The apostle John wrote, “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18). We often hear people speak of the antichrist. But who is the antichrist? Is he or she just one person, or is the antichrist also a spirit and a group of people who do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world? Or is antichrist a combination of all of these?
Antichrist, the word or phrase, actually means, “in place of Christ or against Christ.” There seems to be three different understandings about the “antichrist.” Scripture seems to indicate that “antichrist” is a person, a group, and a spirit, and Satan and his demonic spirits control all of them. Here the apostle John is talking about antichrist as an individual character and group. And everyone who is opposed to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is a part of this antichrist movement in the world.
There is a coming world dictator who is going to be known as the antichrist. That will not be his name, but it will be his attitude and position against Jesus Christ. This person is going to be very cunning, clever, smooth, gifted and charismatic, and he will actually take the place of Jesus Christ in the minds of many people, he will convince men and women that he is God. He is totally opposed to Christ—he is really Satan in the flesh of a human. Antichrist is the coming world dictator that will be totally possessed by the spirit of Satan. He will rule this earth for over three years during the tribulation, and anyone who does not worship the antichrist will be killed (Revelation 12-13).
There is also the spirit of antichrist that John tells us about. “But every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world” (1 John 4:3). Antichrist is not only a person; there is also the spirit of antichrist, which is Satanic or demonic spirits. This spirit of antichrist has worked through many people throughout human history. Caesar Nero was such a man, he had some of his family, friends, and many Christians killed; early Christians called him Antichrist and Beast 666.
Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are men who were possessed by demonic spirits and were responsible for the deaths of over 60 million people in their reigns in Germany and Russia. Just as God’s Holy Spirit works in those who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, so Satan’s spirit works in those who do not believe in Jesus Christ.
The only thing that can explain the magnitude of evil that has gone on in the history of the world is satanic spirits working in people. There is no other explanation when you study world history and the evil that has been perpetuation by men and women. And even today, we see the evil of men and women that are possessed by the spirit of Satan perpetuating evil around the world in their terrorists activities. Anyone that will kill helpless children, the elderly and sick, and other innocent people, has to be possessed by demonic spirits.
Paul wrote, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). A person is either being led by the Holy Spirit of God, or Satan and his demonic spirits are leading them, there is no middle ground. Men and women that are motivated by an arrogant, greedy, power-hungry and immoral lifestyle are being blinded by Satan and they can’t see the glory of Christ, and their lives are being led by Satanic forces.
“Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22). John is talking about people who are being led by the spirit of antichrist and opposing Jesus Christ, saying that Jesus is not Deity, and that he is not God in the flesh. These religious groups, Bible teachers, and secular humanists are trying to make Jesus Christ less than He claimed to be. The spirit of antichrist, in subtle ways, uses these false teachers to say that Jesus was a good man, a good example and a fine moral teacher, and probably the son of some Roman soldier, but not the Son of God. This is Satan’s spirit spreading his lies, trying to turn people away from the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Without any question, the Bible teaches that Jesus was Deity. Matthew wrote that Mary was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit; what was conceived in her was from the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18-20). Jesus told Thomas, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Jesus said, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). Paul wrote, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9). “While we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
Speaking of Jesus Paul wrote, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:15-16). Led by the spirit of antichrist, or led by God’s Holy Spirit; the choice is yours to make.