Sunday, November 10, 2013

False Saviors and Final Rebellions (2 Thessalonians 2:1-10)

We are reaching the end of the Church year. The new one begins on the First Sunday of Advent which, this year on our Olympian calendar, is December 1.

Every year at this time, the lectionary readings include biblical texts about the end of history. Today we will focus on one of Paul’s reflections on our final days.

1 As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4 He opposes and exults himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? 6 And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed when his time comes. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, 10 and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:1-10, New Revised Standard Version, here and following).

From the biblical point of view, human history had a very definite first day: the day Yahweh created Adam and Eve. From that same point of view, human history also has a very definite last day: the Day of the Lord. That is the day when Jesus will return to earth in glory to establish his rule everywhere.

Today we live at some point between those first and last days. For all we know, however, we might be living quite close to the last day. In this passage, the apostle Paul gives us some things to look for.

3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction.

Let us recall that Olympianity is our world’s most popular yet least recognized religion. All human societies and cultures devote themselves to the gods of politics, war, technology, sex, money, and consumption. Every one of us has a corresponding Olympian personality. That means we human beings, individually and together, devote ourselves to the pursuit of power. We treat other human beings and the rest of creation simply as means to that end.

Jesus, however, embodies the one true god of freedom, truth, love, and vitality. He calls us to witness to him by sharing his light, love, and life with others. When we do, we speak liberating words of truth and treat people well even if they’re not useful as means. When we do, we strengthen our Christian personality and weaken our Olympian one. When we do, we also strengthen the Christian witness of the Church and weaken its Olympian one.

Before Jesus comes again, Paul tells us that their will be a final rebellion. This rebellion is the age-old one by the six false Olympian gods against Jesus. Just before the return of Jesus, this rebellion will reach a maximum universality and intensity. It will be the biggest, broadest, and baddest one ever.

This climactic rebellion will be led by the lawless one. This will be a person wholeheartedly devoted to, and representing, the six gods. This person will exercise the greatest possible control through politics, technology, and money. This person will also unleash the greatest possible delirium, destruction, and death through war, sex, and consumption. We might call this person the autonomous one for speaking and acting as if his will alone is law.

4 He opposes and exults himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God.

This lawless person spearheading our rebellion against Jesus will declare himself to be God. Most likely this person will do this by being exalted as our savior. This person will promise to save us from insecurity, misery, insignificance, guilt, and meaninglessness. These are the threats by which the six gods through our fearless leader will coerce our conformity. In comparison with our fearless leader’s show of power and support of delirium, spokespeople for Jesus will look ridiculous if not treasonous.

Worse, he will take his seat in the temple of God. Even though this lawless one will exemplify and represent the six destructive Olympian gods, he will be seen as good even by Christians and the Church. He will be hailed as savior even by those who should know better.

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed.

Of course our rebellion against Jesus, as Olympian societies and individuals, has been growing in universality and intensity since 1750. That’s when today’s Global Technological System (GTS) got its start in the Industrial Revolution.

We may praise and thank Jesus that he has kept the coercive control and destructive delirium of the GTS limited at all.

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming.

In verses 7 and 8, we learn that our personal and societal rebellion against Jesus has already been growing, it will burst into full flower when Jesus removes his restraint of it, then we will see our Olympian savior and fearless leader emerge, only to witness his destruction by Jesus.

Jesus currently restrains the coercive control and destructive delirium of the GTS. He does so by sharing his light, love, and life with us all through prophetic Christians and churches. To be prophetic means to commit oneself each day to living intentionally as a witness to Jesus and an opponent to the six conventional yet false gods of Olympianity that otherwise dominate our world, our churches, and ourselves. It's a call.

As the GTS has grown in universality and intensity, however, the prophetic witness of Christians and churches has diminished. Because of that, our world has grown darker, colder, and deadlier.

Paul is warning us that, at some point, this witness of Christians and churches to Jesus Christ will grow so weak that Jesus will no longer be able to limit the growth of the GTS. It will enjoy a final burst of unrestrained activity. At that point an autonomous leader, both representing and exemplifying the Olympian gods and their precious GTS, will be hailed as the fearless leader and Olympian savior of humankind. Only a meaningless and diminishing number of prophetic witnesses to Jesus Christ, and perhaps not a single church at all, will know any better.

9b-10 Satan…uses all power, signs, lying wonders, 10 and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

Behind the six Olympian gods, the GTS, and its autonomous leader stands Satan. If Jesus embodies the one true god of truth, freedom, love, and vitality, Satan is that power of nothingness expressing itself through falsehood, power, indifference, and death.

Falsehood comes naturally to Satan. To him, words are simply means of gaining and maintaining control. He happily deceives us. Without a counterbalancing witness from Jesus through Christians and churches consciously dedicated to him, Satan's deceptions succeed with no one raising any critical questions or nagging doubts.

Sadly, falsehood ends in death. Strangely, Satan, the GTS, and fearless leader all work together to persuade us that the good life requires massive destruction and death. As Olympian influence expands, most of us believe that’s true and all of us believe it more.

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming.

Let’s take another look at verse 8. When Jesus can no longer witness to us well enough through prophetic individuals and churches to keep great foolishness in check, an autonomous individual will emerge who will allow the gods and their precious GTS to grow without hindrance. Since that’s not good for humans or the rest of creation, Jesus will thankfully take matters into his own hands. He himself will confront our Olympian leader, the GTS, the gods behind it, and Satan behind them.

At that moment, Jesus will destroy evil. Let us notice here that he will require no assistance from anyone--Christian or otherwise. There will be no cosmic battle. He simply uses the breath of his mouth, his Spirit and words of truth, and all is good.

Today the Global Technological System, along with its coercive control and destructive delirium, continues to grow exponentially. The Olympian gods are most happy with this. As the GTS expands and intensifies, societies and personalities grow increasingly Olympian. It becomes more difficult to remain faithful witnesses to Jesus as individuals and churches.

This means two things for us today. One, though Paul first wrote these words about the last rebellion almost 2,000 years ago, it doesn’t mean that this event won’t happen soon. We should be spiritually prepared for it to happen as early as next week. Two, even if an unrestrained GTS is about to quickly accelerate control and delirium under the leadership of some misbegotten savior, our one true savior, Jesus Christ, will come quickly to set things right.

In the meantime, let us commit ourselves to sharing his light, love, and life with everyone as much as possible, for our good and his glory.

Copyright © 2013 by Steven Farsaci.
All rights reserved. Fair use encouraged.