Why is Satan called the god of this world?
Question:
I just found your website and am so excited to see that the gospel is being spread in Omaha! I have wondered why it is generally accepted that Satan is the god of this world, based on 2nd Corinthians 4:4.
Would God, who says there are no other gods, give his arch-enemy this title? The Bible says, but if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the god of this world has 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 on to them. We know that salvation is not possible unless Christ draws people to himself and that there are several cases recorded where God has blinded minds. Also, the word used for God in this verse means the true God. Hebrews 2:5 says God has not put the angels in subjection in the world to come. How then could a fallen angel be given the title, god of this world?
I have not found any explanation and I would really appreciate your thoughts on this matter.
Thanks so much!
Answer:
It is proper to talk in terms relative to the listener's viewpoint. Thus, we say "sunrise" or "sunset" but it is the earth that spins and not the sun that moves. No one is confused because we know there is a viewpoint being expressed.
"I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God" (Isaiah 45:5). Yet, the Israelites were charged with abandoning God. "Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you" (Judges 10:13). If there are no other gods, then how could Israel serve them? The truth is that they really are not gods in the true sense of the word. "Can man make gods for himself? Yet they are not gods!" (Jeremiah 16:20). All people are doing is treating their imaginations as if it was a god. Even though their idols did nothing, they use the imagined god to guide their lives and make their rules.
When people sin, they are allowing Satan to guide their lives and make their rules. Thus, those lost in sin have Satan as their god, even though Satan is not and can never be a god. "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (II Corinthians 4:4-5). God is not giving Satan a title. God is stating that this is what the world is doing, whether they realize it or not.
