Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
Today I want to address the topic of the Antichrist. What or who is the Antichrist? What is an antichrist spirit? This term is used by the apostle John is addressing the church in the first century. This was the church in it’s firstfruit form for the fruit of harvest to every generation that would follow. Christ had not only manifested in the form of Jesus Christ, the word of God in flesh to put an end to sin; Christ had also manifested in the form of the body of Christ of the first century that proved to be the substance of Christ in the face of all that opposed Christ. Just as Jesus had suffered persecution unto death, the first century Church had to manifest the character, nature, way, power, and authority of Christ in the midst of great tribulation. What was born of God would prove to overcome the world. The fruit and harvest of a first-century New Covenant Church would demand a reaping of the full harvest of the Old Covenant Torah/Temple system. Grace proved to be more powerful than law and law was destroyed by the testimony of grace. The first-century church overcame by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and loving not their own lives – even unto death. John addressed this testimony in writing to the church as little children, young men, and spiritual fathers. This is knowing the love of God, His power to give us an overcoming testimony in our world, and His heart to live for His children and His children’s children in our world.
1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
The anointing within these New Covenant believers was the anointing of Christ within them. John’s word to the church was concerning the hour of their time in the first century. Those of the Old Covenant of Law had refused to embrace the testimony of Christ in them and the empowerment of grace. Their refusal of Christ to them and in them caused them to prove they were not of the faith. The last hour of the Old Covenant was being concluded in the first century so that the last hour of every time outside of Christ could go to the nations. That last hour would progressively go to the nations of the world as the kingdoms of the world, the peoples of the world, would be invited and welcomed into the power of God’s grace and the reality of the internal kingdom of God. For the believer, it was not about the last hour but about the triumphant glory of Christ in them! Christ is always more powerful than anything or anyone who is Antichrist. There were many deceivers in the first century that opposed Jesus Christ while He lived His life in the flesh and in the days of His body being revealed as the dwelling place of His Spirit after His Spirit had been poured out upon His body.
2 John 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
The confession of Christ is not just the confession that Jesus was the incarnate word of God in the flesh as the Son of Man who died for the sins of the world. It is also the confession of the Spirit of Christ in us. Christ in our flesh is the true testimony of the resurrection life of Christ in us. Christ in us is the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). It is the spirit that confesses that Christ has come in the flesh that is of God. That is the spirit that confesses Christ in each of us. This is the anointing within us that teaches us all things!
1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
It is the anointing of Christ in us that is the proof of Christ in His resurrection. He has come in our flesh, and this is the empowerment of our love for Him and for one another.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
It is the Spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come into your flesh, that is of God. This is the internal witness of life, and this is what separates us from the world. Everyone in the world is welcome to come, but each one must come to God in Christ. Only Christ in you is the greater power. It is the power of the resurrection life of God working within us that gives us the testimony of His eternal life. It is not merely the spirit that says Jesus came in the form of flesh two thousand years ago, but the spirit that acknowledges Christ in humanity. Christ in humanity is the testimony of Jesus, the Lord, coming into our own personal lives. Any voice of God to us will be witnessed by the life-giving Spirit of Christ within us. We must willingly receive Him to be internally empowered to confess our believing Him. The internal motivator is the Holy Spirit who has been sent in Jesus’ name to bear witness to the One whose name is above all other names in every age.
The Antichrist, an antichrist, or anything that opposes Christ is an opposition to who Christ is or a distraction from who He is in our world. There were many false christs that opposed the testimony of Christ in the first century as the true body of Christ was growing in power, testimony, and authority of Christ in them (Mt. 24:24; Mk. 13:22). There are many antichrists today, but He who is in us is greater than anything in this world!
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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