[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

The Spirit World Is Real

Our world today is not the world God wants it to be.

One of the reasons, which will surprise many, is that our planet, its governments, and its peoples are all living under the weight of Satan’s rule. From the beginning of mankind’s existence to today, human history is the written record of what it means to live under the rule of the devil.

Yet that rule is coming to an end—and what a difference that will make.

Join us here on Tomorrow’s World as we dive into God’s word and see the coming end of Satan’s rule.

Satan the Devil Is the Ruler of This World

Welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we help you make sense of your world through the pages of the Bible.

Have you ever heard the old Protestant hymn, “This Is My Father’s World”? Its poetic praise of the created, natural world around us is beautiful.

Yet, when we look more broadly, it seems very apparent that this world is not our Father’s world. It is filled with suffering, misery, conflict, and heartache—surely not His desire for this beautiful place He created or for the people He fashioned in His own image.

That’s because the world around us, in a very real way, is under the authority and control of Satan the Devil.

That might be hard to believe. Maybe you’ve never heard it before. But I assure you, based on God’s own word, it is true.

Again, it might seem odd to say that Satan rules the world—maybe even a little overdramatic. But we don’t want you to just take our word for it. Don’t just believe us—believe your Bible. In fact, in this case, you can take Jesus’ word for it.

Jesus Did Not Refute Satan’s Authority

In John 14:30, we read something Jesus said to His disciples as His crucifixion was drawing near.

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”

That “ruler of this world” Jesus talked about was Satan the Devil, and He calls him this in two additional passages: John 12:31 and John 16:11.

Now, you might wonder about how that meshes with other statements in the Bible. For instance, in Matthew 28:18, we read Jesus’ comment, after His resurrection, that “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

We see the answer to this question reflected in the temptation of Jesus Christ, early in his ministry.

Satan Tempts Jesus Christ

At that time, 3½ years before His crucifixion, Jesus had been fasting, 40 days and 40 nights, drawing near to His Father before launching His ministry.

At that time, Satan appeared to the Son of God and tempted Him—and among the devil’s temptations was an offer of power. We read about it in Luke 4, starting in verse 5.

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “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.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve’” (Luke 4:5–8).

Of course, Jesus did not take the bait. If He had, He wouldn’t be our Savior.

But notice what Jesus didn’t say—He didn’t say Satan was lying about having that authority. He didn’t say that the kingdoms of the world had not been delivered to the devil.

In fact, the kingdoms of the world have been given to Satan. Again, as Jesus said, the devil is the “ruler of this world.” And why? Because rulership of the nations had been given to Satan, as he says to Jesus in the passage.

“All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me…” (Luke 4:6).

Satan Is “the God of This Age”

Yes, God reigns supreme in all things but, for this time, in this age, He has given Satan a certain amount of authority and freedom to act. That’s why even after Jesus’ resurrection, the Apostle Paul still refers to Satan as “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Now, you might think, why in the world would God do that?

But the short story is that Satan wasn’t always Satan.

Satan Deceives the Whole World (Revelation 12:9)

Responsibility for the world had been given to him when he was the archangel Lucifer, before his sin and descent into darkness.

However, mankind had an opportunity to replace him—to take the reins of the world and bring it back into line with the will and desire of God. But if you’ve read Genesis 1 through 3, then you know the story.

Given the choice between following Satan’s lead or God’s—between disobeying their Creator and deciding right and wrong for themselves, or obeying their Creator and choosing His guidance over their own desires—they chose to follow Satan’s lead.

And frankly, each of us at various times in our own lives have made the exact same choice as Adam and Eve. Romans 3:23 is plain.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

So Satan remains, as Christ called him, the “ruler of this world.”

Results of Satan’s Deception

And what have been the results of following the devil’s lead?

We’ve had thousands of years—generation after generation after generation—to figure out how to build the world while deciding right and wrong for ourselves instead of obeying our Creator.

What have we achieved in all this time? What does a world under the rule of the devil look like?

Consider these four facts.

A World of Confusion

1. First, our world is filled with confusion.

Humanity has thousands upon thousands of different religions, philosophies, worldviews, ideologies, and belief systems. Right and wrong differ from culture to culture—even family to family and person to person.

In fact, many today believe there is no right or wrong—that life is a matter of what you can get away with, so long as no one catches you.

In some of our most scientifically advanced societies, the most astonishing ignorance is on the rise, where even the most basic questions—such as what is a family? What is a man or a woman? What is a boy or a girl?—generate blank stares and stammering, babbling nonsense. We are becoming, simultaneously, the most educated and the most stupid generation in human history.

Endless War

2. And under Satan’s rule our world is one of near-constant warfare.

John Arquilla, professor of defense analysis at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, wrote on this fact at the end of 2012 for Foreign Policy magazine.

Writing their Lessons of History in the tumultuous year 1968, Will and Ariel Durant observed that in “the last 3,421 years of recorded history, only 268 have seen no war.” The 44 years since they made this observation have added not a single year of peace to that meager total (“The Big Kill,” Foreign Policy, December 3, 2012).

That’s less than eight years of peace for every century of recorded history. Of course, he wrote that in 2012, a little more than a decade ago. How do you think we’ve fared since then?

As I record this program, right now, Israel is at war in Gaza; Russia and Ukraine are trading dead bodies at an astonishing rate; and nations around the world are arming as if they see World War III dawning on the horizon like an apocalyptic sunrise.

And our current arsenal of weaponry is like nothing history has ever seen, capable of fulfilling the end-time conditions Jesus described in Matthew 24:22—warfare in which “no flesh would be saved” apart from God’s own intervention.

Humanity cries out for peace, but the truth of our existence under Satan’s rule has consistently matched the declaration of God in Isaiah 59.

Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace (Isaiah 59:7-8).

Famine

3. Also under the devil’s rule, our world is one of FAMINE and want.

I’m blessed to live in the United States—a nation blessed with wealth and almost embarrassing access to food (at least for now). But my life is not the norm.

In its “State of Food Security and Nutrition” report for 2023, the United Nations noted that after years of decline, hunger and food insecurity is on the increase, with more than 700 million people globally facing hunger at some point in the year—roughly one out of every 11 human beings (“The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024”, FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2024).

Global poverty, as well, has been on the increase in recent years. And who hasn’t seen the growing waves of homelessness and illegal immigration, as millions seek an escape from the turmoil, danger, and want in their home nations?

Disease and Pestilence

4. Further, the devil’s reign as “ruler of this world” has given us a world of disease and pestilence.

COVID-19 frightened Western nations who are used to feeling that rampant disease was a part of other countries’ lives—not theirs. And, indeed, the constant threat of disease and infection is a way of life for people in so many nations around the world.

And in nations with enough wealth to push back against those diseases that ravage impoverished countries, the specter of “diseases of affluence” rears its head. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, obesity-related and respiratory diseases, sexually transmitted diseases. In Satan’s world, it seems as if humanity is determined not to be healthy.

As much as we cry to the heavens that we want to understand how life is supposed to work, that we want peace, plenty, and good health, mankind proves generation after generation that we cannot achieve those things—because we continue to seek our own ways, our own paths, our own ideas and values apart from the authority of a loving God.

We seek to continue imagining that we can rule ourselves, the way we want to live. And in doing so, we continue to support Satan on his throne, as the “ruler of this world,” just as Jesus Christ said he was.

In fact, Revelation chapter 6 says that each of these conditions—ideological and religious confusion, warfare, famine, and pestilence—will eventually come to a dramatic climax in the end-times, symbolized by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse holding life-or-death sway over a fourth of the entire world.

But, my friends, there really is good news ahead.

Because while six millennia of human history has proven mankind simply cannot solve the problem of Satan’s rule, Almighty God can solve that problem, and He will. The time is coming when God the Father will send His Son, Jesus Christ, to this world to end the reign of the devil on this planet.

God Gives Jesus Christ All Authority

Where Adam failed to remain faithful to God and failed to replace Satan on his throne, Jesus Christ succeeded. The sinless Son of God has earned the right to reign over this world to the glory of His Father and for the fulfillment of their plan of salvation.

Recall that earlier in our program, we mentioned that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, said after His resurrection that “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ: Satan’s Kingdom Ends

But the time when He will act on that authority and take control of the kingdoms of the world lies just ahead. When it comes, it will be the greatest news mankind could ever hope to hear.

Let’s read about it, starting in Revelation 11:15.

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned” (Revelation 11:15–17).

That same trumpet blast, the last trumpet, will also herald the resurrection and glorification of His saints, who will begin their reign alongside Him.

Jesus Christ Will Destroy the Works of the Devil

And the first order of business will be the destruction of the assembled armies of the devil and the banishing of Satan for 1,000 years. We read of that in Revelation 20.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while (Revelation 20:1–3).

That “little while” would be the focus of a completely different program.

For today’s purposes, we can’t fail to miss that at the beginning of Jesus Christ’s reign on this earth, Satan the Devil and his influence will be utterly removed from this world for the entire 1,000-year period. His rule on this earth will end, [as] the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 3:8.

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

And destroy the works of the devil He will!

God’s Way of Life Will Replace Satan’s Lies

Today’s world may be shaped by the character of the devil, but tomorrow’s world will be shaped by the character of Jesus Christ—and what a difference that will make.

For instance, instead of confusion, Christ will bring understanding and knowledge.

The world will know that there is a God. They will know—and believe—that Jesus Christ is His Son. And they will know the way of life that we were created to live.

No More Sorrow or Pain

In fact, look in Isaiah 11:9, which describes the world during the Millennium under Christ. There it says,

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

The Way of Peace

Notice that statement: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain.” That’s because the Bible says that the rule of Jesus Christ will replace our world of warfare with one of true peace. Not a peace built on pretense—based on a delicate-but-fragile balance of nuclear stockpiles or treaties that are made in one generation but broken in the next. But a real peace, founded on the laws of God and a way of life that is built on loving your neighbor, instead of seeing him as means to get what you want.

The millennial reign of Christ will see peace between nations, yes, but also peace between families and between people. He will show us how to live in peace—and once they have experienced the joy of living in a world governed by His laws and way of life, Isaiah 9:6 tells us they will call Jesus Christ, the “Prince of Peace.”

The Abundant Life

And in that land of peace there will be plenty for all. Prophecy contains a beautiful picture of this in Amos 9. There, God speaks of a world overflowing with produce.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it” (Amos 9:13).

And finally, in a world where the knowledge of God permeates all of life, peace and safety reign, and food is not only plentiful but is grown properly according to divine guidance and biblical principles, we will also experience a world of abundant health.

The Kingdom of God: God’s Laws, God’s Blessings

With Satan’s rule ended, the laws of God will be enforced, including the many laws He established for man’s good—laws of agriculture, of hygiene, and of distinguishing between the clean and the unclean.

Just as He did during His ministry 2,000 years ago, but on a much grander scale, Jesus Christ will intervene and heal the sick.

The prophet Isaiah writes of this coming time in chapter 35 of his book.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert (Isaiah 35:5–6).

Instead of the confusion, war, famine, and disease of today’s world, tomorrow’s world will be filled with understanding, peace, plenty, and abundant health.

For millennia, man has been struggling and failing to turn the world into a paradise his way, following the pattern of Satan the Devil, who refused to do things his Creator’s way.

But Jesus Christ is returning, and when He does, He will end Satan’s rule and begin His own.

And man will finally experience that paradise he’s always longed for—once he finally gives up for good the idea of doing it his way and submits, totally and completely, to be ruled by the Son of God.

Pray for God’s Kingdom to Come

Today, we’ve discussed the fact that the tragic history and present condition of our world is due to the fact that it reflects the character of its true ruler, Satan the Devil. And the fruit of his reign is exactly what you would imagine it to be—resulting in thousands of years of misery, heartbreak, and human suffering.

But the good news is that Satan’s rule is coming to an end.

In the days just ahead of us, and none too soon, Jesus Christ will appear in the clouds, ready to end the reign of the devil and inaugurate the Kingdom of God—replacing every sorrow of this world with a joy and happiness that can only come from the Son of God who loves us and who longs to make us a part of His family forever.

No wonder Jesus taught His disciples to pray “Your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10).

The True Christian Walk: Life More Abundantly Now

Yet, there is even better news. That news is that you do not have to wait until the return of Jesus Christ to begin ending the reign of Satan. That’s because God the Father is calling some now, in this age, to begin taking ground from the devil by submitting to the reign of Jesus Christ now—in their lives now and in their family’s lives now.

In John 10:10, Jesus says that He came that those who follow Him may have life, and have it more abundantly.

And Hebrews 6:5 speaks of those who have the opportunity now, today, before Christ’s return, to taste “the good word of God and the powers of the age to come” (Hebrews 6:5).

No, you can’t end the world’s confusion, but you can begin knowing the true God of Scripture better yourself.

And, no, you can’t end wars, no matter who you vote for. But you can find a peace that surpasses understanding in your own life and your own relationships with others.

And you can’t feed every starving child in this world, nor heal every suffering person. But you can learn the miraculous way of give instead of get, and get to know the One who does provide His children’s every need.

Reject Satan’s Way of Life

You can end the devil’s rule in your life and begin personally experiencing the blessings of the reign of Jesus Christ.

In fact, those who are willing to allow Christ to end Satan’s rule in their own lives in today’s world are the very ones He will use to bring an end to Satan’s rule over all mankind in tomorrow’s world.

Thanks so much for watching. All of us here at Tomorrow’s World work very hard to help you understand your world through the pages of the Bible.

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Thank you so much for watching!