For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 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.
The presence of suffering and evil, or the problem of pain, as C. S. Lewis called it, has been the chief argument against the existence of a good and loving God. People simply cannot reconcile a God who wills our good and a world filled with sin and suffering. Paul addresses that here a bit. The “man of lawlessness”, or Antichrist, is in power but is restrained by Jesus Christ. End times debate is confusing because we argue about how long the tribulation will be, when the rapture comes, and what the 1,000 years means. The keyword is here in verse 7. It is a mystery.
We have a love/hate relationship with mystery. We love them on TV but hate them in real life because we want to know. It may be a surprise to learn that Paul uses this word at least 23 times to denote a secret that we are not yet privy to. That is an irritation but also a comfort. We cannot know with certainty what exactly will happen when Jesus returns. It is a mystery. The comfort is in knowing with certainty that Jesus will return and be victorious over Satan. That is no secret mystery. It is the gospel.
Dear Lord, thank you that, though this is a mystery, we know the ending, that Jesus wins and we will be with him. Help us to accept the unknown. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church