|
Ruler of
the Kingdom of Darkness
“The
sad fact remains that this is not God's world. God's Kingdom
is still not of this world, as Jesus Christ made clear in
John 18:36. It is even more tragic that another being is
ruler of this world, right here and right nowńSatan the
devil.
The
apostle Paul described the spiritual blindness that envelops
the world and pointed out the source of that blindness. "But
even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are
perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who
do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them" (2
Corinthians 4:3, 4). Who is the god of this age? He is none
other than Satan, the great fallen superangel (Ezekiel
28:14-17). He is truly this world's ruler. Jesus Christ
recognized that, saying that in the judgment "the ruler of
this world will be cast out" (John 12:31).
Although
we cannot see Satan, his influence on the world is
pervasive. Paul understood this, telling the members in
Ephesus, "And you He [God] made alive, who were dead in
trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to
the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of
disobedience" (Ephesians 2:1, 2). The result of the devil's
influence is that, before conversion, "we all once conducted
ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath, just as the others" (verse 3).
Satan
spiritually influences humanity to reject God and God's law.
Under Satan's influence, "the carnal mind is enmity against
God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can
[it] be" (Romans 8:7). Separated from God, man chooses to go
his own way, with devastating and tragic results. "There is
a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of
death" (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).
Satan's
influence is so great that he "deceives the whole world"
(Revelation 12:9). The entire world "lies under the sway of
the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). Under Satan's influence,
humanity has rejected God's revelation and guidance and
built societies and civilizations on a wrong foundation.”
Ruler of the Kingdom of Darkness
http://www.gnmagazine.org/booklets/bk5/kingdom.html
|