Of all the beings and things He created, The Lord has an exceptional affinity, yes LOVE for mankind. Whether we’re a repented, saved saint, or an un-repentant sinner, He has prepared for ALL of us an un-imaginable, eternal life with Him on a totally new version of Earth! Note, I didn’t say ‘the same, un-imaginable lives’, because they will be uniquely different, based on our life styles and choices in this life.
In His love for us, He sends to us diverse, iterative warnings when we ‘miss His best mark’ for us. Such warnings come in various forms and intensities throughout our lives. His most persistent warning is His Holy Bible that He inspired and preserved for us to begin our personal journey to:
(a) perceive Him more precisely,
(b) believe Him more passionately, and
(c) obey Him more persistently.
Other warnings come from people, and in chastisements and judgments that always show-up, often at the wrong times in our busy lives.
A rather unique type of warning The Lord sends is in the form of various examples—glimpse and foretastes of what lies ahead for us if/when we refuse His loving warnings, and persistently ‘miss His mark’. These unique example warnings may be an odd chance meeting a person, unusually relevant lessons from a group of people, a song, an attention-grabbing news article, or even a dream or premonition. If we are attentive and perceptive to His Spirit, we might intuit His examples. But only if/when we act on what we perceive, will we escape what His examples forewarn. Yet all too often, we are not attentive, and fail to perceive His Spirit, and thus disregard His examples carefully tailored, and sent to us. A clear example of this is what I call ‘a parade of false Christs or Messiahs.
The notion of false Messiahs and false prophets has been prevalent throughout history. Typically, these were false prophets or rebels who advocated for the relief, redemption and restoration of ancient Israel and Judah, from various types and levels of political oppression. Before His crucifixion, Jesus warned of future false-Christs/Messiahs and prophets who would claim to be Him, including some who would ‘…show great signs and wonders [miracles] to deceive’. (Matthew 24:11) Later in the 1st century AD, Apostle John warned that anyone who denies that Jesus, The Lord God and Jewish Messiah, came in the flesh, is an anti-Christ. (1 John 4:3)
Contextually, these refer to two distinct groups. John spoke of all post-resurrection, Jesus deniers, including those today. Jesus, however, spoke of the group of false Christs and Messiahs who will proclaim to be (mimic) Him. These distinction could not be more clear and stark! Yet, in Christianity, these two terms, false Messiah (mimicker) and anti-Christ (Christ’s birth denier), may have been conflated to some extent. Today, the term, the anti-Christ, is mostly, if not exclusively used to signify the man (singular) about whom Apostle Paul wrote in Thessalonians, and Apostle John refers to in Revelation, as ‘the beast’, How did we get here??
To complicate matters, for over 2,000 years, some people have rushed to slap the anti-Christ label on many men whom they deemed to be overly threatening, charismatic, lawless, or simply opposed to their worldviews. Onto Roman emperors and medieval popes, Napoleon, Hitler, and now, in our time, Donald Trump, this label has been slapped.
What if both Christianity, and people who have misapplied the anti-Christ label, have missed something even deeper than the above distinctions??
Stay tuned for Part 2
