WHO IS THE god Of THIS WORLD?

Maybe it’s not who we think?

For years like many I heard 2 Corinthians 4:4 used as proof that Satan is a fallen angel who became the god and ruler of planet Earth. I simply do not believe that is what Paul was teaching.

The problem begins when we read the word “world” and automatically think Paul means the physical world or planet Earth.

The King James Version reads:

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.
2 Corinthians 4:4

But the Greek word translated “world” here is aiōn, meaning age. Paul did not use the Greek word kosmos, which is commonly translated world. A more literal way of understanding Paul’s statement is “the god of this age.”

That changes the question considerably.

Instead of asking, “How did a fallen angel become the god of planet Earth?” we should be asking, “What age was Paul living in, and what adversarial power was blinding people during that age?”

And Paul had already given us an enormous clue in the chapter immediately before it.

THE VEIL, MOSES, AND THE BLINDNESS OF ISRAEL

But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
2 Corinthians 3:14

But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
2 Corinthians 3:15

Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
2 Corinthians 3:16

Notice Paul’s language.

Their minds were blinded.

Then only a few verses later, Paul describes the god of that age blinding the minds of unbelievers.

That connection should not be ignored.

Paul’s discussion did not suddenly jump from the blindness associated with unbelieving Israel, Moses, and the Old Covenant to a cosmic fallen angel controlling planet Earth. The surrounding discussion is covenantal.

The veil was not Moses himself, nor was the Law evil. The veil was upon their hearts. They were reading Moses without recognizing the Messiah to whom Moses pointed.

And here’s something we must understand. Although the Old Covenant administration has passed away, people can still approach Scripture with a veil over their understanding. Whenever someone attempts to establish righteousness through the Mosaic Law or mixes the requirements of the Old Covenant with the finished work of Christ, that same kind of spiritual blindness can appear.

The covenant has passed away, but the possibility of blindness has not.

THE LAW WAS HOLY, BUT ITS ADMINISTRATION BROUGHT DEATH

Paul makes an important distinction concerning the Old Covenant.

But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
2 Corinthians 3:7

For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
2 Corinthians 3:9

Paul called the Old Covenant administration the ministry of death and the ministry of condemnation.

Does that mean the Law itself was evil? Absolutely not!

Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Romans 7:12

The Law was given by God and served its appointed purpose. It revealed sin, exposed transgression, and pointed toward the righteousness that would come through Jesus Christ.

But the Law could not provide the life and righteousness that Christ brought through the New Covenant.

The problem was not that God had given an evil Law. The problem was that unbelieving religious authorities continued defending the old administration while rejecting the very Messiah who fulfilled it.

They were attempting to preserve a covenantal order that was passing away.

And they possessed considerable religious and political authority over the people.

THE SANHEDRIN AND THE POWER OF THE RELIGIOUS AUTHORITIES

Consider what happened when the chief priests and Pharisees gathered their council concerning Jesus.

Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
John 11:47

If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
John 11:48

What were these religious leaders afraid of losing?

Their place and their nation!

Their place was closely connected to the temple, the center of their religious authority. They feared that the growing influence of Jesus would bring Roman intervention and threaten the institutions through which they exercised power.

The answer to spiritual blindness is still Christ.

The Sanhedrin was the Jewish ruling council, and the chief priests held tremendous influence within that religious structure.

Even Caiaphas, the high priest, participated in the plot against Jesus.

These were not men who simply misunderstood a few Scriptures. The Gospel accounts describe leaders who actively opposed Christ and sought His death.

And consider the historical irony.

They feared losing their temple, yet the very temple they sought to preserve was destroyed in AD 70.

The old religious order they defended was approaching its end.

Jesus had already exposed their opposition to the kingdom.

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Matthew 23:13

Think about that statement.

They were not entering the kingdom themselves, and they were hindering others from entering.

Does that not sound remarkably similar to Paul’s description of minds being blinded to the glorious gospel of Christ?

This is why I believe the religious authorities of that generation are central to understanding the god of that age.

MOSES WAS THEIR ACCUSER

Now let’s examine something Jesus said that is often overlooked.

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.
John 5:45

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
John 5:46

But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
John 5:47

Did you catch that?

Jesus identified Moses as their accuser!

These religious authorities trusted in Moses, defended the Law, and claimed to represent the covenant God had established with Israel.

Yet Jesus declared that the very Moses in whom they trusted would testify against them.

Why?

Because Moses wrote concerning Christ, and they refused to believe Him.

This does not mean Moses was an evil being or that the Law itself was the devil. Moses’ writings were a legitimate witness against their unbelief.

The Law exposed sin and condemned transgression. But the religious authorities used their position within that covenantal system to accuse and persecute those who believed in Christ.

That distinction is extremely important.

The Law did not crucify Jesus. Men who claimed authority under that Law sought His death.

And the very Scriptures they claimed to defend testified against their unbelief.

THE DEVIL, THE ADVERSARY, AND THE ACCUSER

This brings us to something we have discussed extensively in previous studies.

The Hebrew word satan means adversary. The Greek word diabolos, translated devil, means slanderer or false accuser.

These words describe opposition and accusation. Their meanings alone do not identify who is acting in that role. We must examine the context.

I do not believe Scripture requires us to construct the traditional picture of an independent cosmic fallen angel ruling the earth as God’s supernatural rival.

I see the adversarial power of that generation operating particularly through the unbelieving religious leadership that stood against Christ and His people.

Jesus Himself spoke some of His strongest words to that leadership.

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
John 8:44

Within the covenantal understanding I am presenting, Jesus was exposing the adversarial character of those who opposed Him.

They were acting as accusers, slanderers, persecutors, and ultimately murderers.

And Jesus placed the coming judgment upon that very generation.

Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Matthew 23:33

Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Matthew 23:36

The adversarial religious order was not going to continue indefinitely.

Its judgment was approaching.

THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD WAS TO BE CAST OUT

Jesus made another remarkable statement shortly before His crucifixion.

Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
John 12:31

Notice the timing.

Jesus said NOW.

He did not describe a prince who would continue exercising covenantal authority for thousands of years before finally being removed.

Within the first-century covenantal framework, I understand this prince in connection with the adversarial authority opposing Christ and His kingdom.

The religious establishment had rejected its Messiah, and judgment was approaching.

Jesus also declared:

Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
John 16:11

The judgment of that adversarial power was already announced.

The religious authorities believed they were preserving their position, but the very order through which they exercised power was coming to an end.

THE RULERS OF THAT AGE WERE COMING TO NOTHING

Paul gives us another important passage.

Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1 Corinthians 2:6

Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1 Corinthians 2:8

Notice that Paul describes rulers of that age who were coming to nothing.

He also connects those rulers with the crucifixion of Jesus.

The crucifixion involved both Jewish religious authorities and Roman political power. The opposition to Christ was not merely an abstract spiritual struggle. It unfolded through identifiable authorities within the first-century world.

Although the rulers of the age and the god of the age are not identical expressions, they belong to the historical setting in which Paul was writing.

And those rulers were not going to remain in power forever.

THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN WAS CAST DOWN

Now consider the language of Revelation.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Revelation 12:10

Here we find the accuser of the brethren being cast down as the kingdom and authority of Christ are proclaimed.

Within my understanding of fulfilled prophecy, this describes the overthrow of the adversarial covenantal powers that persecuted Christ’s people during that first-century generation.

The old religious establishment had accused the brethren, resisted the gospel, and attempted to preserve its authority.

But its time was running out.

Paul wrote something particularly interesting to the believers in Rome.

And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.
Romans 16:20

Notice that word SHORTLY.

Paul was speaking to believers living in his own generation. He gave them an expectation of approaching victory over the adversary.

This fits the covenantal transition that culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in AD 70.

THIS PRESENT EVIL AGE WAS PASSING AWAY

Paul uses the same Greek word aiōn when he writes:

Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
Galatians 1:4

Some read this and assume the present evil age must refer to our day and time.

But Paul was writing about the age present when he wrote those words.

Again, the word is aiōn, age.

Paul was not teaching that Jesus came to rescue believers from planet Earth. He was describing deliverance from an evil age in which his readers were living.

Hebrews makes the covenantal transition unmistakable.

In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 8:13

Notice the language.

It was old. It was decaying. It was waxing old. And it was ready to vanish away.

That is the historical and covenantal setting in which Paul wrote.

The Old Covenant had fulfilled its appointed purpose in bringing Israel to Christ. The New Covenant was established through His blood, and the old administration was approaching its final historical removal.

THE DANGER OF MIXING THE TWO COVENANTS TODAY

Now let me bring this into our present understanding.

Although the Old Covenant administration has passed away, the tendency to seek righteousness through the Law has not disappeared.

People can still read Moses without understanding the fullness of what Christ accomplished.

They can still attempt to combine the requirements of the Old Covenant with the grace of the New Covenant.

And that mixture is spiritually destructive when it makes obedience to the Mosaic Law a requirement for justification.

Paul addressed this directly.

For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Romans 10:3

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Romans 10:4

And again:

Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Galatians 5:4

The problem is not obedience to God. The problem is attempting to obtain righteousness through a covenant that Christ has fulfilled.

The New Covenant is not the Old Covenant with Jesus added to it.

It is a better covenant established upon better promises.

We must not attempt to live under two covenantal administrations simultaneously.

And this brings us back to Paul’s statement about the veil.

Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
2 Corinthians 3:16

THE LIGHT OF CHRIST OVERCAME THE BLINDNESS

So when I read about the god of this age, I do not picture a fallen angel sitting on an invisible throne ruling planet Earth.

I see the adversarial power connected with the unbelieving religious order of that generation, particularly the authorities who rejected Christ, resisted the gospel, accused the brethren, and persecuted those who proclaimed the New Covenant.

This is my conclusion from the covenantal context, rather than an explicit statement by Paul naming the Sanhedrin as the god of the age.

And Paul tells us where the answer to that blindness was found.

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.
2 Corinthians 4:6

The contrast is beautiful.

Blindness versus light.

Moses’ veil versus Christ.

The passing age versus the New Covenant.

The ministry of death written on stones versus the ministry of the Spirit.

The adversarial order was passing away, and the light of Christ was breaking through the darkness.

Maybe it is time we stop automatically reading “god of this world” as though Paul said, “Satan is the god of planet Earth.”

He didn’t.

He said “the god of this age.”

And once we identify the age Paul was living in, examine the covenantal transition, and recognize the religious powers that opposed Christ, our understanding of that adversary begins to look very different.

The Law was not evil. The Law did not crucify Jesus. But the religious authorities who claimed to represent that Law rejected the very Messiah to whom it pointed.

The Old Covenant administration passed away, the accuser was cast down, and the New Covenant kingdom of Christ remains.

The veil is removed in Christ, and the light of His gospel continues to shine.