The spirit of Antichrist

 

When Jesus arrived in the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets,” they replied. “But what about you?” He asked them. “Who do you say I am?”

“You are the Messiah (or Christ), the Son of the Living God,” Simon Peter replied.

       - Matthew 16:13-16

When Jesus came on the public scene there was speculation about who He was. Of course, the best way to know something about someone is to simply ask them. There was always confusion and controversy regarding Jesus’ true identity. Jesus did not come into the world through noble birth. He was born to a young peasant girl named Mary – in Bethlehem. Even worse, He was born in a stable with smelly animals. The religious leaders were telling lies regarding Jesus’ birth saying He was born illegitimately – of course not knowing Mary’s conception was by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35; John 8:41).

For Jesus to say that God was His Father was to put Himself equal with God. This infuriated the religious leaders. For a man to make himself equal with God is blasphemy and worthy of death. However, with Jesus it was / is the truth. Jesus was not going to deny who He was because people did not like it.

Publicly and privately the Father referred to Jesus as is Son saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” This happened at Jesus’ baptism and His transfiguration (Matthew 3:17; 17:5).

The religious leaders argued with Jesus asking Him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus replied, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in my Father’s name, these bear witness of me. But you believe not because you are not my sheep” (John 10:24-26).

So, there is a divine connection between those who are Christ’s sheep against those who are not His sheep. Those who belong to Jesus truly believe that He is who He claimed to be, God’s only Son. Those that are not His sheep will always mis-identify Him. They will determine for themselves who they believe Him to be, a prophet, a great teacher, a healer and miracle worker but certainly not The Son of God and God in the flesh.

Let’s think about it. Jesus opens the eyes the blind, cleansed lepers, cast out demons, healed the lame, fed multitudes, calm the stormy seas, predicted His own death three times, and raised Himself from the dead (John 10:18). Do you read of anyone else in history exhibiting power like that?! 

Are you an Antichrist?

In 1 John 4:2-3 we read, “Hereby we know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus has come in the flesh is not of God; and this is the spirt of antichrist, where you heard that shall come, and is already in the world.”

The point I want to drive home is that we must use the Bible as our final authority on determining Christ’s identity. He told the religious leaders and all those during His day who He was. We clearly read who He is. To believe anything else means you have an antichrist spirit.

For the record, the prefix anti means against. So, when put together the spirit of antichrist is someone who hates and is against Jesus. Antichrist also means instead of Christ. So, the actual future antichrist is one who wants to replace Christ. He is also called the Man of Sin in 2 Thessalonians 2 and the Beast in Revelation 13.