1 John – Week 3

1 John – Week 3

I grew up terrified of the antichrist. The dispensational church I grew up in taught us that there’s an evil antichrist who’s going to control the world and kill all the Christians he can. He’ll cut your head off if you say you’re a Christian, and if you deny Christ so that you don’t get your head cut off, you go to Hell. We were terrified of the antichrist, and because we were so scared of him, we found him everywhere. Every president that we didn’t agree with, was the antichrist. Every famous musician and every military leader we didn’t like, was the antichrist…until we realized they weren’t. 

And what does all this fear lead to?

If our theology leads us to this, and it’s true, then ok, but I don’t think that version works with the Bible. So I want us to wrestle with that today. So let’s dive in. Listen carefully. This passage is unreal good:

1John 2:12-18

I am writing to you who are God’s children
    because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.^[a]
13 I am writing to you who are mature in the faith^[b]
    because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I am writing to you who are young in the faith
    because you have won your battle with the evil one.
¹⁴ I have written to you who are God’s children
    because you know the Father.
I have written to you who are mature in the faith
    because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I have written to you who are young in the faith
    because you are strong.
God’s word lives in your hearts,
    and you have won your battle with the evil one.

The antichrist is a topic I get a lot of questions about. So let’s talk about it for a few minutes and remember, the conversation is incredibly complicated. When we talk about the antichrist, 3 New Testament passages usually come up:

• 2 Thessalonians 2: The Man of Lawlessness
• 1 John 2: The Antichrist
• Revelation 13: The Beast

We have a habit of assuming these 3 people are the same person. But the Bible doesn’t say they are. Watch or listen to this message to learn more about them.

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