When Jesus walked the earth, He made it quite obvious that He did things because the kingdom of God was present. He told the disciples to preach that the kingdom of God is near. He was even accused of casting out demons by the power of demons and spoke about the strongman’s kingdom.
28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Matthew 12:28)
7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. (Matthew 10:7-8)
25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? (Matthew 12:25-26, emphasis mine)
Characteristics of the Kingdom
I want to take a few moments to describe the characteristics of a kingdom and how the enemy got his.
A Kingdom Has a King
The first characteristic of a kingdom is that is has a king. There must be someone who is the designated ruler. In the kingdoms of Biblical times the king was the absolute ruler.
Sometimes kings were given permission to rule by a greater king and still allowed to use the title of king. One example of this in the Bible comes from the parable of Jesus.
12 So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. (Luke 19:12)
In Biblical times some leaders were required to go to a far away location to receive the authority to rule over their kingdom. This happened to Herod the Great who was required to travel to Rome in order to receive authority to rule and his title as king by the Roman Senate and Emperor.
Satan is in charge of his kingdom of darkness and he rules with an iron fist.
A Kingdom Has a Territory
The second characteristic of a kingdom is that it has territory. There are certain boundaries that are understood to be the extent of the kingdom. Herod was given certain portions of the land of Israel to rule. His power did not extend any further than the lands he was given.
Even though he was a king, he was powerless outside of his realm. Even though he had great authority, he was not the ultimate authority.
Satan’s kingdom includes the whole earth, except for those areas that are being won back by Jesus and His disciples. Satan is called:
The ruler of this world three times by Jesus (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11)
The God of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4)
Prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2)
Satan’s influence has penetrated every portion of the earth. There’s not a place on this planet that hasn’t felt the impact of his rule.
A Kingdom Has Citizens
A king without citizens is a king in name only. Satan’s kingdom is comprised of the whole demonic realm in addition to every single person in the world who does not know Jesus Christ as Lord.
I want that to sink in. Every person you will ever meet in your lifetime who does not know Jesus Christ as Lord is under the rule of Satan. The apostle John says:
19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (1 John 5:19)
There is only one way to escape the kingdom of darkness and the apostle Paul tells us that Jesus told him that the purpose of his ministry was
18 to open their eyes [all those who do not know Christ] so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me. (Acts 26:18, emphasis mine)
He also informs those who believe in Christ that
13 He [Jesus] rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13, emphasis mine)
A Kingdom Has a Government
Every kingdom in the world has structure and government to carry out the will of the king and oversee its citizens. We are given glimpses into the structure of Satan’s kingdom by Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians. Paul writes:
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:20-23)
10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:10)
22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him. (1 Peter 3:22)
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. (Daniel 10:13)
These verses tell us something about the structure of the demonic kingdom. In Ephesians 6 Paul talks about four levels of demonic power and authority. Our goal is not to delve into this structure and seek to understand it, but to show that it’s there and that we’re fighting against it.
The clearest glimpse into Satan and God’s kingdom comes from the last reference from the book of Daniel. The messenger angel sent from God to answer Daniel’s prayer for revelation was hindered twenty-one days by the “Prince of the kingdom of Persia.”
The angel is saying that there’s a demonic prince over the kingdom of Persia. At the end of the verse he uses the plural word kings of Persia. This shows that there is an overall ruler over Persia and many demons subject to this main ruler.
We also get a glimpse into God’s kingdom structure in that the messenger was struggling against this demonic power for twenty-one days until Michael, a chief angel, came to overcome the demonic forces of Persia so the messenger could bring God’s answer to Daniel.
The idea of Michael being a chief angel shows his high position in the organization of God’s kingdom. It also shows the possibility that Satan structured his kingdom in a similar manner to what he saw in heaven before his fall.
A Kingdom Has Laws
The nature of the kingdom’s rule is totally dependant upon the character of the king. Those in the king’s domain will flourish or flounder according to the oversight of their ruler. In the case of Satan it is a world of chaos, darkness, destruction, and death.
Here are a few passages that show the outcome of Satan’s rule.
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, (Colossians 3:5-9)
How Did Satan Gain His Kingdom?
The straight-forward answer is through deception. Satan is a liar and the father of lies. Every lie finds its source in him. So let’s look at how the devil became the ruler of this world.
Adam and Eve Were Given Dominion Over the Earth
God is the creator of all things. He created everything we can and can’t see by the power of His word. He created Adam and Eve in His image and gave them authority to rule over all the earth.
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28, emphasis mine)
Adam and Eve were given rule over everything on the earth and were to bring all things under their subjection. In essence we could call them the rulers of the world. They gained their authority and power from God Himself. They were to rule under His direction and for His purposes.
The Deceiver Deceives
In Genesis chapter three the serpent comes to the garden and deceives Eve and motivates Adam and Eve to rebel against God and relinquish their rule of the world to him.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:1-6)
When God placed Adam in the garden there was only one commandment to follow.
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:12-17)
The serpent directly contradicted God:
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)
Satan was calling God a liar and said that the reason He did not allow them to eat from the tree was because he was afraid they would become like Him, which is foolish since they were already created in the image of God.
The issue for Eve was not eating the fruit. It was who would she believe? Who would she follow? Who would she obey? Eve chose to listen to and obey the devil and ate of the fruit, then she gave some to Adam and he ate.
Some look at the eating of the fruit as such a small thing, but it wasn’t. It was a total rebellion against the rule of God. It was a choice to come under the rule of Satan. Just as Satan caused a rebellion to arise in heaven, he caused Adam and Eve to rebel against God on the earth.
Adam and Eve’s rebellion brought death into the world and brought them under the dominion of Satan.
16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? (Romans 6:16)
When the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness he made a claim that Jesus did not contend.
5 And he [the devil] led Him [Jesus] up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “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. 7 Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” (Luke 4:5-7, emphasis mine)
Satan proclaimed that he did not usurp the rule of Adam and Eve by power, but that it had been handed over to him. He had authority over all the kingdoms of this world and could give these domains to whomever he wished.
Jesus would not fall for the same trick that Adam and Eve fell for in the garden. He said:
“It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” (Luke 4:8)
Remember that Jesus called Satan the god of this world three times in the book of John. He knew that he had the right to rule because of Adam and Eve’s betrayal of God. One reason He came to earth was to walk in full obedience to God and take back the right to rule the world and put satan underneath His feet.
Jesus also understood that choosing to worship the devil would cause Him to rebel against His Father in heaven and He would not give into the temptation to take a shortcut in wresting control of this world from the devil.
Now that you understand your adversary’s kingdom and how he came by it, next week we’ll look at the strategies he uses to wage war against you.
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