antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared

1 John 2:18-3:6 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

¹⁸ Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. ²⁰ But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. ²¹ I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. ²² 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. ²³ Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴ As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

²⁵ This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.

²⁶ These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷ As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

²⁸ Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. ²⁹ If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.

3 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ² Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

⁴ Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.

“Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.”        The human tendency which causes people to try to evaluate circumstances in order to determine where we are on God’s timeline regarding the return of Christ has caused many throughout history to believe that certain evil men were the antichrist. What is more important is for us to realize that antichrist is first a spiritual thing. John says: “This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.  Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father”    Surely the antichrist spirit is active in the world today. It does not have a singular face or body, rather antichrist is embodied in many of the human philosophies prevalent throughout the world and here in our own society and culture.

Isaiah 14:12-14 describes the devils fall from the presence of God.  “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! ¹³ “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ¹⁴ ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’    The devil though himself to be not only equal with God, but thought he could be greater than God.        In Matthew 4:8-11 we read the account of the temptation of Jesus:   ⁸ Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; ⁹ and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil *left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.      The devil again tried to place himself above God. He tried to get Jesus, God’s own Son to worship him.     After Jesus paid the price for sin on the cross, after He completed the work of redemption, reconciliation and restoration, after God placed His seal on the new covenant offered by and through Jesus finished work on the cross, by resurrecting Him from the grave, Jesus appeared to the disciples to prove the resurrection and then we read in Mark 16:19:    So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

Jesus ascended into heaven and took His place at the right hand of God. In John 10:30, Jesus says: "I and the Father are one."     Now that Jesus has taken His place with the Father the devil’s strategy here on earth is not to try to deceive people to bow down and worship him, he is content only to have people deny God and Christ. Until The time when Jesus will return, a time  of which He says:  “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone, the battle for dominance on earth is a spiritual battle which pits the spirit of antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son against the Holy Spirit, who Jesus says: He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:8-11)

Many people concern themselves with the mark of the beast spoken of in Revelation 13:17.   and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.  We should not concern ourselves with the mark of the beast. The truth is that the only sure way that we can avoid the mark of the beast is not to understand and identify what it is, rather it is to do what Jesus says is the first and great commandment.      And He said to him, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 38"This is the great and foremost commandment.…(Matthew 22:37-38)   Jesus Christ is the one who reconciled us to the fullness of our relationship with God the Father.    Today’s text says: “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.”

 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. The spirit of antichrist is active in our society and culture. It has become emboldened and more prominent telling more lies which deny the Father and the Son. We need though not to concern ourselves with antichrist, rather we should: Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.(Colossians 3:2)

Heavenly Father; Lord Jesus Christ I choose today to look above, to see You on the throne in heaven. Holy Spirit fill me empower me to walk in the fullness of all that God and Christ have called and commissioned me to do.    Amen.