Last week we began to study the one which Scripture refers to as the “man of sin,” or the “antichrist,” who is prophesied to come and dominate the world for a time. The “man of sin” is the personification of the sin of man. This is why the book of Revelation, which was given as “the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:1), contains so much about the antichrist. It is by seeing this man of sin, the result of the sin of man, that we can see how desperately man needs Christ, and how far awry we will go without Him.
Immediately after the Fall in the garden, the Lord prophesied the destiny of the seed of the serpent, and the seed of the woman (see Genesis 3:15). As we are told in Revelation 12:9, the “serpent of old” is the devil. The seed of the serpent is the nature of the devil, which was sown in man by the Fall. A prophecy was given to the woman that she would be at enmity with the serpent and bruise his head, but he would bruise her heel (see Genesis 3:15). This was a prophecy of Christ who would be born through a woman, and as a man destroy the works of the devil. With the first two sons of Eve, we can discern the nature of these two seeds. In the Scriptures, we find the story of the development and maturity of these two seeds in man, and the conflict between them throughout history.
The curse upon the serpent was that he would crawl on his belly and eat the dust. This speaks of how the serpent’s seed would be bound to the earth, conforming to the contour of the earth. Because man was made from the dust, and this is what the serpent would eat, it speaks of how the devil would feed on the earthly or carnal nature of man. This is why the devil is so intent on sowing carnality in man—he feeds on it.
One of the most basic distinctions between the two seeds can be seen in the offerings that Cain and Abel brought to the Lord. Because of the sin of man, the ground was cursed so that he could only bring forth fruit from it by “the sweat of his brow” (see Genesis 3:19). Therefore, when Cain brought an offering of grain to the Lord, he was bringing that which was produced by his own works. In contrast to this, Abel brought a blood sacrifice, which was a prophecy that man could only be acceptable to God through the blood sacrifice of Jesus.
It was the nature of these sacrifices that brought the enmity between Cain and Abel. Likewise, it will always be the cross that is the enmity between the two seeds. This is still the primary reason for the persecution against Christians, and will be until the end. Those who are of the seed of Cain will be enraged at those who claim the only way we can be acceptable to God is through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and that our own works will never make us acceptable to God.
Basic to the true works of the Spirit is the knowledge that we do not work in order to gain God’s approval, but we do His work from a position of having His approval through the cross. Therefore, all we do is from a position of abiding in Him and the works are Him working through us. Therefore, the true works of the Spirit should point to Christ Jesus, not us.
Because Cain was “a tiller of the ground,”(Genesis 4:2) it speaks of him being “earthly minded.” This is the nature of all who are primarily controlled (as we are all born with this nature) by the seed of the serpent. Basically the man of sin is a personification of the nature that is within us all. This is why we must be born again by the heavenly seed.
When we are born again by the heavenly seed, it begins a struggle between these two seeds, or two natures, within us. The Bible is a record of the struggle between these two seeds in mankind, and by studying this struggle we can better understand many of the struggles that will go on in our own heart.
We may not like this struggle or want it, but it is this struggle between the two natures in our hearts that actually strengthen and fashion our characters so that we bear the heavenly nature and calling. Then, we will be able to minister to those who are still trapped in the earthly, carnal, nature of man. For this reason we are told in Romans 12:1-2:
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
The Greek word that is translated “transformed” in this text is metamorphoo from which we derive our English word “metamorphosis.” This is the process that a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly. Since a caterpillar is a “worm” it is bound to the earth. Because of this change it is then given beautiful wings that enables it to soar above the earth. This is likewise what happens in the normal development of every Christian. We go from being earthly-minded, conformed to the ways of the world, to being able to soar in the heavenly realm above the earth. Our ultimate calling is to be seated with Christ in the heavenly places, as we read in Ephesians 2:1-8:
in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus,
In order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
It is said that the greatest struggle for a butterfly is freeing itself from the cocoon where the transformation took place. However, if it were not for this great struggle, it would not be strong enough to flap those huge wings. This too is a message for us. The Lord does not want our struggles to be easy. If they were too easy, we would not become strong enough to walk in what He has called us to. There is a principle revealed throughout Scripture and history—the more difficult your trials the more significant your calling. Those who come into their purpose easily and quickly usually do not have a very significant calling. The bigger the wings you are called to have, the bigger the struggle must be for you to be strong enough to use them.
As we are told in II Corinthians 13:5, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!…” One of the most basic tests that we can give ourselves is whether we are primarily occupied with the things of this present world, or with the eternal purposes of Christ. What takes most of our attention, most of our time, and most of our energy? Are we bound to the earth like the caterpillar, with our ways conforming more to the ways of the world, or have we learned to fly?
In the coming weeks we will continue our study of the man of sin, but we will also study the new creation who will rise above the sin and darkness to conquer it.
