Bloody Feet

 January 14, 2022

We used to sing a chorus with the words, “Be excellent in what is good; be innocent of evil…And the God of peace will soon crush Satan; God will crush him underneath your feet.” It was a simple song and a great tune that doesn’t deserve to be relegated to the inactive file.

It’s lyrics come straight out of Romans 16:19-20. We love the concept, relishing the coming day when that dream becomes a reality. It’s promise reminds me of an earlier promise found in Genesis 3:15 and spoken to the Serpent that tempted Eve: “The woman’s seed will bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

We rejoice and sing about Satan’s bruising and of our victory over him in Christ, but often do so almost cavalierly, not considering how that bruising occurred. Jesus’ victory over Satan was not a walk in the park. It was a brutal, bruising battle, described in part by Isaiah who prophetically said of the effects of Jesus’ scourging and crucifixion that his visage was so marred as to almost appear inhuman.

If Jesus’ victory over Satan was so catastrophic to his own person, what would make me think that mine would come at a lesser price? Certainly, Jesus died in my place an atoning substitutionary death that paid the penalty for my sins, but it was Jesus who told his disciples that if they mistreated the Master, they would certainly also mistreat his servants. God will crush Satan under our feet, but our heel too, will be bruised in the process. As Hebrews chides us, we have “not yet resisted unto blood.” We will crush Satan, but it will be with bloody feet.