How can Satan have control of the world when God still has control?

This has puzzled me for a while now because the snake, the man and the woman were sent out of the garden, cursed by God.

God remained there.

The snake doesn't control the Earth if we consider Genesis. The snake deceived the man & woman, not God. They all left the garden and remained under God.

I mean God never died, the man did but the man is not God. God created a man in his image & likeness...


He gave the man certain status but the woman & the man were tempted by the snake and perhaps the man & woman to this day are tempted by the snake and disobey God.

It just doesn't make sense that the snake has control of the world?
Perhaps temptations rule our own lives and we can't overcome them?

God has control of the Earth... so what are people raving on about?

The generations of Adam came after expulsion and you can see quite clearly the struggles that each generation had, toiling the soil living under the authority of God and constantly being deceived or tempted by the snake.

Perhaps when Christ overcame the snake, temptation, (and we are all faced with that) the snake is destroyed. The temptations etc are overcome so cease to exist?

Satan is the god of this world in the sense that he has deceived 99% of it to follow him. Even those who think they are following God don't realize they are deceived, such as observing a Sunday sabbath, Christmas, Easter etc instead of God's Sabbath on the 7th day and the Holy days he lays out to observe.

God allows this as a witness to what happens when man listens to Satan and himself instead of God, but there is a time limit on this, or mankind would annihilate himself (Matthew 24:22). Soon Christ will return as king of Kings, Satan will be locked up for 1000 years, and a contrast will be given, of what can be accomplished in 1000 years when truly following God's way, compared with the thousands of years of following our own and Satan's ways.

Satan currently rules this world, but this is temporarily allowed by God, because mankind has been given free will, and this is man's choosing, the consequences of not following God. Satan is about to be dethroned, he knows it, and he won't be happy....

Revelation 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Because there is a physical world and a spiritual world.

Jesus said that from the days of John the Baptist until now (the days of Jesus) that the kingdom of heaven was forcefully advancing and forceful men lay hold of it.

Most people don't recognize the kingdom because it is of a spiritual nature, therefore in a sense, Satan is winning. Every time people start talking of spiritual things, specifically supernatural things, testimony is tossed out the window in lieu of a debate.

As long as there are more people going about their busy lives, than there are of people giving solid testimony to the truth - the scales are tipped in favor of the prince of darkness.


[edit on 26-11-2008 by Myrtales Instinct]

God is not in control of everything. Neither is Satan. Every person has free will to do what they want. God and Satan can only suggest things put things in front of you. And then you take it how you want to take it. But end the end God is in control because he knows the outcome of everyone's choices.