This is God's world, not Satan's. Christians are the lawful

“This is God’s world, not Satan’s. Christians are the lawful heirs, not non-Christians.” Thus proclaimed Gary North, the theologian and economist of the modern age, whose words burn with conviction and challenge. In this declaration, North affirms a truth that echoes through the ages—that the world belongs to God, its Creator and Sustainer, and that those who walk in His light are the rightful stewards of His creation. His words rise not as a cry of pride, but as a call to responsibility, a reminder that faith is not merely belief but inheritance—a sacred duty to rule with righteousness, to build with holiness, and to guard what God has entrusted to His people.

When North declares, “This is God’s world,” he speaks against the despair that so often grips the human heart. In times of corruption, injustice, and decay, many have looked upon the world and said, “This belongs to darkness.” But North, like the prophets before him, refuses to surrender creation to evil. He sees the world not as lost, but as redeemable—a garden planted by divine hands, though overgrown with thorns. His faith is the faith of restoration, the belief that the power of God’s truth can reclaim every field, every city, every soul that has fallen under the shadow of sin. To him, to be Christian is not to retreat from the world, but to inherit it, to transform it in the image of heaven.

The origin of this quote lies in North’s vision of Christian reconstruction—a movement born of the belief that God’s laws are not confined to the church, but extend to all areas of life: governance, economy, education, and art. He stands in the tradition of thinkers who saw no division between the sacred and the worldly, who believed that every domain of human activity should reflect divine order. His statement, therefore, is not a boast of dominance, but a proclamation of duty. For if Christians are the “lawful heirs,” then they are also the keepers of justice, bound to rule not by force, but by mercy; not by greed, but by grace.

Consider the story of William Wilberforce, a man who understood this truth and lived it. In the eighteenth century, the British Empire was built in part upon the suffering of the enslaved. Many Christians of his time accepted this evil as inevitable, or even divinely permitted. But Wilberforce, moved by the conviction that God’s world must not serve the designs of Satan, gave his life to the cause of abolition. For decades, he fought against ridicule, corruption, and political power. He was not content to keep his faith locked in the sanctuary; he carried it into Parliament, into law, into the very heart of human suffering. And at last, through perseverance and faith, the chains were broken. In that triumph, the world caught a glimpse of what Gary North meant: that God’s people, when faithful, become the instruments through which His dominion is restored upon the earth.

Yet North’s words also contain a warning. For if this world belongs to God, then those who call themselves His followers must act as faithful heirs. Too often, men have claimed divine authority while serving their own pride. They have built empires in God’s name, but not in His spirit. North’s declaration reminds us that inheritance is not possession—it is stewardship. To inherit God’s world is to bear His image, to govern in love, to walk in humility. The world belongs to God not because He dominates it, but because He sustains it. So too must the heirs of His kingdom rule—not as conquerors, but as caretakers, tending the earth as a father tends his home.

The lesson, then, is one of courage and accountability. Do not look upon the world as lost to evil. Do not surrender the fields of culture, politics, or thought to darkness. Wherever truth is spoken, wherever mercy is practiced, wherever justice is defended—there, God reigns. Let every believer remember that faith is not flight from the world, but engagement with it. To follow Christ is to plant light where there is shadow, to build what hatred destroys, to reclaim what sin defiles. The faithful are not the fugitives of creation—they are its architects, its healers, its rightful heirs.

So, my child of faith and destiny, remember the fire within these words of Gary North: “This is God’s world, not Satan’s. Christians are the lawful heirs, not non-Christians.” Do not interpret them as a call to pride, but as a summons to purpose. The world is God’s gift to humanity, but it is entrusted only to those who will honor it. Live not as a slave to despair, nor as a tyrant in triumph, but as a servant of the Most High, shaping this earth according to His will. For when the righteous rule with love, and the humble stand firm in truth, then the dominion of darkness will fall, and the world will shine once more as it was meant to be—God’s world, radiant and free.