Once for All
Opening Prayer
Christ Jesus, You are Lord of my future as well as my past. I praise You and thank You for Your sacrifice.
Read Hebrews 9:23–28
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Think about the things you have planned or are looking forward to. Take a moment to place them into Jesus’ hands.This passage encourages us to look in two directions. First it encourages us to look back to the past, and to the cross.The author wants us to grasp the completeness of what Jesus has done for us there. He really has done everything we needed, “once for all.”
So through his death he entered the heavenly sanctuary—the real one, not the earthly copy—and there he stands for us in the presence of God. He really is our “friend in high places”! And he’s there for good. His sacrifice is absolute and complete and doesn’t need to be repeated. Once for all, he has done away with sin “by the sacrifice of himself.”
This great past guarantees our future, too. Just as people die once and are judged, so Jesus died once and will appear again, not to be judged, but to judge and “to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”
Because of what Christ has done in the past, and what he promises for the future, we are set free to live for him in the present.
Apply
Verse 28 promises that Christ will return to bring salvation. With whom can you share the story of salvation today?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, I pray for grace, strength and energy to live for You today.
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