“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.” 1 John 2:18
There is a supernatural being in the universe who is “anti” Christ. In fact, he is called the Antichrist. The people who follow the Antichrist and oppose Jesus Christ are called “antichrists.” The Greek word the Apostle John chose to use for “antichrists” is antichristoi. The word for “Antichrist” is antichristos. Both words have the idea of being “against Christ” and “instead of Christ”. The Antichrist is both “against” Christ and desirous to be “instead of” Christ.
What we know about Satan is that he is a “liar.” In fact, Jesus said that Satan is “a liar and the father of it.” (John 8:44) Satan uses lies to oppose Christ and His Message of Truth. In fact, the devil and his followers deny that Jesus is the Christ.
“Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.” 1 John 2:22
Another lie is that Christ did not come in the flesh.
“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 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.” 1 John 4:2-3
“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.” 2 John 1:7
This deception, that Christ did not come in the flesh, has been a primary tool of Satan since the middle of the 1st Century. Defending the “humanity” of Christ is a battle the Church has waged for almost 2,000 years. We can learn a great deal about how to fight that battle by looking at how Christians who lived before us opposed this false doctrine.
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