To encourage is literally to put courage into another.
The English prefix en- means “into,” and courage comes from the Latin cor, meaning “heart.” To encourage believers, then, is to strengthen the heart—to infuse endurance when fear and fatigue threaten to take hold.
And these are days when the heart needs strengthening.
We live in a world trembling under the weight of sin’s chaos. The second anniversary of the Israel–Hamas war has once again laid bare humanity’s capacity for hatred and grief. In the West, believers face growing hostility from violent secularists and progressive ideologues taken captive by the sexual revolution. Across Africa, particularly in Nigeria, the church bleeds under constant persecution.
These days feel heavy. The news cycles are relentless. Only a short time ago, the global church was stirred by what appeared to be the seeds of revival—hearts awakened, pulpits emboldened, the name of Christ exalted at gatherings like the Charlie Kirk memorial. Yet the winds have shifted again.
And the question lingers: Do we win?
Christ’s Apparent Defeat
The Scriptures show that every generation of God’s people has wrestled with the same tension—seeing the darkness grow while believing in a victorious King. At the cross, Jesus himself appeared defeated. The crowds mocked, the rulers jeered, the sky went dark.
Then, as Matthew and Mark both record (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34), Jesus cried out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Those who heard him may have thought this was merely a cry of despair. But those words were not random; they were the opening line of Psalm 22.
When Jesus spoke that phrase, he was invoking the entire psalm. In Jewish worship, quoting the first verse of a psalm was a way of referencing the whole song. And although Psalm 22 begins with the anguish of David prefiguring the crucifixion of the Messiah, it ends in unshakable victory:
All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it. (Psalm 22:27–31 ESV)
When Jesus breathed those words on the cross, he was proclaiming that this psalm was about to be fulfilled. Victory was assured.
Christ Triumphs Over All
Because of the victory of Christ, believers in the present age must take courage. Consider the triumph of our Lord over three domains shown in Psalm 22:
1. All Peoples
The psalm promises that “all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD” (v. 27). God’s redemptive plan was never about merely a single nation or a few isolated converts. It moves through families, households, tribes, and nations. The gospel bears fruit in culture, in community, and in the collective life of entire peoples. (See What Missions Is—and Isn’t.)
Even now, in places torn by war and division—whether Israel or Gaza—the light of Christ continues to shine through his people. The Lord’s reign is not merely future, awaiting the consummation; it is now present. He rules over the nations in the present tense (v. 28). His kingdom is advancing irresistibly because the kingdoms of the earth have become, and are visibly being conformed unto, the kingdom of Christ (Revelation 11:15).
2. All Positions
The psalm continues: “All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust” (v. 29). Both the wealthy and the powerless will kneel before Christ. The gospel reaches kings and rulers as well as those barely clinging to life.
As the church, we proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord over every sphere—over governments, economies, and ideologies. His reign exposes the illusion of human autonomy and offers rest to those burdened by their own illusions of grandeur. Under Christ’s sway, the high are humbled, and the lowly are exalted.
3. All Posterity
Finally, “Posterity shall serve him” (v. 30). The victory of Christ does not end with one generation. It extends forward to children, grandchildren, and “a people yet unborn” (v. 31). Parents and ministers alike may labor over the souls of the next generations confidently in the knowledge that God remains faithful “to a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:9).
The covenant of grace, as theologian Herman Bavinck wrote, “does not ramble about at random, but perpetuates itself, historically and organically, in families, generations, and nations.” Dramatic accounts of adult salvations are not the only evidence of God’s working; so are ordinary accounts of childhood conversions under the ordinary tutelage of Christian parents. The gospel will multiply until “the earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).
Do We Win?
The answer, written in the blood of Christ and sealed by the empty tomb, is yes. Christ has already triumphed. His kingdom cannot fail. In a world fractured by sin and fear, believers can take courage. Christ triumphs over all peoples, all positions, and all posterity. His victory—and ours—is sure.
