“this He did once for all when He offered up Himself”
The running joke in our family is one about me, one that I cannot deny. It goes something like this. “Aunt Nancy fell down the stairs, all the way to the bottom.” It’s true; I cannot deny the truth. For the sake of jokes, I like to respond with something like this. “I was just testing my back to see if it would withstand a fall AFTER my back surgery, & I attempted to stop myself by grabbing ahold of the railing as I slid to the bottom of the stairway.”
Truthfully, I fell—all the way down to the bang against the wall at the bottom.
Truly, it hurt my pride.
Surely, I did not mean to fall, and in fact, my thoughts BEFORE I fell were something like this. “I hope I do not fall and wake the whole house.” Those thoughts came to me RIGHT BEFORE THE FALL.
Fast forward a year, and this weekend I am staying overnight with this same niece and her family. My bed was specifically chosen for me—on the bottom floor rather than upstairs as I first thought it would be. Can you guess the why? It went something like this. “We KNOW how Aunt Nancy likes to FALL DOWN the stairs early in the morning while the rest of us sleep, so we thought it would be better to have her sleep downstairs.”
This morning, I did not need to walk down anything other than the hallway.
I mention this running joke in my family for one reason. Like me (the one who has fallen so many times SINCE back surgery) we were each born into iniquity and in need of atonement for our sins. We sin each day of our lives, even though we do not always mean to sin.
Humanity has been like this since the FALL of MANKIND.
- Without atonement, the effects of the Fall would be irrevocable.
- Without Jesus, mankind would be lost spiritually forever.
- Without a Savior who paid the perfect sacrifice to atone for our sins (the Fall of man), we would remain the enemy of God forevermore.
Without Christ, we would have no HOPE.
The Bible explains this to us.
“The former priests,
(The Letter to the Hebrews 7: 23-28 NAS)
[priests like Melchizedek & Aaron]
on the one hand,
existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing,
but Jesus,
on the other hand,
because He continues forever,
holds His priesthood permanently.
Therefore
He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him,
since
He always lives to make intercession for them.
For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;
who does not need daily, like those high priests,
to offer up sacrifices,
first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people,
because
this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak,
but the word of the oath,
which came after the Law,
appoints a Son,
made perfect forever.”
Forever is for a long time. Eternity really is difficult to process in the context of the human mind. Think about it; nothing on earth lasts forever.
Everything breaks! People break!
Appliances, Vehicles, Bodies, Marriages.
It is quite possible that each could break down, causing us to need a replacement. The Word of God perfectly describes how Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest, needed to atone for our sins only “once for all.”
The Bible proclaims this so.
“The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind.
(The Psalms 110: 4 NAS)
You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
When Jesus was crucified and buried, He overcame death once and for all, and because He did, Jesus will NEVER set aside His priesthood. So, this means, when we give our hearts to Jesus and trust Him as our Savior (as the Perfect Atoning Sacrifice), our lives are eternally secure—in Him!
“Without father, without mother, without genealogy,
(The Letter to the Hebrews 7: 3 NAS)
having neither beginning of days nor end of life,
but made like the Son of God,
he remains a priest perpetually.”
It was because of the FALL of MANKIND that we need salvation.
So, the Father sent His Only Son Jesus, the eternal & Perfect High Priest.
Jesus mediates for us, continually, as we seek His forgiveness for our sins.
Unlike other priests, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice—just once—to atone for our sins.
Jesus resurrected to new life, overcoming death and the grave, and “this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.”
Because He did, believers in Jesus can come face-to-face with God every day, and not just one time a year on the Day of Atonement (as the other earthly priests needed to do).
“For it is attested of Him,
(The Letter to the Hebrews 7: 17 & 20-22 NAS)
“YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER
ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.”
&
“And inasmuch as it was not without an oath
(for they indeed became priests without an oath,
but He with an oath through the One who said to Him,
“THE LORD HAS SWORN
AND WILL NOT CHANGE HIS MIND,
‘YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER’ “);
so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.”