AntiChrist

"Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Chris had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (II Thessalonians 2: 1-12 NKJV)

"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...Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." (I John 2: 18, 22, 23 NIV)

"Dear friends, 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. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but 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." (I John 4: 1-3 NIV)

"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." (II John 1: 7 NKJV)

These New Testament passages reveal a mysterious character called "the man of sin" (or "the lawless one" ), and the "antichrist." He is also called, as we shall see, other names, such as the "little horn" in the prophecy of Daniel and the "beast" in the Apocalypse.

In the above passages there is clearly both a comparison and a contrast between Christ and Antichrist.

Satan, in the bible, is often viewed as the great imposter, or counterfeit. In fact, the great sin of Satan is his usurpartion, in his wanting to "be like the most high." (Isaiah 14: 14) He covets the sovereignty and awesome power of God, but not his holiness nor righteousness nor goodness.

"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." (II Corinthians 11: 14 KJV)

Satan is thus the master deceiver, able to make himself appear to men outside of his real character.

In the verses above, there are two "comings" or parousias, and two "revelations" or apocalypses, one of Christ, and the other of Antichrist.

The coming of Christ into the world, and his becoming flesh (John 1: 14), is called the "mystery of godliness." (I Timothy 3: 16) On the other hand, the coming of Antichrist is called the "mystery of iniquity."

Christ is the "Son of God," but Antichrist is the "son of perdition." Christ is the "righteous one," the one, and only one, who may be appropriately called the "man of righteousness"; on the other hand, the Antichrist is the "unrighteous one," the one who is the "man of sin."

The prefix "anti" (Greek or English) does not denote simple opposition and antagonism, but also "likeness." The prefix means "over against," as a symbol or likeness may be "over against" the reality it depicts. One is Christ and the other is Antichrist, but both are "Christs" or "anointed" ones.

The Antichrist will oppose Christ and righteousness, in the sense that he will seek to thwart the will and workings of Christ, but will also be opposite Christ in the sense that he will, in some ways, seek to be like Christ, though in the manner of a counterfeit. He will claim to be the "Son of God," though he will be the son of Satan, or the "son of perdition." His coming itself will seek to mimic and counterfeit the glorious incarnation of Christ. He will claim to be the world's savior and "Messiah."

The other thing that is noticeable about the verses above, in their comparisons and contrasts between Christ and Antichrist, is the fact that each is discussed in relation to his "return" or "second" coming. Each has been on earth before, having already had one "coming" (parousia) and one "revelation" (apocalypse) and one "appearing" (epiphany). Both are now absent (apousia) from our world, only the "spirit" of each now being in the world.

That the Antichrist has been here before and will, like Christ, reappear, is discoverable from the words of Paul above. The "man of sin" is called "the son of perdition." This clearly identifies him with Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed the Lord and helped to instigate his murder. He is the one whom Christ called "the son of perdition." (See John 17: 12) There ought not to be any confusion as to who the Antichrist is and will be. He is Judas and Judas will return from "his own unique place" where he was placed upon his suicidal destruction. (See Acts 1: 25)

It is also observable as we consider the following verses that also talk about the return of Antichrist, or the "second coming" of the "son of perdition."

"Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." (Revelation 13: 1-10 NKJV)

"And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them." (Revelation 11: 7 KJV)

"The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." (Revelation 17: 8 KJV)

In these apocalyptic passages, the "man of sin" or "antichrist" is called by another of his names, that of the "beast." He is also described as one who was on earth once ('the beast that WAS'), but who left the earth (the 'beast that IS NOT'), and who shall yet come again (the 'beast who YET IS' or 'shall be'), coming forth from "his place," from the "bottomless pit" into which he (Judas) was cast when he received his mortal wound. This return of Judas, the "son of perdition," is also described as the "healing" of his "deadly wound."

The apocalyptic passages concerning the Antichrist is in agreement with the prophecy of Daniel concerning the "beast," or "little horn."

"While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully..."Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.) "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed...He (little horn) will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time." 'But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.' " (Daniel 7: 8, 11-14, 25-27 NIV)


The character and career of Antichrist is thus fully revealed to the world. All are therefore forewarned of him. He will come before Jesus comes and many will mistake him for Christ. Many will become his followers and those who do not will meet his wrathful ire. When he appears, he will "make war with the sanctified ones," with Christians and all the followers of the true Christ. He will come upon the heels of what Paul called the great "apostacy," or "falling away." His coming will be a judgment upon our world. The world has been so long intent on worshipping demons and devils that the Lord will set loose upon the world the full force of Hell and men will not be able to bear it.


Thankfully the record is that the true Christ will come, following the coming of Antichrist, and will "destroy him with the brightness of his coming," or by "the appearing of his presence."

Friend, if you are not a believer in Jesus, then you have even now the "spirit of Antichrist" in your heart and mind. Your opposition to believing in Christ is a reflection of that fact. On the other hand, if you are a believer in Jesus, then the "Spirit of Christ" now dwells in you.