THE ENEMIES OF JESUS CRINGE AT HIS NAME!
Psalms 66:3,4 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name.”
Often we think that God is feverishly running here and there to undo what Satan, the powers of darkness and the evil of this world are doing. It is almost like God is wiping his brow and wringing his hands in fear of what they are going to do next. Wrong! Satan, the powers of darkness and the evil of his world are not surprising God or worrying God in the least. God knows what they are thinking before they even begin to do it. Before they make a move God has his mighty angels in action. Satan and the hordes of hell may come to rob, kill and destroy, but Almighty God comes to bless, restore and give life and all of it abundantly for all that love and trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Satan and the powers of darkness would like for us to think that they are not afraid to stand up to God, and they can do whatever they like. This is a lie! The only reason they can do what they do is that God is temporally allowing them to do it. In Luke 4:33-37 it says, “In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, ‘Ha! What do you want with us Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!’ ‘Be quiet!’ Jesus said sternly. ‘Come out of him!’ Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. All the people were amazed and said to each other, ‘What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!’ And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.” Truly every knee will bow before Jesus and every tongue will confess that he is Lord. Satan, the powers of darkness, the evil of this world and even all that is righteous will bow before Jesus and confess that he is Lord. When God is ready to put a stop to all sin, wickedness and evil, God will cast all of them into the pit of hell where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And there will be nothing anyone of them can do, because they will have trampled the blood of Jesus under their feet in defiant sin against God. The only reason that God is allowing any of them to continue is that more might be saved through Jesus. (II Peter 3-9)
Because of Jesus’ great victory over sin and death he has given every Christian his authority to bind Satan, he powers of darkness. And he has also given us his authority to loose his blessings as well, and they can not do anything about it. (Matt 16:19) Satan and the powers of darkness cringe over the thought of even the smallest Christian standing in the authority of Jesus. Even a three year old can make Satan flee.
While as Christians we should never mock Satan and the powers of darkness, we certainly don’t have to fear them. They are the ones that need to fear. Their doom is sure because of the evilness of their heart and refusal to repent. It is only a matter of time and that time is getting shorter with every tick of the clock. Our victory in Jesus is sure and Satan, the powers of darkness or the evil of this world can take it away from us! Praise the name of Jesus. Now and for ever more!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for your great victory for us. Thank you that it is ours now, and the authority you have given us is complete in your backing. Please help us to always be humble in our dealings with those that are evil, and thankful to you. We ask this in your holy name.
