You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them… (Isaiah 41:12 ESV)
Gone
The most frightening part of most scary movies occurs ten minutes before the end of the film. The bad guy, monster, alien, or enemy has been defeated. The soft music has started, and everyone starts to feel better… but not me.
Because I know that the villain is never really gone until the credits… or the sequel… or the failure of the film in the box office.
But God’s enemies are more surely dealt with.
Isaiah says that even if we LOOK for them, they are gone. Even if we continue to fear, and hide in corners, and imagine shadow-dwellers, they are gone. Even if we think the movie is not quite finished, they are gone.
Who is gone? Sin’s power and punishment… death’s power and presence… anyone who stands against Jesus.
We are peculiar, the bad guy is gone.