The god of this Age
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’" The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:1-13)
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
In what way are people blinded? The human race is far from perfect. It doesn't take a degree to see that. And that any one of us would have believed the serpent in the garden and been tempted to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil "to be like God." And that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." That from birth each human being born has that same adamic, fallen nature with a propensity toward sin.
As David realized in Psalm 51:5 when he proclaimed " Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. The adage "We're not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. We are born that way. And God knows the heart of each and every human being, that each of us is tainted by the corruption of sin, and lean toward its destructive consequences. The federal head of the human race adam and eve chose to believe a lie and God subjected all creation to futility and it has remained so to this day
Who is the god of this age? What kind of age is it? In Galatians chapter one Paul again calls the age we are living in on this earth "a present evil age." Rather strong words for a people who basically think they're good. Jesus himself addressed the people, "you being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children. (Matt. 7:11)
So there you have it. The Word who was in the beginning with God and was God who came down from heaven and tabernacled in a body of flesh, blood and bones knows all people. And says they are evil. Why? Because he knows all people? He explains in Mark 7:20-23 “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
So then who is the God of this present evil age? Let's take a look at the Gospel of Luke in chapter 4:1-7 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
There you have it. The devil or satan is the god of this age. Who is worshipped by most yet they may not believe he exists. Doesn't matter. The Apostle tells us that even Christians once bowed down to the god of this age. In fact Paul says "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others." (Ephesians 2:1-5)
Before Christ Jesus brought you from darkness to light you were by nature (as a child of adam--in a fallen and cursed world-an evil generation) a child of God's wrath.
What exactly is the will of God for your life? Paul the Apostler tells us in 1 Thess. 4:3-7 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. virue and moral purity is at the top of the list.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Tess. 5:16-17)
As Peter the Apostle urged the elect of God in 1 Peter 1:13-16 'So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy (New Living Translation)
God has called His elect to live lives that are holy and separate. To be in the world but not of the world. Not coveting the things of this world. It is so easy to get caught up in the temporary desires of life which are passing away. Temptations are all around us. We need to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.
How can we be strong and experience His power?
Paul tells us how in Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. (your reasonable service; your spiritual act of worship) Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." We find out God's will, his desire for us in our Christian life through reading and study of His Holy Word. As David proclaimed in the Old Testament. Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against thee. (Ps. 119:11) God's Word, teaches, corrects and trains in righteousness.
Sinful humans are attracted to sin. Sin tainted, fallen human beings, even, or should I say especially Christians, since the realization of what displeases God is made known to all His people through the indwelling Holy Spirit. And the reality of sin is something all Christians struggle with all their entire lives.
Paul writes to believers then and now in Galatians: The works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, (any sex outside the marriage bound of a man and woman) uncleanness, lewdness,( (total irresponsibility, lack of self-control), idolatry...
Let's stop here for a moment here. Most people think of idol worship as bowing down to some sort of man made statue, figurine or gravern image. Like Israel making a golden calf and bowing down to it, even saying "this is our god...." but put simply it is anything you put above the one true God.
Here are a 10 Modern Day Idols that many worship today:
Identity.... Our identity might be one the biggest idols worshiped today.. ...Money/Material Things. (the old adage goes "it's always about the money" Western culture has bowed to money and possessions for generations)...Jobs/Status (especially with men first thing we ask, "and what do you do?").....Physical appearance ....(hollywood comes to mind-their unending pursuit of youth with facejobs, butt jobs, nose jobs, etc) Entertainment (we love our music, our tv shows and movies and social media sites) ...
Sex is another idol today....(in addition to money SEX is the next thing the world pursues most.) We can see morals eroding as our society plunges headlong into crass mindless activites, barbarism, lack of respect of those in authority and denigrating perversion that would make sodom and gomorrah blush......Another modern day idol: Comfort....( our society is spoiled and takes for granted all the amazing gadgets we have that make our life easier), Phones/Technology...(what would you do without your smartphone....worse yet what would we do without the internet!) Family/Children can become idols... Influence/Fame (how many likes or followers one has on on social media) And I'll submit another: religion/denominations (which includes those who say they're not a denomination yet are--popular among this group the charismatics.) ....
Yes idolary is rampant among our society today. Next comes sorcery, (Including such things as occult practice; the use or the administering of drugs, poisoning, magical arts, often found in connection with idolatry and fostered by it, witchcraft, worship of evil powers, drug-induced trances--the greek word--parmakia from which we get out word Pharmacy. Watch any TV lately? We are a society bombarded and hooked on every kind of drug imaginable for every ache, pain, eye, ear, nose, thorat, elbow, finger, feet, knee ands every condition that affects the human body)....
Other works of the flesh include hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, (false doctrine on who God and Christ is, who we are, why we need a savior, Jesus as the Only Way, Jesus is God, His second coming, the resurrection of the dead, His judgement of all, the reality of hell, etc). All this sums up the idolatous land we inhabit today....finally the Apostle continues stating other works of the flesh are envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-20)
Yes, we are served by grave through faith....a gift of God not of works. But we are His worksmanship created in Christ Jesus "for good works" which God has prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:8-10)
And Jesus the Christ Explainerd to his disciples Whoever has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”(John 14:21)
There is a walk to this Christian Life. Each born again, born from above believer can say with the Apostle Paul: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
In fact the apostle Peter warns believers..."Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. (1 Peter 4:1-5)
Give an account to God to God. Yes even believers "must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."(1 Cor. 5:10) What we do, the words from our lips, how we behave really matters. As Peter said "No longer live in the flesh for the lusts of men." Walk worthy of the call you have received. For you have been born again not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:23)
In the book of revelation we are told: "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie." (Rev. 22:14-15)
All people are not born children of God (a very popular notion today). As the Apostle Paul explains in Ephesians Two "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."
This is a present evil age. The god of this world is an attentive enemy. He hates Gods people and wants to destroy them. He knows our weaknesses and fires flaming darts to weaken our reserve and pierce our inner being to lower your resolve to temptations. He may even appear as an angel of light to draw you away from God and His Word. We must be on our guard. And put on the whole armour of god to stand against the devils schemes....belt of truth buckled around your waist, the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph. 6:10-18) We must be at the ready at all times for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
So as David Prophet and King said," Behold I was brought forth in iniquity (wickedness) and in sin my mother conceived me." (Ps. 51:5) or could be said "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." You may have heard it said, "we're not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners, we are born that way."
So all of us come into this world tainted through and through by a sinful inherited nature. Created in the image of God but mightily fallen and chosing the things of this world rather than the things of God. John the Apostle reminds all of Gods people: Do not love world [the world of sin that opposes God and His precepts], nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust and sensual craving of the flesh and the lust and longing of the eyes and the boastful pride of life [pretentious confidence in one’s resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father, but are from the world. The world is passing away, and with it its lusts [the shameful pursuits and ungodly longings]; but the one who does the will of God and carries out His purposes lives forever. (AMP Bible 1 John 2:15-17))
Face it the world attracts us with all its goodies. More now than ever before. We love our gadgets. We love being able to communicate instantly to whomnever we need to contact. And our smart phones do just above everything at the touch of an app. How did we ever live without them?
There's 24 hours a day seven days a week news, movies, sports and various entertainment. And don't forget the video games than draw young people in who have forgotten how to run and play outside. They would rather live vicariously through the hero's and villains emanating forth from their Nintendo, X box, Sega or PlayStation's.
Yes the things of this world have a solid hold on many a soul. There's never a time for anything else but our enjoyment in the exciting accoutrements of this world so attactively packaged and presented to take our minds off of the thing that matters the most. Our place in eternity? As John the Apostle said the world and its desires pass away. Our lives are transitory and one day we shall leave this world, shall pass away....Death will claim us all. And the god of this age is busy at work depriving hapless souls with the alluring stuff of this world to keep their minds occupied and absent of truth.
Peter the apostle urges us to be self-controlled be alert. For your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8) This verse in Scripture tells us to look at reality with a clear mind. Be watchful and ready. A Christian in Jesus Christ must be on guard aganist internal and external forces that are set on destorying a person.
The god of this age, the adversaries goal in this world is to keep people from knowing the truth and to keep His people from obeying the Only One and True God who wants everyone to come to a knowledge of His Truth and Obey Him. People who don't believe do not want to believe or obey because their hearts are closed to the truth. They are following the course of this world, the prince of the power of the air, because they are blinded by the god of this age, and love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. People want to have it their way. It's the if it feels good do it mentality. And without the intervention of God in one's life, lo their doom is sure, as is the god of this age, who desires to lure as many as he can to the everlasting punishment and destruction that awaits the children of God's wrath.
You may ask "What is truth?" Truth is "All have sinned and far short of the glory of God. And the wages of sin is death. And only One person had the authority of the Almighty to offer Himself in our stead for the sin of the world. The One who was in the beginning with God and was God. His very Son humbled Himself and took upon Himself flesh, blood and bones, and gave Himself as an offering for sin. He died. He was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Jesus Christ is the blessded Hope, The Only Hope, and only Way, Truth and Life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
In the garden of Eden (yes it really exsisted). God created Adam and Eve. Why do I believe this. Becasue Jesus the Christ himself said, " Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ Here Jesus mentions the first two human beings God created. And He put them in the garden to tend it. They had every tree for fruit to eat but one. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eat from that, said God, and you will surely die.
Satan in the form of a serpent decieved them, Eve first, intimitating God was holding them back, saying if they ate fruit from the tree they would be like God. And they believed the lie of the devil. And by their transgression God subjected creation to futility and death came into the world. All of us have inherited that fallen sinful nature as all of us have come from the first parents of the human race...Adam and Eve.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, writes the apostle Paul in Romans 3....Jesus sayss to inherit the Kingdom of God you must be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect. None of us sons of Adam, can on our own good works so called (for our our righeous acts are as filthy rags Is. 64:5) enter into God's kingdom. No one is righteous no not one...all have turned away and together have become worthless. No one who does good no not one. (Romans 3:10-12).
It is as Scripture tells us, By grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves, it is a gift from God, not of works....Jesus Himself proclaimed "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by me." (John 14:6) For as John 3:17 proclaims "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." Saved from the wrath that is coming upon the whole earth.
Jesus is the one mediator between God and every single human being. As The apostle John proclaims" to as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13).
God has provided a way out of our perdictament. Confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart God has raised Him from the dead and you will be saved from the wrath of God that's coming. And we must all stand before the judgement seat of Christ. And he does not wish that anyone would perish but that all would come to repentance. For God is who He is, He can not change. He can not compromise His Holiness, His Righteousness. It is God's nature. He can not change.
And in His love he sent his Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins. That's His love for even the most vile wretched sinner. But One must put their hope, faith and trust in the only name under heaven by which anyone can be saved. "Because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”(Acts 17)
The god of this present evil age though has blinded the minds of unbelievers. That's where God pours out His grace. It is God who opens cold dead hearts to believe, accept, acknowledge, repent and confess. It is the God of all creation who hears the cries of the lost who respond to His truth and are born from above, regenerated, given a new heart to believe and become a part of his eternal kingdom. It's all His grace and He saves us not because of the righteous things we have done but because of his mercy. And God supplies the faith when he opens your heart and cry out to Him as the tax collector did, "Have mercy on me, a sinner."
Scripture says people love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. People are comfortable with their sin. And they love their idols, their gods, (which are really no gods at all) because they provide the pleasantries and pleasures of the flesh. And satan, the god of this age sure enjoys satisfying our lusts. And nary a thing is said because we don't want to offend or speak up because its not accepted in our anti-judgmental society. Well one day you will be judged by God Himself. And that judge will be the Savior. For God the Father has committed all judgement to the Son. When you honor Jesus Christ by trusting and obeying Him, you honor the Father who sent Him.
Why did the Apostle call satan the god of this age. Simply because the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. It is a struggle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.(Eph 6:10-18)
When Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by satan, the devil showed Christ all the kingdoms of the world and said, " 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.” Where adam failed in the garden, with everything for his life provided, Jesus Christ in the wilderness succeeded.
All the authority of the world systems has been given to satan and his influence is present to cajole, influence and control the people of this world because they love darkness rather than light. Evil becomes them and they relish in the things of this world--Power-prestige-money. Yes the first humans failed and believed the lie of the wicked one because they wanted to be like God. Rather than believe God, who created them and gave them life, loved them, cared for them, and provided for them.
The god of this age can appear as an angel of light to decieve those people who are perishing....and he does that through counterfit signs, wonders and miracles.(2 Cor. 11:14) As an angel of light he may appear as a friend, but he is in reality the enemy who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8) Satan strikes unbelievers with blindness so that their minds are unable to see the light of the gospel. A veil covers their minds much as the Israelites refused to see Moses face radiating God's glory and the Jews were unable to understand the message of the Scriptures.
Who is your god or god? What are your idols? Oh you may not have tiny statues of varies people or earthly creatures adorning your home that you pray to, but who or what do you value above all things? Is it your family, money, wealth, success, popularity, sports hero's, fancy cars, movie stars, rock and roll, country, hip hop or other various music idols, high tech, AI's, Metas, Instagram, Snapchat, You Tube, Podcast and Twitter followers, Facebook likes, and so on and so forth.
God desires your full attention. God the Father says of Jesus the Christ "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, listen to Him." His words to us are “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (John 3:17-21)
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. (Heb 1:1-4)
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”
The God who has created all things, The God who holds everything together, every galaxy, every star, every planet, every solar system in the universe, every proton, every neuton, every electron, every atom and all matter that he Himself spoke into existence before there was anything wants to know you. Why? Because it is his wish that none should perish. For He does not delight in the death of the wicked. He has reached out to you while reading these words. The free gift of eternal life is waiting. If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. From eternal condemnation and into eternal life. For it is appointed for all people to die once, but after this the judgement. (Heb. 9:27)
