There is nothing the devil has that was not given to him. In Luke chapter four, while the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he made a very remarkable statement whose import we seldom or never realise. It is written that
“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, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours."’ - Luke 4:5-7 (NIV)
The devil claimed the world was under his authority because it was given to him, and Jesus made no objection to his claims. So the question is: how and when was the authority over the world handed over to him? The answer can be found in the book of the beginning.
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” - Genesis 1:26 (KJV)
God gave man - in the person of Adam - authority over all the earth, but Adam handed over that authority to the devil when he chose to obey the devil instead of God. It is written,
“Don't you know that you are slaves of anyone you obey? You can be slaves of sin and die, or you can be obedient slaves of God and be acceptable to him” - Romans 6:16 (CEV)
Adam lost his authority and dominion over the earth when he made himself subject to the devil, and that’s what the devil wanted Jesus to do when he tempted Him in the wilderness to turn a stone into bread. He wanted Jesus to obey his command and thereby become subject to him. But thank God the second Adam was not ignorant of the devices of the devil like the first Adam. So we can see that Jesus was tempted in a similar way as Adam was, but what made the difference in their decisions was the knowledge Jesus had, a knowledge of which Adam was ignorant.
I also want to note that the word ‘delivered’ as used in the King James Version of Luke 4:6, is translated from the Greek word paradidÅmi which means,
1) to give into the hands of another
2) to give over into (one's) power or use
3) to deliver verbally
4) to permit
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So from this we can understand that the world was given over into satan’s power by man (in the person of Adam).
Now let us return to the statement, there is nothing the devil has that was not given to him. When you see the devil exercise authority in a family know that the authority was handed over to him by someone in that family, either in the near past or in the distant past, and this could have been done verbally.
The devil is empowered by the ignorance of the human race.
The devil wields authority over the world because of their ignorance. Like Adam they chose to serve and obey the devil because they are ignorant of spiritual truths; they are ignorant of spiritual realities. How do I know Adam lost authority over the world through his ignorance? I know so because he was ignorant of the devices of the devil; he was ignorant of the fact that the devil was after his throne.
But you see, the funny thing is that the devil was not ignorant of the fact that the mission of Jesus Christ– the Messiah – on earth, was to take back the authority that rightly belong to man, which was why He had to become a man to achieve that feat. The devil knew the mission of Jesus, but was only ignorant of the strategy Jesus intended to use to take back the authority. The apostle Paul wrote,
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” - 1Corinthians 2:7, 8, (KJV)
This means the princes of this world - example the prince of Persia (Daniel 10:13, 20), and the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) - did not know the Christ would take back the throne through His death. If they had known God’s strategy they would have made sure nothing happened to Jesus so that the price for the sin of the human race would not be paid. But in their ignorance they crucified the Lord of Glory, thereby sealing their fate and ensuring victory for man.
The devil is empowered by the ignorance of the Church.
Anything the enemy has taken from us was given to him through ignorance, which is why we can never take back what the devil stole from us unless we first of all deliver ourselves from the ignorance that empowered the enemy in our lives.
It is a tragedy to live in ignorance of spiritual truths. You cannot exercise spiritual authority if you live in ignorance of spiritual truths. Knowledge gives you the confidence and the boldness you need to confront the adversary. Until you know who you are in Christ Jesus, until you have accurate knowledge of the position of the enemy, until you realize that the position of the enemy is under the feet of Christ (Hebrews 2:8), you cannot exercise authority over him and take back what rightfully belongs to you.
Jesus said in John 10:10,
“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have {and} enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)” - AMP
The devil achieves this through the ignorance of God’s people. The devil steals from us because we think we are not deserving of the things he has taken away from us; we think we cannot have it all. He kills God’s people because they are ignorant of the covenant of life and long life that God has made with them (Psalm 118:17, Malachi 2:5, Psalm 91:14-16, Pro 3:1, 2). Jesus said, “The thief comes only in order to…destroy” and in Hosea 4:6, the Holy Spirit speaking through the prophet Hosea said,
“My [chosen] people [the godly, the upright, those who have a right standing relationship with God] are destroyed [ruined, killed, subdued, defeated, reduced, wasted, rendered useless, rendered ineffective] because of their ignorance. Because you have despised and rejected divine knowledge [discernment, understanding, wisdom], you will not be a minister of my Word. Because you neglect the practice of my principles, I will also neglect and forget [to bless] your children” (paraphrase by Maikh Etto)
The prophet Isaiah also said,
“Therefore my people are gone into captivity for lack of knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude are parched with thirst. “
-Isaiah 5:13, (ASV)
Jesus came to give us abundant life, but we cannot experience this abundant life through ignorance; we cannot experience abundant life by living in ignorance of the truths that Jesus came to reveal to us. We cannot be more than conquerors through ignorance. In Matthew 23:34 Jesus said,
“I will send you prophets, and wise men, and inspired writers…” (TLB)
The Holy Spirit gave me a rhema word from this scripture, and I want to share it with you. He said to me: “For everything you need to succeed with your life, God has inspired someone to write about it. If you're not reading it, you're not getting it.” Therefore go get it!
Maikh Etto
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