I Am The Christ…
Today I wanted to write about a serious lesson in application that all believers need to not only know, but must be willing to apply directly to their life. This is the art of discerning the truth from what is a lie. Jesus Christ’s first indication of the sign of the end times was in fact a warning that people would be duped by those who were religious in nature. Matthew 24:3-5, “3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what [will be] the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’ 4 And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 ‘For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” Yet, what does this mean? This statement needs to be unpacked for us to understand what we are up against. We need to know what is it that is being thrown at us as the “real deal”. Right now, we have people who are knowingly and unknowingly declaring “I am the Christ” right before our very eyes.
There is no doubt that we are living in a time where more information is at our fingertips than ever before. Yet we have no idea what is truth and what is a lie. What is interesting about the warning from Jesus is not that the lie is religiously motivated, a person stating “I am the Christ” can be thought of in three ways.
First, that the person is claiming to be God. We know this will be fulfilled one day by the antichrist, who will only reveal himself when allowed in the proper time of the Tribulation. Yet there have been many who have attempted to claim their own deity and be the captain of their own fate, only to realize the error of their ways. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Only one person has power over death, Jesus Christ. John 18:10 states, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
The second meaning of “I am the Christ” can be a person who is claiming to have the answers just as Jesus did. This person captivates their audience with “new revelation” and fantastic speech craft. They cause audiences to be inspired and roused into following them. These individuals are able to rally people together and cause a devotion of zealotry. Their religious focus is grounded in works and in a false sense of hope in their own self worth. Unfortunately, their devotion to an alternative answer rather than Jesus Christ will cause them to lack the very thing they are working for, salvation. Proverbs 11:7-8 “When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, and the hope of strong men perishes. The righteous is delivered from trouble but the wicked takes his place.” The word “expectation” comes from the Hebrew word “tiqvah” which means to “eagerly wait and hope for something such as a well in a desert that is distinct and needed to survive the crossing.” These people have hope in something that is not there, they believe their crossing into death will be safe guarded by the life of religiousness that they acted upon. They are mistaken and the second they die they will realize the error of their ways.
The third and final application of the “I am the Christ” statement, I believe is a statement of self promotion. These people will not follow someone else who is claiming to be God, nor will they follow someone else who is claiming to have the truth. They believe that they themselves have the truth. We need to make sure not to mistaken these individuals with the second group who are misled by someone who is claiming to have the answer. This third group is different, these people are deciding what is truth and what is to be rejected. These people have announced to the world their own ideology and have embraced humanism at its initial core, this is the very lie that brought Adam and Eve to the grave, “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5. They have lulled themselves into a delusional state, which only God can pull them out of.
These individuals judge God’s truth to their own measurements and proclaim that they know better. Instead of claiming to be God as the first group, or following man’s religions as the second, this person had placed themself upon the pedestal and declared the un-declarable. They believe God is a myth and that man is supreme. What is unique about this group is that they are fooling no one but themselves. Satan uses humanism to fool souls into going to hell, while secretly hating the very idea of man identifying himself as God. He wants to be worshiped and does not want to share with anyone else. This is one reason why I believe that in Revelation 17, there will one day be a culling within the human world where Satan will finally drop Humanism and declare himself as the only being to be worshiped. Revelation 17:15-18, “15 Then he said to me, ‘The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. 16 ‘And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 ‘For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 ‘And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
When Jesus warned of being mislead, He meant it. We as Christians who are living in the final days of the Church age have taken too lightly the warning of Christ. While chapter 24 of Matthew will not see its full culmination until the Tribulation, we can clearly see the foreshadowing of what is to come. We must not underestimate the declaration of “I am the Christ” as many do. Christ is God and the only one who has power to declare what is and is not the truth. These three false groups who attempt to claim such a title are fooling themselves and others. Yet, we are not done here. Starting next week, I plan to do a deep dive into the wolves that have entered into the Churches and are plaguing the believer.
Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,
JL