Church Series-The Cosmic System of Satan
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday December 6, 2016
The Church Series: The Cosmic System of Satan
Lesson # 23
The believer is living in enemy territory, which is the cosmic system of Satan.
Satan runs this world and deceives it.
1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (NASB95)
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (NASB95)
In his temptation of Christ, Satan declared, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish” (Luke 4:5).
Of course, God is sovereign and omnipotent, but in accord with God’s eternal purposes, the Bible does teach us that this present world is Satan’s domain and under his authority.
Thus, the Lord frequently spoke of Satan as the ruler of this world (kosmos) (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), and Paul likewise asserts the same truth (2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2; 6:12; 1 John 5:19).
The nature of Satan’s aims in the world are quickly evident in his first appearance in the Garden of Eden when he tempted the Woman to act independently of God that she might become like God knowing good and evil.
He appeals to what is pleasant to the senses and desirable to gain wisdom, but always, the goal is a life that seeks to get by “without” God.
Satan’s aim is to create a world system that rivals God’s kingdom but which leaves Him out.
His aim is to promote a counterfeit world order.
Basically, the cosmos is evil because it is independent of God.
It may contain good aspects as well as overtly evil aspects, but its inherent evil lies in its being independent of God and a rival to Him.
This sharp rivalry surfaces in such verses as James 1:27 where the believer is told to keep himself unstained from the world; in 4:4 where friendship with the world is said to be hostility toward God; and in 1 John 2:16 where John declares that all that is in the world is not from the Father.
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (NASB95)
“World” is the noun kosmos which is used of a vast system and arrangement of human affairs, earthly goods, godless governments, conflicts, riches, pleasures, culture, education, world religions, the cults and the occult dominated and negatively affected by Satan who is god of this satanic cosmos.
This system is promoted by Satan, conformed to his ideals, aims, methods, and character, and stands perpetually in opposition to God the cause of Christ.
This world system is used to seduce people away from God and the person of Christ and is anti-God, anti-Christ, and anti-Bible, and very anti-humanity though it often appears as humanitarian as part of Satan’s masquerade as an angel of light.
The devil’s world will never be healed; the devil’s system will never be successful in bringing in perfect environment apart from God.
Indeed, Satan’s kosmos appears to have the betterment of humanity as a prime objective in order to further his plans of enslaving and misleading as many people as possible.
While masquerading as a kingdom of light, Satan’s world is entirely a kingdom of darkness, and so the scriptures describe it, making abundantly clear the distinction between God’s world to come and the present cosmos of evil.
Satan has incorporated into his system of world rulership as many material distractions as possible.
Affluence, the increase and spread of wealth, communication and technology are factors, which, from one point of view, are very beneficial to the devil’s control of mankind.
Fear is a major element in Satan’s manipulation of humanity, and to the extent that men enjoy and rely on such things for their happiness and security, to that degree the fear of losing them produces a sort of bondage which the devil is quick to exploit (cf. Hebrews 2:14–15 for the principle).
In order to prevent our enslavement to the delights of this world (as well as to its necessities), an area Satan knows only too well how to manipulate against us, we need to have a full and sober appreciation of what the world really is.
The church age believer needs to be very aware of the world’s essential vanity and of the pointlessness of its distractions and diversions.
We need to be able to keep the pressures and exigencies of life (as well as its pleasures and delights) in proper perspective.
God is important and knowing Him and serving Him is why we are here.
Everything else is mere context.
Another word that sometimes refers to this world system in the Greek New Testament is the Greek noun aion, “age, period of time” and this word seems to serve as a synonym in certain contexts.
It is used in some contexts of the age in which we live as marked by certain spiritual and moral characteristics as affected by Satan whom Paul identifies as “the god of this age.”
A very interesting use occurs in Ephesians 2:2 where Paul combines both aion and kosmos, “the course (age) of the world (cosmos).
This age is often contrasted in Scripture with the age to come because of the very different characteristics and conditions of the two ages (Ephesians 1:21; Matt. 12:32; 13:22; 1 Timothy 6:17; Tit. 2:12-13; Hebrews6:5).
The world, then, instead of remaining a beautiful expression of God’s will and creative power as seen under the conditions of its creation, has becomes the seat of an angelic conflict and the very rival and antithesis of the plan of God.
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. (NASB95)
To achieve his aim, Satan must try to make the values of his godless system seem attractive.
Thus he works to make people give top priority to self and to the here and now as most important.
When John wrote that all that is in the world is not of the Father he explained what he meant by “all” by three epexegetical statements that follow in 1 John 2:16 and all of them emphasize self as number one.
Satisfy the lusts of the flesh, Satan counsels and try to get what the inordinate desires of the eyes make you covet and build a self-sufficient, arrogant attitude that arises from boasting about the possessions one has in life.
This selfishness is, of course, the prevailing philosophy of the world, and it comes from Satan who promoted himself from the beginning.
Satan also seeks to focus people’s attention on the present rather than on eternity and that is why John reminds us in verse 17 that the world passes away but the one that does the will of God abides forever.
Thus, Satan seeks to achieve his purposes by trying to change our priorities (self first) and our perspective (here and now more important) and in reality the truth is that God is first and eternity most important.
The Scripture sets forth a number of importance truths regarding the believer’s relation to this satanic cosmos in which they live.
Though they are in the cosmic system of Satan, they are not of it (John 17:14-16).
The church is of a different kingdom and, as sojourners and aliens and is to be living in light of eternity.
Though in the world, the believer is to be both unstained by the world and separated from it and its way of life while also penetrating the world as ambassadors of Christ, as those holding forth the Word of life (cf. Jam. 1:27; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; with Philippians 2:12-18; Matt. 5:14-16; 2 Corinthians 5:20-21).
The church’s trust, therefore, is not to be in the uncertain riches of this age nor in the things in which people glory (1 Timothy 6:17-19; John 5:41; 1 Thess. 2:6).
The church is not to be friends with this world which amounts to hostility to God and His aims (Jam. 4:4); nor are they to love the world, for loving the world and its things chokes out their ability to love God (1 John 2:15-17; Matt. 6:19-24; Mark 4:18-19).
Rather, the church is to find its purpose, peace, significance, and joy, not as the world seeks these things, but through the Savior’s life and the eternal purpose He gives them (John 14:25-27; Philippians 2:1-5).
The church can enjoy the things God gives them in the world for He has given them all things freely to enjoy, but the church’s security, significance, or basic satisfaction and contentment in life is to come from knowing, loving, trusting, and serving the Lord (1 Timothy 6:17; Philippians 4:11-13; Eccl. 2:24-26).
So while they can use the things in the world, they must not abuse them as one who belongs to Satan’s cosmic system who seeks from the world what only the Lord can give (1 Corinthians 7:29-35).
Believers can expect animosity from the world bridled with an attempt by the world to conform them to its ideal, ambitions or aims, and way of life (John 15:18-19; 17:14; 1 John 3:13; Rom. 12:1-2); it is God’s truth as found in the Bible that protects from the world (John 17:17).