Evil, wars, suffering – these things are all temporary. Regret and shame, despair and pain – even death itself, in the end, is temporary. All these will come to an end. Good endures. Good prevails.

Good wins.

Isaiah 2:4 prophesies the end of evil and the ultimate reality of the triumph of good for eternity: “God [Himself] will judge between the nations and will settle disputes among the peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks…” The implements of war – tools which bring death and destruction – will be repurposed into implements of agriculture and cultivation – tools that bring life and peace and multiplication. Isaiah 2:4 continues: “Nation will no longer take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”

We may not get to see this prophesy fulfilled in our lifetime. In fact, we probably won’t get to see the ultimate triumph of good over evil in our generation. But one generation will. And we will see it with them in eternity, and we will rejoice in the forever triumph which begins that day! We fight against evil in our lifetimes, and one day, evil will be completely defeated!

For now though, evil appears to reign: disease, divorce, deceit, death… hatred, wars, famines, plagues… news outlets thrive on evil incarnate, and there’s plenty of it to report. But this is not the end.

Many have the wrong impression that evil is the opposite equal of good. In reality though, good is incomparably stronger than evil – almost embarrassingly so! The analogy the Bible uses to show the massive disparity between good and evil is that of a Man crushing the head of a serpent with the heel of His foot. The force of His footstomp upon the serpent’s head is so strong that it actually bruises the Man’s heel! (See Genesis 3:15)

No no no – good and evil are nowhere near opposite equals. In the end, the triumph of good over evil will be so final, so complete, so definitive, that Good will bruise it’s heel with its crushing foot-stomp upon the head of evil!

Evil, pain, suffering – these all have an expiration date. Good does not.

Sin, shame, regret – these things will not last forever. But peace, wholeness, and freedom will endure for eternity in God’s Kingdom.

We may not live to see the expiration of evil in our lifetimes, but we can contribute daily to good’s triumph and evil’s demise for as long as we can.

And in the end, they will overcome [the evil one] by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much as to shrink back from death.

Revelation 12:11

Let us give our all in our day to the elimination of evil. And may God grant us a peaceful death, and a joyful resurrection with the generation in which He will eventually bring an ultimate and decisive end to evil and all its effects!