The God of This Age

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

The apostle Paul makes at least two direct references to Satan’s authority over the world (2 Cor. 4:3-4; Eph. 2:1-2). In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul notes: “But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:3-4, emphasis added).

Throughout the church age, Bible interpreters have disagreed about the identity of the god of this age. Most of us are inclined immediately to understand this as a reference to Satan. After all, Paul writes about the evil one in other parts of this letter. For example, the apostle urges his readers to forgive and welcome back a believer under church discipline, noting that Satan’s schemes include unforgiveness, which enables him to take advantage of Christians (2 Cor. 2:11). Later, Paul warns that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (11:14). And finally, Paul shares a personal experience in which a “messenger of Satan” is sent to keep him from sliding into the sin of self-exaltation (2 Cor. 12:7). So, it seems natural to understand the god of this age as Satan.

However, early church fathers Cyril of Jerusalem and Ambrosiaster believed Paul was writing about God. Their argument was simple: Only God is truly sovereign over this age (the Greek word is aion, which may be translated “age” or “era”). Cyril and Ambrosiaster argued that if Satan is called “god” (Greek theos) in 2 Corinthians 4, and Jesus is called “God” (theos) elsewhere in the New Testament (John 1:1-3, 17-18; Tit. 1:3-4), then the passages in John and Titus cannot refer to Jesus as the true God. In other words, if Satan is theos and Jesus is theos, there is nothing uniquely divine about the Son of God.

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The Ruler of This World (concluded)

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

John 16:7-11 reads: “Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: About sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged” (emphasis added).

This is the third time in John’s Gospel that Jesus refers to Satan either as “the ruler of the world” or “the ruler of this world.” Jesus is preparing the disciples for his departure and the inevitable persecution of the saints to come. At the same time, Jesus tells his followers it is to their advantage that he goes away. This is because Jesus’ ascension follows his finished work of redemption – that is, his death, burial, and resurrection. Further, when Jesus sits down at the Father’s right hand, he serves as our great high priest, mediator, and intercessor. 

But it gets even better. Jesus promises to send “another Counselor” like himself. The Holy Spirit, untethered to a physical body as Jesus is in the Incarnation, will be both with and in Jesus’ followers. In many respects, we might see the Holy Spirit as the divine agent of everlasting life. Both the Father and Jesus send him, and his work is wonderfully comprehensive. 

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Ruler of This World (continued)

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

In the previous post, we explored Jesus’ words in John 12:31 as he refers to Satan as “the ruler of this world.” Moving on to John 14, Jesus calls Satan “the ruler of the world.” The Savior tells his disciples:

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful. You have heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens so that when it does happen you may believe. I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me. On the contrary, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me. Get up; let’s leave this place” (John 14:27-31, emphasis added). 

Jesus’ followers are troubled because he has repeatedly announced his imminent departure (John 14:2-4, 12, 18-19). They are worried, despite the Lord’s assurances they will do even greater works than he has done. He promises to answer their prayers and send another Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be with them and in them (vv. 12-17). Jesus also pledges to bequeath them peace – not a hollow worldly peace but an enduring one. 

Indeed, the world is powerless to give peace because sinful and fallen people are unable to overcome their own pride, greed, hatred, malice, and fear. But the transcendent peace Jesus promises comes through his pending death, in which he absorbs the sins of mankind and introduces the promised messianic peace in a way no one thought possible. 

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Ruler of This World

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

It’s good to be sultan. Just ask Hassanal Bolkiah, who rules the Nation of Brunei, one of the world’s few absolute monarchies. The sultan is among the richest persons on the planet. Since 1967, he has presided over a tiny state that boasts an exceptionally high standard of living, thanks to substantial oil and gas reserves. 

The sultan and his subjects pay no taxes. In addition to his role as sultan, Bolkiah is the prime minister, head of the defense and finance ministries, a general in the armed forces, an honorary admiral in the Royal Navy, and inspector-general of police. He lives in the largest palace in the world, the Istana Nurul Iman, which features 1,788 rooms. Perhaps most notably, he owns one of the longest names known to modern-day monarchs: Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien Sultan and Yangdi-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam Jones (okay, fine, I tossed in Jones).  

While the sultan has a lot going for him, he can’t hold a candle to another monarch who is far richer, more powerful, and more influential, whose kingdom can’t be confined to national boundaries, and who has ruled over his subjects far longer than the sultan’s half-century of dominance. Scripture reveals his many names, including Satan, the devil, the evil one, Beelzebul, and the ruler of this world. 

In this post and several to follow, we explore how Jesus and the New Testament writers brand Satan the ruler of the world, the ruler of this world, the god of this age, and the ruler of the power of the air. Our main focus is on the words of Jesus in three passages in the Gospel of John. 

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The Unbeliever’s Resurrection

This is the 22nd in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com. 

There’s less in Scripture about the resurrection of the wicked than there is about the glorification of the just. Nevertheless, the Bible gives us enough information to know that those who reject Christ are physically resurrected one day and separated forever from God.

Daniel gives us the clearest Old Testament glimpse of the resurrection of the wicked, and their everlasting destiny: “Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt” (Dan. 12:2). Job and Isaiah also offer insights into future resurrection (Job 19:25-27; Isa. 26:19).

In the New Testament, Jesus tells us a day of reckoning is coming for all people, an event that begins with resurrection (John 5:28-29). The New Testament writers confirm final judgment of the wicked in numerous places, a judgment that presupposes resurrection. 

It is reasonable, but by no means certain, to conclude that the wicked of all ages are the last to be resurrected, depending on how one interprets Revelation 20. John writes, “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were completed” (Rev. 20:5). These dead, great and small, stand before a great white throne and are judged according to their works (Rev. 20:11-13). 

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