Don’t Let Satan Blind You
whose minds the god of this age has blinded… 2 Corinthians 4:4a
2 Corinthians 4:4 says the “god of this age”, god with a little g, Satan, has “blinded the minds of those who would believe lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, would shine on them.” When trying to understand this verse in the natural, it is as if Satan is physically blinding would-be believers from seeing the truth. Verse 3, right before the above verse says, “Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.” If there is a solid veil over your face, you would not be able to see anything. We, however, know that is not the case in the world. So what is this passage of scripture talking about? If you read down further to verse 6 you get even more context, “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Think of it in terms of a lamp with a shade on it. The light bulb would be Jesus / the Word. This light is supposed to shine in our hearts. However, there is a veil, a lamp shade, preventing the light from shining into our hearts.
This veil is “all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-[which] is not of the Father but is of the world.” (1 John 2:16). It is “the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things [that] enter in [and] choke the word.” (Mark 4:19) So Satan is not physically blinding those people. He is instead, putting other things before them to block or choke out the Word of God from penetrating through to their hearts. Paul tells us in the very next chapter how to remove this veil. “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) Do not walk according to what Satan is putting before you in this world. Think of it like wearing a virtual reality VR headset. It may seem like what is happening on that headset is real, but once the headset is removed, you are back to reality. Reality for us, should be God’s Word! Everything in this world is Satan’s virtual reality. Remove the veil by walking by faith to God’s Word.
