January 23, 2016
Scripture Reading: 1 John 2:18-23
18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
Questions for Reflection:
The disciples believed they were in the “last hour.” What did John point to as evidence of this fact?’How does John define who these “antichrists” are? (Hint: look at verses 22 and 23) In what ways do the believers differ from these “antichrists”? What have they received according to verse 20? What do they know? For John, the litmus test on whether someone is a follower of Jesus, the test for whether or not someone is walking in the truth is belief that Jesus is the Christ. Often there is a belief in our culture is that we have to disregard fact and history to truly believe in Jesus. A group of scholars got together to answer the question: Is Jesus God? Take a few minutes to watch the video below.
After watching the video, what was the most convincing argument you heard in the video? What is the minimal facts approach? How does the claim that Jesus was resurrected from the dead meet this qualification?