God's Fellowship

True Sons & Daughters

1 John 2:15-3:10

The term Antichrist has taken on mythic proportions, both in pop culture and in religion. People often associate it with a global war, the end of the world, Armageddon, doomsday, final judgement, and other apocalyptic things.

Would you be surprised to learn that the word Antichrist appears only five times in the Bible, all in 1 John and 2 John? According to 1 John, an Antichrist is anyone who denies the Father and the Son. In Greek, the word can mean more than just “against” or “opposed to” (anti) the anointed one (Christ, which means Messiah). It can also mean “in place of in order to work against.” That would be someone who claims to be Christ in order to work against Christ.

The answer to the Antichrist isn’t a mystery. “Remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father” (1 John 2:24).

Antichrists don’t get the last word in the book of First John or in the history of the world. Beware of them, yes. But don’t fear them. They don’t have any hold or power over God’s true children.

Read & Reflect

1 John 2:15-3:10

List all the things that John contrasts in this section, for example: love for the world vs. love of the Father (2:15)
What do you learn from these contrasting pairs? How does contrasting and comparing things help us learn?
Your true identity is a son or daughter of God. Are you confident in that identity? Why or why not? How does knowing and believing your true identity help protect you against fear, worry, and lies?
What do you learn about God in these verses? (When Paul writes "God" he almost always means the Father.)
What do you learn about Jesus in these verses? (When Paul writes "Lord" he almost always means Jesus).
What do you learn about the Holy Spirit in these verses?
What do you learn about humanity and yourself in these verses?

Extra Info

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John writes about the “last times” or “last hour” in verse 18. Many early Christians believed that Jesus would return to earth during their lifetime. Two thousand years later, we are still waiting for the “last hour.” But in some ways, we are actually living in the “last days” now because Jesus has already defeated death and evil through his death & resurrection.

As far back as 70 AD, people have been predicting the end of the world. Some predicted a range of years (anytime between 1346-1351). Some predicted a specific day (April 6, 1793). Some even predicted a specific time (Oct. 19, 1533 at 8:00 a.m.).

Obviously, they’ve all been wrong. Jesus said only God knows when this world will come to an end (see Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32).

Extra Verses

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Matthew 24:36

Mark 13:32

Extra Things

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2103 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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