8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.------------------------
The splendor of his coming will defeat Satan! Can you believe it? It's Christ's holiness, his presence itself that will defeat the enemy! Isn't that awesome?! IT's even greater to know that that same power, that same holiness lives inside of us through the Holy Spirit! What an amazing gift.
16-17: "May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word."
ReplyDeleteLet God work in our hearts daily. Let Christ in, allowing us to become more like Him as we pursue Him daily. Let everything that we do be strengthened by Christ. Let all our actions flow from Him. Let all our words flow from Him. As Philippians 4:13 states, we can do anything through Christ who strengthens us. So, let us be strengthened by Him and Him alone.
11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting verse, and i do not completely understand what message Paul is trying to get across here. Does it mean that if we are lawless then God sends us delusions?
4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
ReplyDeleteI know this is speaking directly at the End of times and the false profit to call himself God. But I want to apply this to our lives and the false gods that we worship in our lives. We place creation in the temple of God and worship it over the creator of the universe. Also this verse is speaking to the fact that we want to worship an earthly God and forget about the one and only God.
All is Good in Christ
2 Thessalonians 2:4 ESV
ReplyDeletewho opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
If you want a good example of the antithesis of jesus this would be it. Jesus being in the very form of God humbled himself. How often do we, who fail tip live in the image of God exalt ourselves instead of humbling ourselves. Never attempt to build yourself up I'm the eyes of someone else.
16-17: "May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word."
ReplyDeleteThis is something that we should pray for all of our brothers. That we should be encouraged through Christ and that God will strengthen us in all that we do. The power of God is so overwhelming that with Him we have incredible strength and can carry out His will no matter what it is because we draw off that strength.
4 "He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God."
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome verse! It reminds us that God is the One and Only God. When He comes, He will overthrow anything and everything that even tries to impersonate Him. How awesome and powerful is He!
-DA
13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
ReplyDeleteThis verse is incredible on so many levels. I know we hear it all the time, but if it loses any meaning to us than we are really not grasping the magnitude of this statement: God LOVES us. He has no need whatsoever to keep us around, being all-powerful, and yet he chooses to give us, such small creations of his, the chance for a new life. He CHOSE us, another astounding fact. He cared enough about each and every one of us unworthy wretches to save a spot for us in heaven. Wow.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
ReplyDeleteOnly God has the power of being. Only he has existed since before time and space came into being. Only he can speak, and with a word take nothingness and mold it into something. Therefore, since God can create on the first day with a mere word, on the last day he can destroy evil with the very breath from his mouth. How powerful is our God. That truly displays that everything is submitted to the will of God and nothing exists without his permission.
15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.
ReplyDelete--
Right before this verse Paul was talking about the lies and deceits coming to us and how they will try to veer us out of the right path, so he encourages us to stay strong, read the word, keep our faith and overcome all the adversities. We now know a (spiritual) war is coming, so we have to prepare and be ready to fight once the moment comes.