As we begin to conclude consider “Providence over Satan’s Mind-Blinding Power“

“Satan’s final defeat is to be thrown into the lake of fire, where he will suffer forever. Revelation 20:10 says, “The devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Satan’s aim is to take as many there with him as he can. To do that he must keep people blind to the gospel of Jesus Christ, because the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). No one who is justified by the blood of Christ goes to hell. “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Rom. 5:9). Only those who fail to embrace the wrath-absorbing substitutionary work of Christ will suffer the wrath of God.

Therefore, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “in their case the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” This blinding is the deadliest weapon in Satan’s arsenal. If he succeeds with a person, that person’s suffering will be endless.

But at this most critical point, Satan is not sovereign; God is. And, oh, how thankful we should be! Two verses later, in 2 Corinthians 4:6, Paul describes God’s blindness-removing power over against Satan’s blinding power. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” The comparison is between God’s creating light at the beginning of the world and God’s creating light in the darkened human heart. With total sovereignty, God said at the beginning of the world, and at the beginning of our new life in Christ, “Let there be light.” And there was light. Satan has the power to blind hearts to the gospel. But that power is limited, because God can overcome it for anyone he chooses”—John Piper

Beloved, what will you do, working with God? By your testimony and your life you can by the Spirit of God remove the veil that blinds their minds. Will you? Selah


Pastor Afolabi Oladele