Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. NLT

In the Bible, Satan is described as having real power in this world. When he took Jesus ‘’… to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory’’, he said to Him, ‘’I will give it all to you…if you will kneel down and worship me.” (Matt.4:8,9). Jesus, of course would not pay him homage in that way, but He did not deny his ability to make the offer

Elsewhere in Scripture, Satan is described as ‘’the god of this world’’ (2 Cor.4:4), ‘’the prince of this world’’(John 14:30), and the ‘’ruler of this world’’ (John 12:31). 1 John 5:19 says: ‘’We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.’’

Furthermore, the book of ‘Revelation’ takes us behind the scenes of history, and shows us something of the raging spiritual conflict between Light and darkness

I remember a preacher saying that in evangelism we meet the devil, and so we need to pray. If our mission is ‘’to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me’’ (Acts 26:18), this can only happen by the greater power of God.

Make no mistake about it, God’s power is surpassingly greater. Satan can only operate with the Lord’s permission. He is always, in Luther’s words, ‘God’s devil’. Still, he has real authority in this world. Someone put it like this: ‘He is on a chain; but it’s a long chain.’