When Jesus had his confrontation with (the) Satan at the end of 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, one of the things Satan (or The Devil) offered Jesus was all the power and glory and wealth of all the kingdoms on Earth. The Devil said clearly that those kingdoms were his (maybe hers, but that is another topic). Jesus did NOT refute or deny the Devil’s claim.
In other words, what had once been humanity’s, i.e. The Earth, was then genuinely in the hands of the Devil.
Think of it as a tenancy agreement managed and interpreted by lawyers.
God is the owner/builder. God gave the “property” legally to His/Her Chil(ren), Adam (& Eve). Another lawyer, very good at talking, wormed his way into taking over the lease/tenancy.
Jesus won that tenancy back.
He did not in a sense win back that tenancy for the children of the original tenants, i.e. the children of Adam and Eve. Rather, Jesus won that tenancy back for the grandchildren, those who are reborn (faith is part of it) in Him or through Him.
This is where things get messy. The situation is akin to former slaves in the USA after the Civil War. “On paper” they were free. Slavery had been legally abolished. But they were still often treated like dirt, abused, victimised, tortured, raped, denigrated . . . They had legal rights that they were not getting. Until they enforced those rights, and MADE/FORCED the “system” honour them, they were not going to benefit from their new “rights”. The problems are still being worked out, still erupting in chaos and violence 155 years later.
But the analogy is useful.
Jesus won back our rights. But we are up against a ruthless vicious lawyer who stole the lease and wants to throw his weight around as if he still has it. He lost that lease, to Jesus. But he will do all he can to “bluff” people into thinking he still “runs the joint”.
We are the children or grandchildren of the humans who lost the lease. But we are also the children (greatgrandchildren?)of the owner. We need to know where we stand.
We need to know the terms of the legal contract – i.e. God’s Word(s).