Who is the ruler of this world?

I will no long speak with you much, for the ruler of this world is coming and has nothing in me. John 14:30

Who is the ruler of this world? Is it God?

What does it mean to be a ruler? It means to be the person who is master or lord over a certain people or nation. It implies a dictatorship or a monarch, where one person is in charge of all. A person that rules and commands.

In the passage above Jesus is speaking about the ‘ruler of this world.’ So He is talking about a person who is the master of this world.  The one who is in charge of this world; the one who is running things down here.

Who is this ruler?

Well, it can’t be God. Jesus said that his ruler ‘has nothing in me.’ Surely He’s not talking about God.  No, He’s talking about the enemy of our souls, the devil.  The devil is the ruler of this world.

Let’s look at some other scriptures that say the same thing:

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “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. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Luke 4:5-8

The devil knows he is the ruler of this world.  He tempts Jesus with the temptation of worldly power, because all the worldly power has been given to him.  God gave the world to Adam in the beginning, and then Adam handed it over to Satan.  Satan now has the legal right to reign over all who disobey God. However, he has no right to reign over the righteous (although he still does because of the ignorance of many christians).

Another scripture refers to Satan as the ‘god of this world’:

the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Co 4:4

Another scripture refers to Satan as the ‘prince of the power of the air’:

in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— Eph 2:2

The word ‘air’ refers to the atmosphere of this world.  This is a reference to Satan’s ruler-ship of the world system.

Just knowing that Satan is the ruler of this world should clear up so many things for us.  The world is in a terrible state and getting worse.  If God were running things down here than He’d be to blame, but He is most certainly not.  The bible says that Satan comes to ‘steal, kill, and destroy.’ If you read the news you will see that he is doing a pretty good job.

This is a fundamental doctrine that is VERY important to understand. Many christians go around thinking ‘why did God do this or allow this?’  God didn’t do it or allow it.  It’s Satan’s world. He’s the one doing it and allowing it.  We need to recognize that.

God wants to help us, though, but He can only help us if we ask for His help and follow what He’s already told us to do.  He’s already given us His word. If we followed it, things would go well for us.  Its stupid to blame God for anything, especially so if you haven’t been obeying His Word.  It’s like blaming the car manufacturer for your car breaking down when it was you that never changed the oil like the owners manual says.  HELLO???? Is this hard to understand?

Now, on the other hand, bad things do happen even if we are doing the best we can to follow God.  That’s because, right now, we live in Satan’s domain and sometimes he is able to cause havoc in our lives.  Even so, you must understand that God is with you to help you.  He will help you and deliver you.  And even if your life is destroyed you have an eternal home in heaven were all the bad things of this world will be forgotten, and you, if you persevere through the tough times, will receive the crown of life.

Listen to what our Lord says:

Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Rev  2:10

Be faithful.  It will pay off in the end.