#162 EVIL HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE 9-20-26
The world can sometimes make evil look permanent. We watch injustice continue, wickedness prosper, and suffering linger, and we may begin to wonder if darkness will ever end. Revelation 20 gives us a different perspective. Evil may have its hour, but it does not have eternity. Satan may have influence, but he does not have sovereignty. Christ does.
That is one of the great comforts of Revelation 20. The chapter is filled with mysterious imagery, but beneath the imagery is a simple and powerful truth: God is in control of history, and evil has an expiration date.
SATAN IS RESTRICTED
John sees an angel come down from heaven, lay hold of the dragon, and bind him for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3). Whatever details we may debate about the thousand years, the message is unmistakable. Satan is not free to accomplish everything he desires. His authority is limited by God.
Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). That changes the way we look at spiritual warfare. We are not fighting a battle between two equal powers. Satan is a defeated enemy whose final destruction is certain.
Peter warned Christians that “your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The devil is dangerous, but he is not divine. He is an adversary, not an equal. James therefore tells us, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
The enemy has boundaries. God does not.
CHRIST IS REIGNING
Revelation 20:4 speaks of those who “lived and reigned with Christ.” The Christian hope is not built upon the idea that Jesus might someday become King. He is already King.
Peter preached that God had made Jesus “both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). Paul declared that God “raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:20). Christ is not waiting for history to give Him His throne. History belongs to Him.
“For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25). That is our confidence when the world looks chaotic. The throne is occupied.
We may not understand everything happening around us, but we know who sits above it all.
EVIL WILL BE REMOVED
Revelation 20 eventually brings us to the judgment of the devil. “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone” (Revelation 20:10). The story of evil does not end with evil winning. It ends with God judging evil.
That truth reaches its beautiful climax in the next chapter. Revelation 21:4 says, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.”
That is where history is going.
Not toward endless darkness.
Not toward the eternal triumph of evil.
Toward God.
So when you look around and wonder how much longer evil can continue, remember Revelation 20. Satan has a limit. Sin has a limit. Death has a limit. History itself has a limit.
But Christ has no limit.
His kingdom cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28). His word will never pass away (Matthew 24:35). His victory is certain.
Evil has an expiration date. Christ has an eternal throne. And those who belong to Him have an eternal hope.
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Lord, help us to remember that evil may have its season, but it will never have the last word. Keep our eyes fixed on Christ, who reigns with all authority and whose victory is certain. Give us courage to resist the devil, faith to endure suffering, and hope when the darkness seems long. Until the day when You make all things new, help us to live faithfully, trust completely, and rejoice in the hope we have in Jesus. Amen.
BDD
