1 John 2:18

John writes to all his readers as his *children. He calls them this to show that he loves them. He loves them as a father loves his children. He feels that he is responsible for them. He cares as parents care for their children. He is eager to warn them about the dangers that are coming.

John calls the time when they were living ‘the last time’. By this, he means the final time before the return of Christ. Then the end of the world will come. This time began with the start of the church. It will end after Christ has come back to the earth. We too are living in that last time.

Jesus called the present age an evil age. He looked forward to the age that is to come. That age has already come in part. The true *light has come (verse 17). The present age is the *darkness and it is ending. The age to come will be completely here when the *Lord Jesus rules the earth.

The *Lord Jesus had warned that false *Christs would come (Matthew 2:24). The teachers in the churches would have taught about these false *Christs. They would have told about the last and most dangerous of these. They called him the *Antichrist. He will be the enemy of Christ. He will be an evil man who will try to destroy the church. He will gain power over all the earth. Then the *Lord Jesus Christ will come and defeat him.

But before the *Antichrist comes, there will be many false *Christs. Some had already come in the time when John was writing. There have been many since then. Some are at work in the world today. They are people who oppose Christ. They try to destroy all that Christ has done. They are the enemies of the church and of Christians. The false *Christs have the same evil purpose as we will see in the *Antichrist. They hate the *Lord Jesus Christ. They hate all those who belong to him.

Many false *Christs have come. This shows that we live in the last time. Those who oppose Christ are increasing. This shows that the end is near. We live in the last period before the *Lord Jesus comes again. But we do not know how long this period will be.