2 Thessalonians 2:4-6 - He will exalt himself over everything that is called God

2:4

“He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God .... proclaiming himself to be the God”. This could be an individual, the anti-Christ, but I have been looking at this in the context of referring to man in general. For so many of the things spoken of about the “man of lawlessness” can be taken as referring to man in general. The man of lawlessness is our destination without Christ. We see this all around us in the west, man is increasingly setting himself up as God. He rejects everything to do with God. It is not just a matter of rejecting religion, but there is a rejection of our being created beings. There is a rejection of the sexual order, and the male/female order. Man thinks he can chose or alter his gender. 

2:5,6

Paul has instructed the Thessalonians in these things, telling them plainly the direction the world was going in. “And now you know what is holding him back”. God has been restraining evil in the world, restraining the evil instincts in man. The church has been a major force in that, with most western countries having an underlying Christian ethos of sorts, But now that is being removed.