Holy Boldness

(3) and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

The Spirit of anti-Christ

Jesus Christ coming in the flesh dignifies humanity. The radical implications of Christ becoming one of us changes the game in every conceivable way. The anti-Christ spirit seeks to deny this ultimate reality. Why? Because Satan hates man. He propagates the lie that God is too holy to engage man. He seeks to alienate mankind from its father/ creator and to create obstacles for him ever seeking to return. The incarnation, Jesus being born in the flesh, declares God’s in tention not to abandon mankind to its plight but to come into the midst of humanity in the most intimate way possible and redeem it. This is God and man together and it functions as the bedrock of the Gospel. It means that God, though immeasurably holy and high and lifted up, nevertheless seeks to engage mankind in the most tangible and intimate way possible. It means that God has dignified the flesh of mankind with Himself. Apparently, God is not offended by man’s flesh. “Immanuel, God with us” is the gospel in a nutshell. But as John says, the spirit of the antichrist seeks to deny this reality. If the devil can rob the church of this truth then it practically nul lifies the Gospel. Satan is forever seeking to alienate the human race from its creator. The Gospel seeks a complete reconciliation. Once the full intention of God through Jesus is realized and implemented, the world will be transformed. I am not suggesting that this is a simple process. I am only asserting the astounding implications of Jesus coming in the flesh as a man. His mission and all He accomplished are still being fully worked out by His followers. The book of Hebrews also goes to even greater lengths to insist on the humanity of Jesus, stating that Christ was “made like His brethren.” (Hebrews 2:17) This assertion was critical to the entire logic of the book of Hebrews which focuses upon Jesus’ role as high priest; a role which he could not have assumed unless he was actually a man . Any priest, no matter who he is, must be one with the people he represents. As a man, Jesus experienced everything that it means to be a man, “…yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

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