”And by that will (God’s will), we have
been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”
(Hebrews 10:10).
Reading
Hebrews chapters 9 and 10 it is impossible to miss the main idea that Christ’s
sacrifice is better than – superior to the Old Covenant order.
More
than that: Christ’s sacrifice is final: never to be repeated. The key word is
“once for all”. NOT: once for all everybody, like for all people. BUT:
once for all, like once and only – a unique event; a unique sacrifice.
The
finality of the cross is contrasted with the repetitiveness of the old
sacrificial. “Day after day every priest
stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins” (Hebrews 10:11).
For
a complete view of the daily duties of a priest read Exodus 29:35-41.
Once
a year (Day of Atonement) a day was appointed as a day of national repentance –
the sin of the nation was brought to remembrance and atoned for. It was the day
on which the high priest offered a sin offering and a burnt offering. They were
an offering for the people.
Note
that the Old Testament sacrifices have this in common: they were repeated day
in day out; year after year.
Christ’s
sacrifice on the cross, is not a repeatable event: it is a once for all event. Here
are a few references that point to the “finality” of the cross.
“…Christ would have had to suffer many
times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at
the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself”
(Hebrews 9:26).
“Just as man is destined to die once,
and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the
sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to
bring salvation to those who are waiting for him”
(Hebrews 9:27, 28).
Ultimately – the finality of the cross rests firmly on God’s will – it
was His will to grant eternal perfection (holiness) to those who believe in
Jesus – as God’s Son – the Saviour.