Antichrist

"Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son."--1 John 2:22.  The first of three letters John writes to reaffirm Christians of their hope in Christ.  He states various reasons why he writes.  Among them, so that their joy be made complete (1 John 1:4), so that they may not sin (1 John 2:1), and in 1 John 2:12-14, we are told the purpose for him writing to various groups. All this reassurance leads to the reminder of antichrist, he who denies that Jesus is the Christ and denies the Father and the Son.

Antichrist.  Thought this particular devo would be an attention grabber given all they hype that goes around in the brotherhood and in Christendom as a whole about antichrist.  My purpose tonight is not to identify who is the antichrist but like John, reaffirm you who have placed your faith in Christ can rest assured your hope is secure.

Antichrist.  Take a moment and look at what is being said in the media about Jesus Christ.  There are people that say everything about Christ from Muslims who claim He did not really die on the cross and that He is not God.  We also have people who paint Christ to be nothing more than a good moral teacher. These are just a small sample of people who deny that Jesus is the coming Messiah.  These people are antichrist.

Antichrist.  With all this discussion of antichrist we need to set aside what people say and look at what God says in His Word, the Bible.  We will leave aside the critiques of the Bible but I guarantee you it can be trusted.  The Bible screams loud and clear that Jesus is our Lord and the expected Savior from our sins.  I have heard it said that in order for Christ to be who He was and is, He had to fulfill over a hundred prophecies concerning Him in the Old Testament and the odds of any one man fulfilling all of them were slim. But you know what? Christ did it. Anyone who denies this is the antichrist.

Antichrist.  So where does this leave you? My encouragement to you tonight rather than going in and hunting down all the prophecies concerning Christ and the New Testament evidence of who He was and is, your "homework" tonight is to read Isaiah 53, one of the most famous Messianic prophecies.  Read that and ask yourself if that chapter alone does not paint a graphic picture of what Christ would do for you and for me on the cross.  Anyone who denies that Jesus did this, they are the antichrist.

So if you believe that Jesus is who He says He is, the next step is to repent and obey the gospel through baptism.  If you have done this, I would encourage you to read 1 John. It's only 5 chapters and you could probably read it through in 30 minutes or less. 2nd and 3rd John are even shorter so you could probably read 1-3 John in about the same time.  Our one and only hope is found in Christ. Whoever denies this is the antichrist. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!