Romans 16:20: “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”

May 11th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

By pointing back to Eden, Paul gives us a fascinating reminder of God’s eternal plan of redemption, which will soon be completed. It was long ago in the garden that God cursed the serpent with these words: “And I will put enmity / Between you and the woman, / And between your seed and her Seed; / He shall bruise your head, / And you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15). God Himself does the crushing, but Satan ends up under the feet of believers. Ultimately this will take place in Revelation 20, when the Devil is bound and cast into the bottomless pit. But also now, in every victory that God wins for us, we find a wonderful preview of that coming event. Paul is saying, “Be encouraged because the time is close at hand.” Then he adds a prayer of grace to remind us Who should receive the credit for anything good that takes place in and through us.

Grace is God’s free gift that carries us along the road of life. We hear the word grace in so many beautiful English words that retain the idea of a pleasing gift. Someone who serves visitors in their home is called gracious. We call the period of time allowed by a bank for making a late payment without penalty a grace period. Even when we receive something good from someone else, we find ourselves grateful. Of course one of the greatest honors in life is when God graces us with His presence. Grace, grace, grace . . . how we need it and thank God for it!

“LORD, we look for Your grace to be poured out on our lives this day, not because we deserve or merit it but because You are our Father who loves to give us good gifts.”