Satan’s Power
The Bible plainly says this world is under the dominion of Satan. Anticipating His coming crucifixion, death, and resurrection, Jesus said: “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.”1 The “ruler of this world” is Satan. Though defeated once for all by Jesus’ sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection, his final punishment remains to be carried out in the future. Until then he’ll remain the ruler of the world.
Other passages confirm Satan is the ruler of the world, the true throne behind the fallen nations and people 2. The apostle Paul calls him the “god of this world.”3 As the leader of innumerable demons and the ruler of the world, a false god, Satan’s power is surpassed only by God Himself.
When the Bible speaks of the “world” in this way, it’s speaking of the billions of lost in the world and the world’s cultures, governments and institutions. It’s not speaking of Christians.4 We are affected by the “world,” but Satan isn’t our ruler. Our ruler is God.
In anticipation of his death and resurrection, knowing that He would soon be departing this earth, Jesus prayed for His disciples. He asked the Father to protect them after His ascension into heaven:
“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:14–18)
We are like those disciples, “in” the world, but not “of” the world. We too may look to God for protection from Satan and his demons.
That Satan is the ruler of this world is critical to our understanding the nature of evil in the world. Satan has authority over the world–he shapes and controls the world’s cultures, government, religions, and institutions. The entire fallen world is his kingdom and is in direct opposition to God.
Satan rules this world with God’s permission, not because God is powerless to remove him from his throne–God remains sovereign; no one can stand against Him. Satan’s rule is temporary, and will end when Christ returns for His thousand year rule. Satan’s worldly kingdom will be replace with God’s kingdom:
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)
God hasn’t specifically told us why He allows Satan such power. Why He permits evil at all has always been a troubling question for many Christians. At least part of the reason is to demonstrate His power to all and to make the riches of His glory known to us, His children. God told Moses to tell Pharoh that He had allowed him to live and continue in defiance for the ultimate purpose of demonstrating His power and causing His name to be known throughout the earth:
“But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” (Exodus 9:16)
Paul reflects back on God’s dealing with Pharoh when answering the rhetorical question of why God, who created Pharoh, held him guilty for his sin:
“You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—” (Romans 9:19–23)
Paul first says that God holding Pharoh, and all others, responsible for their sin is His business not ours. We aren’t God’s judges. Then he adds, in agreement with Exodus 9:16, that God patiently endures the lost’s rejection in order for to reveal the riches of His glory to us.
The Bible speaks not only of Pharoh, but of Satan, other angels, and humans who have tried to deny God’s legitimate role as sole creator, provider, and sustainer of all that exists. They’ve tried to steal His glory, and God has allowed them to go their own way.
At the end of time this heaven and earth will be destroyed and replaced with a new one.5 We who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ will spend eternity there, enjoying the glorious presence of God. The lost, Satan, and the other fallen angels will spend eternity in outer darkness, apart from God. Throughout eternity none of them will be able to deny that God allowed them to try to be their own gods and steal His glory. Nor will they be able to deny their failure. It will be an eternal demonstration of God’s power and glory.
Though we can’t know or fully understand why God allows Satan to be the ruler of this world, it’s a fact we need to keep in mind. It helps us to understand why there is so much evil around us and accept that it’s going to continue in that way until Christ returns. Further, it helps us have confidence in the Bible because the world around us is precisely as the Bible describes it.
It also gives us reason to be wary of the world’s culture, philosophies, and morality, knowing they come from Satan, not God. Finally, it helps us remember that Satan’s human helpers, the lost, aren’t our true enemies. They are simply pawns under his control:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12
He’s real. He’s a fallen angel with enormous powers, the leader of vast numbers of demons, and the ruler of this world. He’s God’s greatest enemy. Why? What drives him? What does he want? We’ll look at at Satan’s motives next.