We Christians paint a picture of an almost invincible creature, whose only rival is God. We like giving him great god-like attributes, such as omnipresence and omniscience; he knows our thoughts, and he is able to tempt so many folks at the same time! The idea is so ridiculous that the world has profited on its error in entertainment, and religious fraud. Saying the world will always ridicule and abuse the truth isn’t very trustworthy here. We cannot defend what we believe about Satan by saying it is ridiculed or abused in the world; therefore, it must be true. We need to take a good, long look at what we’re offering the world as truth, because, if we continue to teach foolishness, what should the world think about the Gospel?[1]
Who is this evil and infamous creature to whom we attribute so much power and glory? Well, we seem to think that he is the god of this world (2Corinthians 4:4)! Now, there’s a title to grab one’s imagination. But, if we take a good look at the scripture, it doesn’t say **Satan** is the god of this world, does it. We, simply, assume that is the one Paul means; don’t we? So, if not Satan, who, then, could Paul be referring to in the text? To understand this we must look into Psalm 82,
Psalms 82:1-8 KJV God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. (2) How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. (3) Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. (4) Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. (5) They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. (6) I have said, Ye are gods ; and all of you are children of the most High. (7) But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. (8) Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. (emphasis mine)
Notice that God, the Almighty, refers to mere men as gods, because they are given positions of authority to administer justice among the people. All authority comes from God (Romans 13:1). Even the evil power, used to sentence Christ to be crucified, was an authority that had to be given by God (John 19:10-11), and this is why Jesus submitted to that authority and allowed himself to be crucified. As for Psalm 82, the authorities, called gods (verse-1), made judgments against the poor (verse-3) by accepting the persons of the wicked, because of the bribes they were given (verse-2). In the New Covenant text, Felix looked for a bribe from Paul to release him from prison (Acts 24:24-26).
Authority or rulership is a godlike power. Felix was among the gods of Paul’s day, but the phrase: god of this world (2Corinthians 4:4), actually refers to the high priest at Jerusalem. Paul said the Gospel was hid from those who were lost. He wasn’t speaking of gentiles who didn’t know the first thing about what was true. Paul was referring to Jews, who knew the truth of the Old Covenant scriptures, which should have revealed Christ to the reader, once they heard of Jesus and the Gospel. However, the high priest had sent out his own messengers to counteract the Gospel Paul and Barnabas preached (cp. Acts 15:1, 22-29). False teachers were sent out to put a slant on the scriptures that conditioned men’s minds against the Gospel message. Indeed, there was a concerted effort during the first century AD to destroy the effect of the Gospel upon the Jews of the Diaspora (cp. Acts 17:5-6). These men were either sent by or were loyal to the high priest at Jerusalem. He was the god of that world who hid the truth, by blinding the minds of the Jews of the Diaspora, who didn’t believe Paul’s Gospel (cp. 2Corinthians 4:3-4).
In the context of Eden, Adam was given authority to oversee all that God created. His authority was handed down to the patriarchs of Genesis 5, who ruled their families. Only two, Enoch, the seventh from Adam, and Noah were faithful men. The rest were authorities, gods of that world, who led their families in rebellion against God. After the flood, the Lord God empowered man with the authority to govern themselves, and this developed into supreme authorities (kings) over nations, with all the subordinate authorities within each nation, who owed their authority to the king (Genesis 9:5-6). These became to gods of the world, over whom Almighty God ruled supreme (Psalm 82:1).
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[1] This study represents a complete overhaul of the original posting. There is very little here that I used in the original study. The theme, that Satan, the wicked evil spirit, doesn’t exist has been retained, but that’s all, date: December 2024.
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