4:4 god of this world. The “god of this world (or ‘age’)” is Satan. In John 12:31, Jesus called him “the prince of this world” (see also John 14:30), and John noted that “the whole world lieth in wickedness [literally, ‘the wicked one’]” (I John 5:19). When even brilliant intellectuals seem unable to understand and accept the easy-to-understand gospel of Christ, especially His works of creation and redemption, it is because their minds have been blinded to these wonderful truths. We must pray for God “to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God” (Acts 26:18).