The Fallacy Sessions: Evil Will Win

“Hope is not a strategy.”

As Christians, what assurance do we have that Jesus will win? Because right now, it sure seems like evil is on top. And we can’t rely on a Mission Impossible type of rescue to overcome it.

How do we know Christ will reign? As Christians, we assume Jesus will win in the end. Yet every religion thinks they’ll ultimately end up in “nirvana” or “heaven” or “bliss” or “nothingness”, etc. And the devil, well he thinks he’ll win either way.

Let me assure you, there is hope. There’s a reason I saved my second-to-last Fallacy post for such an important topic. What can we do to better understand what the end will be like, and get assurance that Jesus will reign sovereign?

Read the Bible.

To understand how something will end, we must first know how it began. After the creation of the universe and subsequent fall of humanity (Genesis 1-3), God hatched the most daring rescue mission of all time. A mission to rescue humanity for all time.

That mission was Jesus. Our hope for salvation. While He was on earth, the disciples asked Him the all-important question: “What will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3b, NIV).

For the duration of the chapter (over 40 verses), Jesus then explains what will happen in the end times. Now I won’t quote the entire passage in full, but I do recommend you check out Matthew 24 for yourself.

In short, the first half of the chapter covers the challenges the world will face – Christians in particular. The last days will not be good, and it will appear that evil is winning. Jesus warns us that if “those days had not been cut short, no one would survive” (Matthew 24:22a, NIV).

We are also to be wary of false teachers and messiahs – people who will deceive many. There are also the warning signs of earthquakes, famines, death, wars, rumours of wars, and the anti-Christ. Any of these sound familiar? I’m not trying to scare you, but I’d hate to see us act passively in regard to a topic as important as this.

But the Bible isn’t all sad and gloomy. While there are hard things in it, God knows we need to hear them. The Bible isn’t meant to get us down in the dumps – it gives us the greatest hope of all, and being aware of and recognizing these signs can encourage us by knowing that His return is near.

God says, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31, NIV).

Trust in Jesus.

No, the end times will not be pretty, nor will they be easy. But Jesus. Matthew 24:30-31 (NIV) is possibly the most hopeful passage in the Bible. In it, Jesus declares,

Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

That’s an awesome passage, and one I would love to see fulfilled in person. Jesus will return. He will defeat the armies of evil and the anti-Christ. And He will save us. For “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6, NIV). Jesus came once to save us from our sins, and He will come again to save us for eternity.

Be the Church.

As part of the Great Command and Great Commission, the church has a vital role in paving the way for Jesus’ return. We are not meant to stand by and let the world darken – our job is to bring light into it. Philippians 2:15 (NLT) says, “Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” The church isn’t just some organization that sits by itself, biding its time; the church has a job to do.

We are called to look out for those who are walking in the wrong direction. There is no excuse for letting them continue to travel that path. The Bible tells us to stop those who are going the wrong way. Would you stop a person if they were walking straight towards a cliff? I hope you would.

As the end times approach (whether they’re 20 years away or 2000), we must be ready. I have complete assurance that Jesus will be the ultimate victor, but how many souls will Lucifer take with him? It’s a worrying thought.

The church must stand for what’s right amid increasing division and darkness. David says in Psalm 91:5 (NLT), “Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day.” Why? Because He will return and He will crush all evil. The Bible contains the phrase “fear not” 365 times for a reason – a reminder not to fear for every day of the year.

To quote Harvey Dent: “The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming.”

Do not Despair.

Paul has this to say in Romans 12:21 (NLT): “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”

Yes, the world is dark and filled with evil, but that doesn’t mean we have to act like others do. More and more people are realizing that our world cannot keep going as it is, and they’re looking for hope. The hope that Jesus alone offers. And the devil wants nothing more than to steal that hope, because he knows Jesus is coming back. In the meantime, do what you can to pave the way for His glorious Second Coming. Tell others about Him.

I’ll leave you with one final quote, this one by Gandhi.

When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall…think of it, always.

Maranatha, my friend.

“So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.”