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To the entire ungodly world, it appears that Truth and goodness are weak. Most certainly, error and evil have the vast majority of men and the preponderance of wealth and power on their side. With manifestations all about us of Paul’s inspired axiom that “evil men and imposters shall wax worse and worse” (2 Tim. 3:13), even the elect are sometimes to despair of being victorious. In fact, many who once stood with us have lost sight of spiritual verities and have defected to the camp of the enemy. However, despite all these realities concerning the prevalence and power of evil and error, there is no clearer message in God’s Word from beginning to end: Truth will triumph at last.
The very fact that God, the Almighty, the Supreme One, is the source of all that is true and pure, necessarily implies the eventual triumph of good over evil. God’s ancient promise of His Son’s victory over Satan (Gen. 3:15) is a promise of the eventual final triumph of Truth over error. The preservation of humankind because of the righteousness of one family in Noah’s wicked generation foreshadowed this final triumph. The outpouring of plagues on Egypt and the liberation of Israel from bondage typifies that final conquest of all evil. The expulsion of the irredeemable Canaanites and the inheritance Jehovah promised His people (Jos. 21:43, et al.) foreshadow the final solution to the problems of error and evil. To the discouraged, downtrodden disciples of the Asian churches, the consoling message of The Revelation preaches triumph for the unfaltering (Rev. 2:1–3:22).
The great victory to be won in Christ has two facets. First, it must be considered from the standpoint of each individual Christian. We all have the personal duty to faithfully “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phi. 2:12). We must “not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 6:9). We will be glorified with Christ only if we have suffered with Him (Rom. 8:17). The “crown of righteousness” is reserved for those who have “fought the good fight, ” “finished the course,” and “kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7–8).
The second aspect of the triumph of good over evil will be the final overthrow of all evil and the consignment of the prince of evil and all his servants to Hell forever. This will occur when Christ returns, raises the dead, judges all mankind, destroys the material universe, and takes His people away to the place He has prepared for us (John 14:3; Phi. 3:20; 1 Pet. 1:4). Only those who remain steadfast and immovably faithful to Christ through all the temptations and trials of their personal pilgrimages will, by His grace, be partakers in His final great triumph (1 Cor. 15:58; 2 The. 1:4–10).
[Note: I wrote this article for and it was published in The Lighthouse, weekly bulletin of Northpoint Church of Christ, Denton, TX, February 18, 2007, of which I was editor.]
Attribution: From www.thescripturecache.com; Dub McClish, proprietor, curator, and administrator.
