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Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God...(1 Jn 5:1)
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. ( 1 John 4:1-3,NASU)
Have you ever really considered this phrase: spirit of the antichrist and what that one little phrase actually means, how can we assimilate it with our times? We are told by the Apostle John that that spirit of antichrist was foretold of its coming and that it in fact is already in the world.
As we look at the phrase once again, ‘spirit of antichrist’, very plainly it states that there is something (spirit) in this World, that is against (anti) Christ. No, that does not mean a particular being or a personification of one, no in this particular passage it is referring to a time or a system if I may, it is stating a fact that in this day and age there is a predominate spirit or world’s view that is basically against Christ.
While considering this, I remembered hearing someone say that the spirit of antichrist is as old as the Garden of Eden, and you know what- when you think about it, that is the first recorded action of humankind that actually displayed an act of going against God (antichrist). The Lord told our fore parents, Adam and Eve that they could have anything they wanted to in the Garden, and then warned them not to touch the tree of The knowledge of Good and Evil. And we know how it went from there… It is also said at the moment Eve chose to rebel against God’s commandment, the spirit of antichrist entered into our world. (Think about it)
So what is this spirit antichrist; well it is the willful determination to take the place of God in our decisions and ignoring His wisdom.
What is the basic premise of this spirit of antichrist, well it is a scheme to try and make folk believe that God did not come to earth born of a virgin birth, a well thought out plan to make mankind believe that He was not as we know Him to be, The incarnate Word.
The spirit of antichrist is here to attack some of our fundamental beliefs of all that claim to be christians.One way in particular is to try and prove that Jesus is not the Son of God that has come in the flesh or to even go as far as to attempt to cast any, even the smallest bit of doubt about that fact; by doing so the spirit of antichrist is denying all that we believe in:
- The Bible is the Word of God
- Jesus is the Son of God, Deity in the flesh
- Jesus is the only way to Salvation
- That Jesus died on the cross (as full payment for our sins)
- That Jesus bodily rose from the dead (that we may have eternal life)
- That the Holy Spirit indwells every believer (and has sealed us as children of God)
- That Jesus will return (to take us to our heavenly home)
The spirit of antichrist is so prevalent in just about every area of our society, not only will you find this spirit in our schools, jobs, stores, government, and yes even our Churches, and the list could go on and on, you have it on book shelves, the media. This message of the spirit of antichrist has gone international with movies like the The Last Tempation of Christ, and of lately The Da Vinci Code.
Are you able to defend your faith, because there will come a time when you may have to, remember '...in this world you will have tribulations..." But praise God, Jesus has already Overcome the world. I recently uploaded a couple of in-depth Bible Studies that will give you some very good study material for strengthening your knowledge of the Truth, and aid you in defending your faith; you will find them on the 'Bible Studies' page, they are entitled "Jesus' claims about Himself"' & "The Incarnation Of God" just to name a few.
Always remember, The best way to not believe a lie is to know the Truth, and that is all you will get here my friend. Ask yourself, will such movies as the DaVinci Code cause doubt in your faith or give you an opportunity to stand up and say:
"I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because it is the Power of God that leads to Salvation."
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