The Epistle of 2 Thessalonians 2 is where I would like to go first for it has some revealing facts to show us concerning what Paul calls the "man of sin." Speaking of "the day of the Lord," which is the coming Apocalypse it says;

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that MAN OF SIN be revealed, the son of perdition, Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

…And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.

Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders.

…And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie."

The man of sin is also called here, the son of perdition and the lawless one. This is speaking of the infamous person well known today as the Antichrist. But "anti" in Greek does not have to mean against. It can also mean "in the stead of." It will become clear as we advance this study that the correct description pertaining to this being is that when he comes, he will be coming "in the stead of" Christ.

That is, when he shows up, he is going to convince a perplexed world that he is the true Messiah. More on this later. But for now, what can we learn from the passage in Thessalonians? Well the first think we must glean and get clear is that we are told that this person is a man. But he is a man that possesses great powers. For it says in verse 9, (and this is the New International Version I am quoting here);

"The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders."

In the Book of Acts we are told that "signs, miracles and wonders" followed those who believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So what will distinguish this man when he comes will be that he can perform signs, miracles and wonders, albeit they will be counterfeit.

So we can now eliminate Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Nero and any upcoming Arab Prince in the Near East, as none of these produced any signs, miracles and wonders.

Click on the 'NEXT' arrow for Part II