The Bible calls the devil, or Satan, the god of this age. That is god with a little “g”, not a capital G. The god of this world, the devil, or Satan, is a spiritual entity who blinds the minds of men so they cannot see the Truth. The god of this age does his main work in the thoughts of men. What we think and believe is what we become. What we think controls our actions. If we live our lives in his darkness, we have no compass, no guidance in life except for our own desires. The devil works invisibly (to the human eye) behind the scenes within people who do not know God.

2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “…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.”

Yes, people can have the devil as their father

Most people are not aware of, or don’t want to believe there is a real devil, a real evil spiritual entity that causes havoc in the earth. Although they can see his handiwork, which is the evil that men do to others, they still may deny his existence and attribute those deeds to the work of men. But it is men who are operating under the “god of this age,” whose thoughts are evil and whose father is the devil. There are scriptures that affirm this statement.

In John 8:44, Jesus tells certain Jewish men, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

In Acts 13:10, we see the apostles addressing a man, and saying, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?”

The devil’s initiation as god of this age

Let’s briefly look at some scriptures about how the devil, Satan, became the “god of this age” which speaks of the time frame the earth has been in since the the fall of Adam and Eve. I have written of this before, but it is good to repeat it here in this context as a reminder.

In the book of Genesis, we see that Adam, through his disobedience to what God had told him, lost his authority and ceded it over the entire earth to this evil entity, the hater of all that is good. The devil took over as spiritual ruler of the earth realm. God’s commission to men did not change. They were still instructed to “be fruitful and multiply and have dominion over the earth and everything in it.” But now, after the devil took over, God was shut out of earth’s affairs, unless…He could get a man to let Him back in. Man is the being who has the ability to say yes or no to God.

There are few mentions of the devil in the Old Testament. That is because the Old Testament saints had no actual power over him. In the opening chapters of Job, we see him referred to, as God gives a glimpse into the spiritual world. Job is most likely the oldest book in the Bible.

In Job 1:6, we see that Satan presented himself before the Lord along with the sons of God, which are interpreted to be the angels of God. We also read in this passage about a conversation that God had with Satan. It is in this chapter that the veil is lifted, revealing the spiritual reality of the one who works to cause trouble for men. He does a lot of things to Job, killing his children, taking all his possessions, and then causing boils all over his body. Job endures this onslaught and listens to God through it all. He comes out on the other side knowing the character of God much better, but he certainly endured much from the devil.

The Son of Man and a showdown with the devil

We see the idea of the “god of this age” affirmed in the New Testament after Jesus went into the wilderness. Jesus has several conversations with him that are recorded. In one, the devil came to Him and said “the kingdoms of this world have all been given to me.” That perfectly fits with the Genesis account after man fell.

Satan affirmed there that he did indeed rule over the affairs of men, that he had been given this authority. We know he got it from the first man Adam, the original leaseholder of the earth. But Adam and Eve gave their authority and dominion away to Satan and his kingdom. Satan has helpers. He does not work alone. (Where the demons came from is a discussion for another time.)

In Luke 4:5-7, speaking of Jesus, “Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.’” Of course, Jesus did not bow to him. Neither did He argue with his statement about his dominion over the earth. Jesus did not take this short cut to gaining the authority back.

So now we have established that the devil is here, he is the god of this age, and he pretty much has the run of the earth, except for the people who belong to God. Believers have come out of the darkness that he rules over and embraced the light of God’s word and the Truth, which is Jesus Christ.

Jesus sent to destroy the works of the devil

Jesus, the Son of God has come in the flesh, becoming the Son of Man, so that He could destroy the power of the evil one. Since humans were initially given dominion over the earth, it was only a human who could overcome the devil and get the dominion position back for mankind. And that human was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, but also the Son of Man. God sent His Son to come as a Man to the earth and recover man’s authority. 1 John 3:8 declares, “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

Now that the power of the devil has been destroyed by His sacrifice once and for all for the sins of mankind, and He has been given all power and authority over absolutely everything in heaven and on earth, the devil is totally illegitimate. He has no authority now. He has lost the war. He is a guerrilla spirit. But men still submit to him when they believe his lies, which is why things look dire. In Matthew 28:18, Jesus says “All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”

You can have your authority back

Jesus has now restored men back to their original position and authority, if they will but realize it and operate in it. Through what Jesus did for us, men have been given mercy from God so they can find the truth…which is, that the Son of Man is now seated on the throne of the universe, over all principalities and powers of darkness. The ungodly, in their ignorance, rebellion, or unbelief, give their allegiance to an illegal alien spirit, who has already lost the war but is still running around on the earth destroying things.

Men must come to the knowledge of the truth, so that they can know the true fulfillment that is only found in knowing the legitimate King. Oh, what great things God has done for us!