Satan has thrown a hood of darkness over sinful men.

The apostle John is adamant about this control.

“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”
1Jn 5:19

I remember being stunned by the comprehensiveness of this statement, even as a young man who had turned to the gospel, and who thought he knew how bad the world really was. The “whole world” is in the power of Satan? I thought surely this couldn’t mean the whole world, but that is what it truly said. Further, other verses say in essence the same thing.

“in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.”
2Cor 4:4

Many verses indeed indicate we are in the power of Satan until we came to Christ.

“One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Jn 3:36

The wrath of God was on him because of his sins before coming to Christ, and if he truly doesn’t believe / obey the Son? The Greek word is apeitheo and it describes someone who is not fully persuaded of Christ, and who thus will not fully obey Christ. That person? The wrath of God was on him, and now not fully persuaded … then the wrath of God remains on him. It was there before he started to turn, and remains there when he fails to turn.

He remains as he was at first, as we ALL were at first.

“However at that time, not knowing God, YOU were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods.”
Gal 4:8

We have ALL been there.

But big changes are yet to come in human history

The changes are beginning with the coming of the gospel so “we are of God,” and it is all the rest are under Satan’s spells, 1Jn 5:19. It is before the Second Coming of Christ. That final conflict is described in many Scriptures throughout the Bible and in many parallel passages in the book of Revelation. Remember, Revelation is a series of overlapping visions which cover the entire Christian age. Also it is in Rev 20:7-10.

But BEFORE that final conflict …

There is a period which has not happened yet, when Satan is bound for an extended period of time, so that Satan,

“should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time.”
Rev 20:3

There is yet to come in human history, a period when,

“… the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea. ”
Hab 2:14

In Habakkuk 2 and similar passages it seems to be in the context of this present world that there would be a time the knowledge of God will cover this entire earth.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible WEB, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901.