If I say the word “Antichrist”, most people will immediately have an idea of what I am talking about. Funny thing is, they won’t all think the same thing. I think the most common idea is that of an evil, end-time strongman, that dominates much of the world and persecutes the people of God.

Some will point to on Paul describes as “The Man of Sin.” Others will point to the vision of John called Revelation. Where John describes a couple of what he calls “Beasts”, who seem similar to the Man of Sin, but may even be something entirely different. In general, The Antichrist calls to mind something to do with an evil power in the last days.

Here’s the problem: none of the descriptions in Paul or Revelation identify this person as the Antichrist. In fact there is only one New Testament writer who uses that term, and he only in his letters. His name is John and the letters are first and second John. But here is the problem I am wrestling with. Since John is the only one who uses the term, what if he isn’t talking about the same thing? Here is how John introduced the term “Antichrist”…