Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
This morning I am pondering the importance of TRUTH in our world, especially truth in Leadership and how difficult it is to find this truth. As our world has watched the Russian invasion of Ukraine, what is the TRUTH behind WHY this has happened, and how many people have been killed, and how long will it take for any semblance of normalcy to return to those Ukrainian cities demolished by this invasion? How many children now grow up without fathers and how many wives who are now widows? As we approach midterm elections in America and as the United Kingdom adjusts to both a new king and a new Prime Minister, what is the truth behind all the closed-door meetings?
May I ask you my friends, how important is TRUTH to you? Truth in advertising, truth in news media, truth in the school classrooms, truth in your church, truth when you meet with your doctor or your financial planner or your pastor or truth between spouses, truth between parents and children? I’m sure we all agree there is nothing but damage when truth is abandoned, right?
So, let’s rejoin the apostle John as he’s writing his first little letter. He’s focusing on the importance of truth. John writes in 1 John 2:20 “You have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist – they deny the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” Remember John’s purpose is to help people discern if their salvation is authentic, if they really are, truthfully, ‘born again’ by the Holy Spirit of God.
Do we see here that John makes it clear that every authentic, genuine Christian has “an anointing from the Holy One.” That means the Holy Spirit of God has birthed in them a new spiritual nature and He has taken up residence within them. It further means the Holy Spirit is guiding them in life and empowering them to stand firm against temptation from the evil one, the devil. It means the Holy Spirit is helping them discern TRUTH and FALSE in every situation. It’s what Paul wrote about in Romans 8:5-9 as he contrasted the life lived under the control of the sinful nature and the life lived under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Each of us should be able to ask ourselves if John is describing us or not?
John is also celebrating that he’s confident his readers have learned well the truths of God. In John’s day there was a great spiritual hunger but very few people had their own copy of God’s Word, and much of the New Testament had not yet been written. But still this spiritual appetite moved people to do whatever they could to find those who could read God’s Word to them or especially those like John and the other apostles who could teach them the truths about Jesus.
It begs a simple question my friends: how do you measure your spiritual appetite? What is your spiritual diet, the menu of spiritual food you feast upon? How much do you take in from God’s Word every day? How deeply is it rooting in your life? Can you agree with John that you know God’s truth and you cherish it, and it guides your life? And what about this… what do you think Spiritual Malnutrition looks like?
I notice John gets very specific about lying and especially those who deny the truth about the deity of Jesus. When John writes ‘Who is the liar? It is the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist – they deny the Father and the Son.“ (1 John 2:22) If you like to underline in your Bible this is a great section to underline because it is so important. When John says a person is a liar if they deny that Jesus is the Christ, he’s really saying two very important things. For the Jewish person, it is essential they acknowledge that Jesus is their Messiah, the long awaited, often promised, Holy One of Israel. The word “Christ” means “Messiah”. But for both Jew and Gentile, it is essential that we acknowledge Jesus is GOD! God the Son or the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity.
Jesus said it often and clearly. In John 10:30 Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” Of course, that raised scowls and furrowed brows and many shaking heads of denial, so Jesus said: “Why do you accuse Me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? Do not believe Me unless I do what my Father does…believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I in the Father.” (John 10:36-38) In the upper room the night before Jesus went to the cross, He said those famous words: “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me.” (John 14:6) Philiip, one of His disciples said: “Show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered, ‘Don’t you know Me Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father… It is the Father living in Me who is doing His work.” (John 14:8-11)
John is making it very clear in his letter… the identity of Jesus, as both the Jewish Messiah and God the Son, are essential for any person to live an authentic, born-again experience and living in a sin forgiven, Holy Spirit indwelt relationship with God. We notice John once again, for a fourth time, uses the word “antichrist” in defining the person who denies Jesus is the Christ!
In John’s Gospel, the 8th chapter, John records that Jesus said some very powerful things about God’s truth and how Jesus is the light of the world. It means Jesus is living truth and dispels the darkness of sin in our lives when we invite Him to be our Savior and Lord. (John 8:12,31,32) But in that same chapter Jesus identified Satan as the ultimate liar when Jesus said: “You belong to your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) Can you make the connection my friends? The person who denies Jesus is God, is a liar is speaking the lies of Satan and is under the strong influence of the liar devil, that’s why John calls this person, this liar, an ‘antichrist’.
Finally, do we see John helps us understand that any denial of Jesus is also a denial of Almighty God the Father? So, the person who seeks a relationship with Almighty God but excludes Jesus or seeks to connect with God in some way other than Jesus is denying the fundamental, Identity Truth about God, because God is One. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are ONE. The Jewish people call this fundamental truth statement the “SHEMA” “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God is ONE. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deut. 6:4,5) This is why John can say that no one who denies God the Son can have a relationship with God the Father! They are united as one God!
John wants us to understand that down through human history, anyone who opposes God, or rejects God’s truth, or denies God’s self-declared attributes and character has a ‘spirit of antichrist’, for they are denying God Himself. Anyone who denies that Jesus Christ is God, has a ‘spirit of antichrist’ and cannot experience being ‘born again’ by God, forgiven of their sin, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, for our salvation depends entirely upon the atonement death of Jesus and His death is only acceptable as payment for our sin because He is the sinless Son of God! Now that is very strong Biblical language isn’t it my friends?
The apostle John, who stood at the cross watching Jesus give His life as an atonement for our sin wants us to be sure we hold firmly to the truths about Jesus and are not in any way swayed by liars who distort the life, death, resurrection or Gospel of Jesus! Yet do you see in our world that more and more such lies are widely accepted? That is preparing our world for the advent of the ultimate antichrist for when he rises up, he will be celebrated and followed by millions who are deceived and who will perish in their deception. Let’s ponder that my friends.
Today’s Scripture is 1 John 2:20-23.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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