of this world is truly great! We have been deceived right from the cradle. We have grown up in this deception.

It is the will of God and His guidance in our lives that are great. Then if something is a great benefit to us, e.g., our husband or wife, it is, strictly speaking, not he or she who is great; but rather God's will, which has led us together, is the great thing. To be married according to God's will is a great benefit but it is by no means less beneficial to remain single according to the will of God. The husband or wife that is suited for you, according to God's perfect plan, will be a great benefit for you. On the other hand, to marry against God's will – to say nothing of falling away from God in order to get a husband or a wife – is a tremendous loss, a great minus for time and eternity.

Satan’s power destroyed

The result of this life-giving light will be that you will never be enticed or drawn away. That which would have enticed or drawn you away has lost its value and thus its power. It becomes nothing. It means nothing. It is unimportant. It cannot give true joy and there is no real sorrow in being without it. It makes us neither richer nor poorer. There is nothing to gain! Only those things, which we see as great, can have power over us.

Satan's power over you is broken when you get the eyes of your understanding enlightened to the fact that everything he offers you is worthless – worse than nothing. Satan reigns in the kingdom of darkness. As soon as this life-giving light abides in your heart, Satan has lost his power over you forever.

Satan is crushed under your feet. Amen!

This is an excerpt from a pamphlet first published in Norwegian by Stiftelsen Skjulte Skatters Forlag in 1942, with the title “Satan crushed under your feet.”
© Copyright Stiftelsen Skjulte Skatters Forlag