The Second Coming - 8
The Man of Sin
When Paul wrote his second letter to the Thessalonians around 51 AD there was a fair amount of confusion regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ. In fact a fake letter, a forgery, was in circulation purporting to be from Paul the apostle claiming the second coming had already taken place.
Paul wrote “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way” (2 Thessalonians 2 verses 1 to 3).
Although the rapture – the secret snatching away of believers from the earth – could happen any time soon, the public return of Jesus Christ to this earth will not happen ‘until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction’ (2 Thessalonians 2 verse 3).
Who is this ‘man of sin’ who ‘will oppose and exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God’ (verse 4)? This is the Antichrist. Only John uses the word Antichrist in his writings. For instance, in 1 John 2 verse 18 we read, “Dear Children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.” In 1 John 4 verse 3 he writes, “Every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus, is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” The spirit of antichrist wants to oppose Christ and replace Christ.
John writes in 2 John verse 7, “Many deceivers who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.” Back in history, people wondered whether any tyrant who was the embodiment of evil – could be the promised Antichrist.
All these leaders might be considered forerunners of that ultimate masterpiece of Satan, the Antichrist. He will manifest after the rapture and will cause the world to worship the devil. Will he emerge as a peaceful, political ruler who unites ten nations of Europe into a strong power block? Will he temporarily solve the Middle East crisis? We do not know.
What we do know is that the signing of the covenant with Israel signals the start of Daniel’s seventieth week – that seven year period known as the Day of the Lord. But after 3½ years this ‘superman’ reveals his true colours. It’s that Judas moment when the clever cover-up is blown wide open. The supposed peace maker turns out to be the peace breaker. He takes over the temple in Jerusalem and this sham protector of the Jews turns out to be violently anti-Semitic, their persecutor. Antichrist will be energised by Satan. As the prophet Daniel foretold, he will set up ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ (Daniel 9 verse 27 and 11 verse 31). It will be a time of unhindered lawlessness. The Holy Spirit is holding him back at the moment but he shall be ‘revealed at the proper time’ (2 Thessalonians 2 verse 6).
At the moment civilisation still has a veneer of decency through law enforcement, education, science and reason. But it’s constantly being broken down. The Holy Spirit, the restrainer, is holding back the floodtide of iniquity as long as the church is here. Never underestimate the presence of the church in this world. It is light in the darkness. There is a ‘secret power of lawlessness already at work’ (verse 7) – what the Authorised Version of the Bible calls ‘the mystery of iniquity’.
The Bible declares that “the coming of the lawless one (i.e. Antichrist) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2 verses 9 and 10).
In the final analysis Jesus will bring an end to Satan’s operations by the outshining of His presence. “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” (1 Timothy 4 verse 1). “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the splendour of His coming” (2 Thessalonians 2 verse 8). Ultimately there will be a demonstration of power to win the battle of the ages – not a debate by theologians. It will be works not words. The God, who answers by fire, let Him be God.
In view of all this, have you placed your faith in Christ who gave his life to save you from your sins and from the wrath to come? Are you eagerly awaiting the appearance of the Saviour to take away his people?