Jesus called the devil the ruler of this world in three different scriptures in the book of John. God did not create the devil to be the ruler of this world.

According to Genesis 1:26-28, He made man in His image and gave Adam and Eve dominion over all the earth. In Psalm 115:16, it says that the heavens are the Lord’s, but the earth He has given to the children of men. So how did the devil come to possess ruling power over the world if God gave it to man?

When Jesus was 30 years old, He was tempted by the devil as recorded in Luke 4:5-8. The devil took Him up on a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and said: “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.” Jesus did not respond by calling the devil a liar.

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If this was a lie, then it was not a legitimate temptation. This confirms that the devil had authority over all the kingdoms of the world. 1 John 5:19 says: “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” Here is another confirmation that same truth. So God is not ruling the world at this moment. It is not God who has the world in such a chaotic mess. According to these scriptures, it is the devil who has ruling power in the earth.

The devil said this authority was delivered to him. We know Adam had it from God. So Adam was the one who delivered it to the devil. We read in Genesis 3 how Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s instructions and submitted to the suggestion of Lucifer who was speaking to them through a serpent. It was in this moment that the authority God had given Adam was transferred to the devil.

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When Jesus came to earth as a sinless man, born of a virgin, He was not born under the power of sin and darkness like other people. God was His Father. Mary conceived Jesus miraculously, not by any man’s seed. This means Jesus was born into the earth, free from Satan’s ruling power. Jesus, in His ministry, was constantly destroying the works of the devil. Casting out demons. Healing the sick. Forgiving sin. Jesus was not under the devil’s power like other people were.

The amazing thing is that Jesus gave this same power and authority over the devil to those who submitted to Him and followed Him. Luke 9 and 10 record how Jesus gave power over demons and diseases to the 12 and 70 that He sent out to minister ahead of Him. His commission stated in Mark 16 addressed to all of His disciples in every generation, also reveals that the believer, submitted to Christ, carries authority over demons and the works of the devil.

So the world is not in the condition it’s in because of Gods work, but rather because Adam failed to use his God-given authority, lost it to the devil, and the devil has been wreaking havoc on earth ever since. Jesus came to restore the lost authority back to those who submit to and follow Him. He then sends His disciples to preach this good news to the world.

Jason Haskell is pastor of New Creation Church in Craig and a missionary to the nations. He can be reached at pastorjason@ncccraig.com.