Devotion 3: Satan’s Fake Christ
Pastor Roy Townsend
I have had the privilege of traveling to different countries throughout my life. I enjoy traveling, but one of the unique similarities of each place that I visited was the fake products that were for sale to travelers. It is fun to watch people be excited about the fake items that would be super expensive back home. Can you believe that I could get a watch for $100 but back home it was $3,000? That designer bag was only $50, but in America, the bag was $2,500. Wow, what a deal! In most instances, the tourists that I was traveling with knew that the items were fake, but in other instances, it was hard to determine if the products were fake. For example, if they were trying to sell me a gold chain, it was harder to determine if the chain was fake or not.
In Revelation 13:1-4, John gives us a prophetic description of how Satan will use an imitation christ-figure to deceive the world during the end times called the Beast. It reads, “And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?’”
Bible commentator Hamilton wrote, “There were four living creatures around God’s throne in Revelation four, and those living creatures reflect the beauty, power, majesty, and character of God. The best that Satan can come up with are perverse and twisted parodies of God, and Satan’s beast reflects his character just as the four living creatures reflect God’s character. Satan’s beast is a grotesque and unnatural blend of brutal and bloodthirsty animals of prey, and that’s what Satan is like.”
It seems shocking that Satan would go to these lengths to imitate God the Father and God the Son, but Satan even empowers the Beast (fake christ) to imitate what Christ did on the cross and through the resurrection. Earlier we read, “One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.” Whether the world is willingly being deceived, like me buying a Rolex watch for $100 in the Caribbean, or when it is more difficult to determine if this is a gold chain; we know that Satan will be effective in deceiving the world.
When I discuss these verses with people we are often confronted with the thought of what are we to do? Mark 13:22-23 reads, “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.” These verses tell us that there will be these fake christs that will be able to do some wondrous things, but we need to be “on guard.” The Scriptures through the words of Christ warn us to remember that Christ told us“all things beforehand.”