Who really rules the world?

[Guest evechot]

any people would answer the above question with a single word..."God". But significantly, nowhere does the Bible say that either Jesus Christ or his Father are the real rulers of this world. On the contrary, Jesus said: "The ruler of this world will be cast out". And he added; "The ruler of the world is coming. And he has no hold on me"> [John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11]

The Ruler of the World Indentified.

There is no need to guess at the matter, for the Bible clearly shows that an intelligent, unseen person has been controlling both men {leaders} and Nations. It says; "The Whole World is lying in the power of the wicked one". And the Bible identifies him, saying: "The one called "Devil and Satan [a'sa'tan]......is misleading the entire inhabited earth". [ 1John 5:19; Rev. 12:9]

Think about this. Satan tempted Jesus by offerin him "All the kingdoms of the world". Yet, would Satan offer have been a real "temptation" if Satan was not actually the ruler of these kingdoms?" No, it would not. And note, Jesus did not deny that all these worldly governments were Satan's, which he would have done if Satan did not have power over them. So, then, Satan the Devil really is the unseen ruler of the world. The Bible, in fact, calls him "the god of this system of things". [2 Corinthians 4:4] Yet, how did such a wicked person ever come into this powerful position?

[mrs]

Yet it also says that God puts governments in power.

[apothanein kerdos]

Actually, "ruler" does not necessarily mean "in complete control". On top of that, Jesus is not refering to the ontological world but instead to the spiritual world, the one of salvation. At that time Satan had dominan over men, Christ was saying that as His death and ressurection He would stirp Satan of that power.

[other one]

Interesting.... there are two of these.... this is what I posted on the other one....

evechot, I would agree that the evil one is somewhat in coltroll of this world and it's systems at the present time, but not for long. Also, just as in the days of Job, he does have his limits. There is a force that hold the evil one back at the present time and sometime soon that will be removed and he will have much more outward controll over this present world.

However he has no controll over my spiritual life, and that is the one we must choose to protect. He does have some physical controll and will shortly have much more, but he can't touch us spiritually if we are walking with the Lord.

He can kill us and hurt us physically, but my soul belongs to the Lord and is not reachable unless I give it over to him, and I already gave it to the Lord.

SE

[nebula]

  Yet, how did such a wicked person ever come into this powerful position?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I always thought it was a given.

The Lord gave dominion of the Earth to man.

Man submitted his authority to Satan.

Simple.

[apothanein kerdos]

Also, Philip Yancey dedicates an entire chapter to this subject (of the temtation) in his book, "The JEsus I never Knew". In it he hypothesizes that Satan isn't literally offering the kingdoms so much as he is saying, "Become the expected messiah and take power over the literal kingdoms. Martin Luther, as well as others, believes that Satan did not recognize Jesus at this time and wanted to test his ability. Thus Satan threw the temptations...which were not evil in and of themselves...at christ to see how strong he was. Christ did not give in and instead chose to remain the humble messiah. Thus the kingdoms did not belong to Satan but he offered it in a metaphorical way to test the power of his advesary.

[Dad Ernie]

Greetings,

More thoughts:

Satan will be found for 1,000 years and during that time, the lion lays down with the lamb and a young child shall put his hand in an adders hole. Peace will finally reign upon the earth, but as soon as Satan is released at the end of the 1,000 years, he causes the nations to wage war against the camp of the saints.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie

[Leonard]

Didn't I have a couple of posts here? Wha' hoppen'?

[Gerioke]

Two identical threads

[Guest TowerWatch]

any people would answer the above question with a single word..."God".  But significantly, nowhere does the Bible say that either Jesus Christ or his Father are the real rulers of this world.  On the contrary, Jesus said:  "The ruler of this world will be cast out".  And he added;  "The ruler of the world is coming.  And he has no hold on me">  [John 12:31;    14:30;    16:11] 

      The Ruler of the World Indentified.

    There is no need to guess at the matter, for the Bible clearly shows that an intelligent, unseen person has been controlling both men  {leaders} and Nations.  It says;  "The Whole World is lying in the power of the wicked one".  And the Bible identifies him, saying:  "The one called "Devil and Satan [a'sa'tan]......is misleading the entire inhabited earth".  [ 1John 5:19;    Rev. 12:9]

    Think about this.  Satan tempted Jesus by offerin him "All the kingdoms of the world".  Yet, would Satan offer have been a real "temptation" if Satan was not actually the ruler of these kingdoms?"    No, it would not.  And note, Jesus did not deny that all these worldly governments were Satan's, which he would have done if Satan did not have power over them.  So, then, Satan the Devil really is the unseen ruler of the world.  The Bible, in fact, calls him "the god of this system of things".  [2 Corinthians 4:4]    Yet, how did such a wicked person ever come into this powerful position?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Still pasting articles from your Watchtower publications are you! Do you have any personal thoughts on the matter or do you just cut and paste from the Watchtower?