Hebrews 9:23-28, The Message
That accounts for the prominence of blood and death in all these secondary practices that point to the realities of heaven. It also accounts for why, when the real thing takes place, these animal sacrifices aren’t needed anymore, having served their purpose. For Christ didn’t enter the earthly version of the Holy Place; he entered the Place Itself, and offered himself to God as the sacrifice for our sins. He doesn’t do this every year as the high priests did under the old plan with blood that was not their own; if that had been the case, he would have to sacrifice himself repeatedly throughout the course of history. But instead he sacrificed himself once and for all, summing up all the other sacrifices in this sacrifice of himself, the final solution of sin.
Everyone has to die once, then face the consequences. Christ’s death was also a one-time event, but it was a sacrifice that took care of sins forever. And so, when he next appears, the outcome for those eager to greet him is, precisely, salvation.
‘The final solution.’
Usually,
that phrase carries
a decidedly
negative valence.
But not here.
Not ever again.
ONCE AND FOR ALL,
in every sense of those
words.
ONCE.
FOR ALL.
Wow.
I became a believer in Christ in second grade, while kneeling in a pew for Mass at my Catholic school. I recited the Latin words, ‘This is my body…This the cup…’ knowing that Jesus was giving up his life for mine. But growing up Catholic, you learned you always had to strive to do good things/works so as to limit your time in purgatory. When I asked about that, I was told that your soul was like a blackboard. You can wipe it off with an eraser, but you can always see that slight smudge, so it has to be burned away in purgatory. When I then went on to ask where that was written down so I could read it, well, that wasn’t so forthcoming, because well, it’s not there in the bible.
So my journey with Christ moved to Protestantism, and in the fundamental tradition of the Plymouth Brethren, I learned about Christ’s once for all sacrifice. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
He is mine and I am His, into eternity…Hallelujah, what a Savior!
I remember all these pieces of your story, Margie. And it continued, through your years at PCC and now at Bellevue Pres. Isn’t it an amazing thing to retrace your own journey toward salvation — that continuing process of becoming our truest selves and discovering more and more similarities with our elder brother, Jesus? Blessings to you, my friend.
Once and for all . . . Thank you, Lord Jesus, thank you!
Blessings, Diana!
Thank you, indeed.