I John 2:22-23 “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the anti-christ – he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”
John’s use of the word anti-christ here can be taken by its literal meaning: against Christ. He is referring to false teachers who claim to love God, but deny that Christ is God’s Son. From the time of the early church, there have been people who try to deny that Christ is who He says He is. Some say He was just a good man. Some say He was a great teacher, even a prophet. Others say He was a nutcase and a liar.
But we know the truth. Jesus is God’s Son. His only Son. He came to earth as a human, lived a perfect, sinless life, and died a cruel death on a cross to take the punishment for our sins. Then, because he was God’s Son, he overcame death and rose to life on the third day. He did this out of love for you, for me, for all of us. If we believe this, we have a relationship with God, the Father. In fact, He adopts us into His own family.
However, if we deny this truth, God will turn His back on us. If we deny His Son, then He will deny us. When we stand before Him at the judgment, He will send us away, saying, “Depart from me. I never knew you!” If anyone says they love God and deny Christ, God’s Word says they are liars. We must love them, pray for them, and try to introduce them to God’s Son. But we must be careful not to fall for their teachings. Anything that goes against Christ is a lie.
Dear Father, Thank You for Jesus, Your Son.
Amen
C.S. Lewis’ Lord, lunatic, or liar analogy says it so well: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg – or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”
Jesus, God in the flesh, thank you for sacrificing yourself so that we might be set free from the power of sin and share eternal life with you.
Thank you.
Amen.
Jean
Thank you for that quote, Lillie. I have always been a big C.S. Lewis fan. (Who isn’t?) So true. If He’s not who He says He is, then He’s a lunatic or a liar. Not a great, moral teacher. So glad we know the truth – that He is the Son of God.
And Jean, I second that “Amen.”