Ever heard the statement “It’s a big bad world out there!” or “That’s life for you!”? People have even sung songs which were chartbusters like Cat Steven’s (aka Yusuf Islam) Number ‘Mr. Big’. This ‘big bad world out there’ is what the Bible refers to as the Apostate Beast, politely known as Humanism.

Deut 6 (Holy Law)
5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
7 “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.

Rev 13 (Counterfeit Law)
15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Many people feel that wearing the mark of the beast is literally wearing some symbol, sign or number on the right hand and forehead. Today Judaism too considers these teaching as literal rather than a symbolic representation of one who is to ‘THINK’ (with the mind… as in written on the forehead) and ‘ACT’ (as in being written on his right hand) according to either the Law of the Spirit of Life, which is of Christ or according to the Law of Sin and Death thanks to Adam.

How many times have we heard people say “a little evil is necessary for survival’ (Rev 13:16-17)? Well this could be either in speaking for themselves or for their family, their work or their business. This precisely is mark of the beast on the forehead and hand of the people of this world. If you were to ask me, ‘how can I be saved from this?’ then the only thing I can do is point you to the Lord Jesus Christ, yet you will never be able to truly believe in Him by the power of your own will but only by Him choosing to reveal Himself to you and grant you repentance from sin (2 Tim 2:25) and perseverance (Rev 14:12) against the appetites of men and bring glory only to God. The Bible teaches that many who claim to be Christians, will call Jesus Lord Lord on that Day of Judgment but their lives would have only shown evidences of wearing the ‘mark of the beast’ rather than the ‘mark of God’ (the mark of Jesus’ Lordship over their lives) and a person shall wear either mark, never both (Rev 20:4).

Rev 20
4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Humanism was led by Satan right from the fall of Adam. Satan disguises himself often as an Angel of Light (2 Cor 11:14) by bringing teachings to people concerning what is right and wrong… he couldn’t have done a better job in deceiving the reprobate. He did this with Adam and Eve (Gen 3:1-6) and the world (humanism) today finds some truth in all these lies of Satan.

Gen 3
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Today Humanism considers among other things that it is good ideology to believe that God hates sin but loves the Sinner (Ps 5:5, Ps 11:5), that all men whoever they maybe are equal before God (Rom 9:21-23), live and let live (Is 5:20-24) (voice out only when it is your head under the guillotine)… homosexuality is a matter of choice and so is abortion. The god of humanism whatever be their religion is the corrupt will and appetites of men. This is the condition of every natural man who is not an elect in Christ.

So we see that a man always lives by law, which could either be the Holy Law of God that is granted to by the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil 4:13) or that man lives by the Law of Sin and Death, which materializes from his fallen Adamic nature.

Rom 5
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.

Though the natural man may feel that there will be few in Heaven and many more in hell, this is not so for the saved will be like the stars in the sky that none can count (Rev 7:9) because Salvation is not by the will of men (John 1:12-13) but by the power of God (1Cor 1:18). Through all this it may also seem that obedience to God is colossal and yes it is but scripture teaches that the yoke of Christ is lighter than the burdens laid on men under this ungodly beast in disguise called Humanism.

Mat 11
25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.
26 “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.
27 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

There is hope in Christ!