2 Thessalonians 2:5-12

2 Thessalonians 2:5-12  Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?  And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.  For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.  The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing.  They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.  

The man of lawlessness will be revealed in God's timing.  Up until now the Spirit of God has been present in this world to restrain the secret power of lawlessness.  Lawlessness has always been a part of mankind's makeup.  But, one day, a man will emerge as the very personification of rebellion to God's orderliness and peace.  He will perform through Satan's power many counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders, but his lifestyle will display every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing or who are lost in their wickedness because they loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  (John 3:19 KJV)  Sadly, the lawless one will be readily accepted by the sinful world because he epitomizes what is in their hearts of rebellion.  The anti-God generation would rather believe a lie than the truth.  They would rather believe that man can be as God than to bow down to the only true God through the saving grace of Jesus Christ.  They would rather believe in a false messiah than to take up the cross and serve the one whom to know is life everlasting and joy unspeakable.  Unfortunately when a man or a woman sows to the flesh rather than to the spirit, we reap what we sow.  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  (Galatians 6:7-8)  The antichrist may look and sound like a leader of men, but he will feed into man's basic sinful nature and reject the One who gave his Beloved Son to save them.

Rebellious behavior in mankind has existed since the beginning of time.  The history of civilization clearly reveals people's inability to live peacefully in harmony with others.  The acts of his sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  (Galatians 5:19-21)  When Adam and Eve chose their own way, they opened the door to lawlessness and darkness, which the man of sin eventually will personify.  He will display Satan in his fulness with all his evil intents.  Adam and Eve's decision in the Garden led all mankind into a world of chaos where they stumbled in the darkness, separated from the protection of God without the light of his glory.  In Lamentation 3:1-3, we see the condition of man on Earth:  I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.  He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.   Since that time, outside of Christ, mankind has been an active enemy of God rather than his friend.  The Bible says, 

There is none righteous, no, not one.

  (Romans 3:10)  Men tend to walk in their own righteousness, what is right in their eyes.  Our self-interest trumps God's plans and intensions for our lives.  Our lips speak of ourselves, not of him.  This is the nature of fallen man: self-worship, rather than God worship.  Jesus Christ highlighted the Pharisees and their lifestyle many times to show that the best of our religiosity missed the mark.  Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’  But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."  (Matthew 5:27-28)   According to God's holiness, adultery in the heart is as evil as adultery in the flesh.  Bitterness in the heart is as evil as bitterness expressed in malice or rage.  Man's purity is not based on outward acts but the inward state of a man's heart.  For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.  (Proverbs 23:7)  In the last days, the man of sin will openly manifest sin in his lifestyle, but all who are impure in their thoughts are just as guilty and open for judgment as those who openly sin.    

But there is an answer to wickedness of the lawless one; there is answer for the sin of all mankind: Jesus Christ the Promised One.  Zechariah prophesied,  And you, my child (John), will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”  (Luke 1:76-79)  We who were born in the chaotic darkness have a lifeline to lift us out of the darkness into the glorious light.  God did not leave his fallen creation without hope.  Jesus Christ overthrows the lawlessness, the rebellion, the bondage to sin.  He changes the nature of a person's heart by creating a new heart in the new creation and filling the new believer with the Holy Spirit.   He said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again."  You must be new!  All of us who have put our trust in Jesus Christ are new for we are born again into the family of God.  The Peace Giver has come into our hearts.  The Spirit of the living God has come to dwell in the holy temple in us.  WE ARE NOW THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.  We who are hidden IN CHRIST WITH GOD are in his light, HIS IMAGE ON EARTH.  To be his consistent and constant light, we must have ears to hear his word expressed by the Spirit of God.  Therefore, children, open up your ears.  You are no longer citizens of this rebellious world, led by the powers of darkness.  You have been born again, taken out of darkness.  Eternal life exists in you right now.  Open your mouths and praise him daily.  Give him the glory He so richly deserves, for He destroyed Satan's bondage.  You are no longer slaves to sin: you have a new Lord and King.  Jesus has made you his own, his servants, joint-heirs.  You are pleasing to Father God: He calls you daughter; He calls you son!  Amen!