The Spirit of Replacement

Bunkhouse Beacon - The Spirit of Replacement

1 John 2:18-23 NKJV – Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

1 John 4:1-3

The spirit of the Antichrist is not only a future threat. During our Bible study this past Sunday, the Bible made it clear that it is already at work in the world.

At its core, this spirit is one of replacement, pushing aside the true identity of Jesus Christ and substituting something lesser in his place.

This does not always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like quietly redefining Jesus as a moral teacher rather than Lord and Savior. Sometimes it looks like building a life that has room for Jesus but not room for his authority.

Ask yourself honestly whether the Jesus you follow is the Jesus of Scripture or a more manageable version of him.

Reflection: In what ways have you been tempted to reduce Jesus to something less than who he truly is?

Practical Application: Read Revelation 1:8 and meditate on Jesus' full identity as he declares it himself. Write down three attributes of Christ that you want to hold onto more firmly this week.

In Christ,

Lars