Satan's authority

“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 splendour, 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
For those who think Satan isn’t in control of this world, this passage might make you think again. This is the second of three temptations given in Luke: Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, and offers to give them to Him in exchange for worship.
This is not a temptation if the thing that’s being offered is impossible. For instance, if I offered to sell you the Empire State building, you would not be tempted to buy it, even for the smallest price. Why not? Because I don’t own it; I have no claim on it and no right to sell it to you. But notice what Jesus does here: He doesn’t dispute Satan’s claim. He doesn’t say, ‘Well, actually, you can’t give me those things, because you don’t own them yourself.’ Satan is indeed the prince and the power of this world (Dan. 10:20, John 12:31, John 14:30, John 16:11, Eph. 2:2). In the beginning, God gave Adam authority over the world, but when he sinned by giving in to Satan’s temptation, he forfeited that authority to Satan.
This was a very real temptation. Jesus knew that the pain and agony of the cross was awaiting Him – not merely the physical pain, but the pain of separation from His Father, and the agony of becoming sin, the very thing He hated the most. But He knew it was necessary in order to redeem the world. Here, Satan offered Him a shortcut. He was in effect saying, ‘Worship me, and You can have everything You’ve been promised without having to go to the cross.’
This doesn’t mean we should be afraid of Satan. Jesus has conquered sin and death and has broken Satan’s power over us, if we are in Christ. Satan’s days as the prince of this world are numbered. One day Jesus will return to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. Is He your King and Lord?