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Satan gained control of this planet after Adam and Eve had sinned against Almighty God. It was Satan who preyed on Cain and caused him to kill his brother, Abel.

According to 2 Corinthians 4, Satan became the god of this world. It says:
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, shall shine unto them.
(2 Cor. 4:4)
We know that the Father God is not blinding people to His Gospel. It is Satan, the god of this world, who works at that job. As mentioned previously, Adam had once been "the god of this world." The only thing Adam could not do was to go against what God had told him. But Satan became the god of this world through Adam's disobedience to God's command.

Jesus Was Tempted
In Chapter 4 of Luke's gospel, we see Satan's temptations of Jesus. After Jesus had been baptized in the Jordan River and was anointed by the Holy Ghost, He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness. Then He was tempted of the devil for 40 days and 40 nights (vv. 1-2).

I want you to notice what Satan said to Jesus after He had come through those 40 days of temptations:
And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And the devil said unto him, "If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread."
(Luke 4:2-3)
The first thing Satan did was to try the same trick on Jesus that he had tried on Eve. He said to Jesus, "If thou be the Son of God." In other words, he was asking Jesus, "Did God really say this? Is this really the way it is?"

Jesus responded to the devil by quoting from Old Testament Scripture, found in Deuteronomy 8:3. Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God" (Luke 4:4).

Then Satan attacked Jesus from another angle:
And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, "All this power, all the kingdoms of the world, will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine."
(Luke 4:5-7)
Note that Jesus did not refute Satan's claim of ownership over the kingdoms of this world. It was the truth.

Being described as a temptation of Jesus, this certainly could not have been a temptation if it were something Jesus already had. If Jesus had been in control of this world, it would not have tempted Him for Satan to have come to Him and said, "I will give You this power if You will fall down and worship me."

Jesus did not contradict what Satan said; He just told Satan to get behind Him: "And Jesus answered and said unto him, 'Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve'" (Luke 4:8).

As the god of this world, Satan has a legal right to be here until Adam's lease runs out. Adam had been given dominion over this world until a new heaven and a new earth would come into existence. Then Satan took possession of Adam's lease.

But there is a certain class of people on the earth that Satan has no power or authority over: the Body of Christ; that is, unless they allow him that authority.

Because the devil had no authority over Jesus, he couldn't stop Jesus at any time. But Jesus didn't refute the fact that Satan had the right to be here.

The Devil Quoted Scripture
Then the devil came at Jesus again. This time he tried to be really sly by quoting Scripture to Jesus:
And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." And Jesus answering said unto him, "It is said, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." And when the Devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
(Luke 4:9-13)
By dangling suicide in Jesus' face, Satan was trying to get Him to tempt God. Satan said to Him, "If You are God, then throw Yourself off this pinnacle. If You are Who You say You are, then God will protect You." He wanted Jesus to commit suicide. But suicide is not of God.

Satan Is the Destroyer
Satan, as the god of this planet, is involved in all kinds of things that Almighty God is getting the blame for.

Insurance policies describe an earthquake or a flood as "an act of God." When a flood comes and people are killed, the news media will say, "It was an act of God that wiped out thousands of homes."

But that wasn't an act of God. God is not the One Who did it. Jesus drew the line in John 10:10 when He said, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy."

Satan is that thief.

Satan is the one who takes people's lives. When those people are unlearned in the Word of God, he knows God will get the blame. They will hate God and ask questions like, "Why did God destroy the house I worked so hard to build?" or "Why did God take away my job?"

But God didn't do any of those things; Satan is the one responsible. Satan doesn't want people having anything to do with God. He is the destroyer, the tempter, the one Jesus came to annihilate.

And that's what Jesus did on the cross: He annihilated the devil and took back the keys of death and hell (Rev. 1:18).

Source: What on Earth Are We Here For? by Keith Butler
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers

Author Biography

Keith Butler
Web site: Keith Butler
 
Keith Butler has been an ordained minister since 1974. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds diplomas from Canada Christian College and Rhema Bible Training Center. He serves in ministry with the support of his lovely wife, Pastor Deborah L. Butler, and their children: Pastor Andre Butler (granddaughters Alexis, Angela, and April), Pastor MiChelle Ferguson and husband Pastor Lee (grandson Lucas), and Minister Kristina Jenkins and husband Pastor Joel (grandsons Andrew and Austin, and granddaughter Alyssa).
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