The wicked one referred to in this verse, is the antichrist. The term wicked
here means literally ‘lawless’, for he considers himself above and beyond the
law of God, and urges all men to follow him, in this lawlessness. We are told
that the essence and spirit of antichrist, is and has been in the world
already, but soon will also become apparent and tangible, in and through the ‘man
of sin’. In His wisdom and foreknowledge, God has already informed His people
that these things will happen. We will be able to verify what God has revealed
to us, and see this entity rise to a position of power and authority, abuse his
station and set himself up as God to be worshipped. The world will fall for the
deception of the man of sin, who will ultimately lead all humanity into
rebellion and rejection, of the One True God and His law. There is no doubt we
are seeing this same spirit at work in the world today, but it is only going to
get worse! In light of this, how relevant and imperative that we develop and maintain
a strong and intimate, personal relationship with Jesus! Nothing else is going
to sustain us in the times we will soon face. When we relegate the importance
of building our relationship with the Lord, to the lower levels of priority in
our lives, we are already preparing ourselves, to fall prey to antichrist and
his regime! For Christians this would be the most disconsolate condition, for
having known in advance about the devil’s devices and plans, we should most
certainly not become his victims! This is a time to stand strong in Jesus,
fight and be counted on the Lord’s side! Ultimately the battle is the Lord’s
and He will end this evil reign promptly, and with unquestioned superiority!
The Lord will consume ‘by the spirit of His mouth’, the lawless one and all who
choose to align themselves with him. This is an awesome and frightening concept!
There is glorious and staggering creative power, in the words which are uttered
by God’s mouth. All it took was for Him to ‘speak’ the universe and everything
in it into existence, and it was so. There is however, also terrifying and indescribable
destructive power, in the words God can speak! At His voice and command, the
heavens can roll back like a scroll, and all matter, which consists and is held
together by His power, can collapse and be abolished in a moment! The battle of
the Lord against this ‘wicked’ one and his followers, is not going to be a
lengthy or drawn out epic! The same eternal, omnipotent voice that created all,
will utter the words that will consume and destroy, leaving nothing of the
pride, realm and rebellion of the lawless one. Let us remain close to God,
watchful and alert, making sure we stay on the ‘winning side’ with Jesus!
http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion
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