“What do you mean, the god of this world?” you ask.  “Is that not the God of heaven?”  Lets examine scripture closely and from the beginning.  When satan first appears on the scene, with what incentive did he tempt Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit?

Genesis 3:4-5… “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, AND YE SHALL BE AS gods, knowing good and evil.”

He said she would NOT surely die when God said she would, AND he told her that she would be like (note carefully); “gods”; little “g” and plural.  Clearly then, Eve was aware enough of the existence of these “gods” (creatures) to know she wanted to be “as them” comprehending things she did not currently understand.  They knew more than she did… they were smarter, they were “above” her… “god-like”.  Indeed the angelic host were created to exist above mankind; for Jesus, taking upon himself sinful human flesh, was made “lower” then they.

Quoting Psalms 8:5 the writer of Hebrews says in 2:7-9… “Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.  But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”

satan refers to himself being “AS” the Most High God, as that is his ultimate desire… to rule the heaven and earth as God.  What exactly does scripture show that satan “wills” for himself?  Count 5…

Isaiah 14:12-14… “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  For thou hast said in thine heart, (1) I will ascend into heaven, (2) I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: (3) I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: (4) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; (5) I will be like the most High.”

Adam, by ignoring Gods single commandment (thou shalt not eat of it, Gen 2:17), was subsequently cursed along with creation itself (Gen 3:17-19) and forfeited the dominion God gave him over the world and placed it into the hands of satan.  This is demonstrated when satan offers Jesus that same dominion in:

Luke 4:5-6… “And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.”

The Lord does not argue the fact that dominion was given to satan because it is an accurate portrayal of the situation.  Dominion of this world and all its kingdoms with all their earthly glory, was given to him.  Note carefully that it is satan also that chooses who he gives that power to.  (Who has power in the world today?)

The “gods of this world” then are those angels, made higher and mightier than man, which kept not their first heavenly estate, but chose to follow satan in his rebellion against the One True God of heaven.  These are they which Adam and Eve (mankind’s first parents) wanted to be like and thus chose to follow over the Creator God.

Jude 1:6… “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

The singular “god of this world” can therefore be none other than satan himself, the leader of the angelic rebellion.  People are extremely misled about the character of this creature however.  Nearly everyone reading these words have seen “devil” movies like “the exorcist” which portray satan as being overtly evil and a rather disgusting character… a boogyman if you will.  What is he really like?  Scripture shows in:

Ezekiel 28:12-18… “Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.  Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.”

Full of wisdom, perfect in beauty, covered in gold and gems, perfect in thy ways, multitudes of merchandise, beautiful and bright… is this what the common conception of Lucifer (light bearer) is?  Not at all… most think of him as a monster when in reality he appears as just the opposite.  He is trying to deceive the world that he is the Most High that the world will worship him.  This is his ultimate desire… worship, because he feels that he deserves it.  His heart was lifted up because of his beauty.  What is the easiest way to attract worshipful attention from people?  Give them what they want.  Since satan possesses all the power and therefore money this world generates, he can give such to whomsoever he desires.  He offered such to our Lord when our Lord was contained within sinful human flesh and our Lord turned him down.  We have a far harder time…

satan does not appear as most of us expect him to appear (evil) and actually looks like all that is good in this world, rich, beautiful, bright and full of “blessings” for people.  How does this effect the world on a daily basis?  Paul, speaking to the Corinthian believers, cautioning them about straying from the gospel of grace he preaches and the false teachers which abound, writes in:

2 Corinthians 11:13-15… “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Notice carefully what these are up to and where they practice their “craft”.  These are religious teachers putting forth a false christ… pretend “ministers of righteousness”.  Where do we find ministers of “christ”?  In churches.  satan is therefore not out and about haunting houses and possessing little girls, he and his ministers are out spreading false gospels and lies about the Lord Jesus Christ in order to keep lost people lost, saved people confused and “rightly divided” people slandered.

Paul is jealous over believers with a Godly jealousy (2 Cor 11:2) and warns these same believers in:

2 Cor 11:3… “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

The saving gospel of Christ which Paul preached is so very simple.  Know you are a sinner in need of a Savior.  Know that Christ as Savior died the death you so richly deserve.  Anything more or less is a satanic departure from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus.  This amazingly simple gospel message for today is nearly completely hidden in today’s churches in favor of all manor of religious zeal.

Those of us who are truly saved by the blood of the Lamb can only speak the words we have been given that anyone we might come into contact with would hear them and simply believe.

2 Corinthians 4:1-6… “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.  For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

I commend myself to your conscience in the sight of God.  Believe not the god of this world.  Open your eyes to Bible Truth.  Believe the words our Apostle Paul was given FOR you, that I share here with you.  Amen.

satan is the ultimate deceiver.  He has deceived the world that he is in fact god just as he said he would.  He has the means by which to do it, and those means came from us.  The world served him from the very beginning and nothing has changed.  God made a door which any and all people can step through.

The Creator God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3).  The Creator God does not bless us, His heavenly people, with earthly things as He did Israel, His earthly people.  He did bless Israel abundantly with such in time past as He always promised He would (IF they obeyed) and will again in the ages to come, but His earthly program is halted today in favor of His heavenly program.  If you are expecting earthly blessings from God and somehow receiving them, they are coming from the god of this world who has them to give.  You are being deceived by the great deceiver.  If you are hearing a gospel message different from the most simple message Paul has to share, you are being deceived by the god of this world who is thrilled to deceive you away from the simplicity that is in Christ, and to cause such confusion in the professing church – those who “would know” the Lord Jesus.  Please… come to know the True Jesus, our Creator.

You need to get a King James Bible and learn the difference between God and the god of this world.  Paul can and will show you; as to Paul was given the fulfillment of Gods plan for humanity by the Creator directly.  We must know the Lord Jesus in HIS Truth for believers today.  This is what God wants for all mankind.

1 Timothy 2:3-4… “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

Get saved by trusting that the Lord Jesus died for your sin and the come unto the knowledge of the truth by learning what God wants us to know about Himself.  Paul writes in:

1 Corinthians 14:37… “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”  We learn these things from Paul.

Reality is a far different place than most realize.  Reality is found only in the King James Bible.  What people see everyday is a near perfect but perfectly opposite replica created by the god of this world that this world would serve him.  It is called “the course of this world” in Ephesians 2.  Most of the world is only too happy to comply.  Paul continues, as all men do have free will to believe whatever they wish to believe:

1 Corinthians 14:38… “But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.”  Don’t be willfully ignorant.  Trust in Christ and Christ alone; as the Triune God is head over all and will have the final word; and far more (a new heaven and a new earth!).  As Job writes in 12:16… “…the deceived AND the deceiver are His.”

Next Post: “The new creation, a future dispensation for Gods people.“