September 1
“Every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified,” Hebrews 10:11-14.
The sacred writer begins with a reference to the many sacrifices that were offered to God daily and repeatedly in the Old Testament times by the priests. “Every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices.” Did the offering of those sacrifices remove the sins of anyone? No! The sacred writer adds the words that those sacrifices “can never take away sins!”
In that case, we are moved to ask, “Did the offering of those Old Testament sacrifices serve any purpose?” Indeed, they did, for it was God Himself who prescribed the various sacrifices, the type and manner, the where, the when, and the how that the sacrifices were to be offered. It was God’s way of keeping before the eyes of His people His promises to send a Savior who would take away the sins of all people throughout the whole world.
The Old Testament believers trusted the promises of God to send the Savior to redeem them from sin, death, and the power of the devil. As New Testament believers, we trust in those same promises. The emphasis in the text above centers around the one sacrifice that was made by Jesus Christ for the redemption of all people. This Man, Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, God and Man in one Person, “offered one sacrifice for sins forever.” Through that one sacrifice we are all forgiven.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the angel announced to the shepherds herding their flocks, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord,” Luke 2:10-11. After the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds hurried to Bethlehem to see what had come to pass. After they had seen the Baby Jesus, “They made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them,” Luke 2:17-20.
Today, we report that when Jesus had completed the work of redemption by suffering and dying on Calvary’s cross and rising from the grave, He “sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.” He is in the position of power, and He rules over all things. At the time appointed by God, when all His enemies have been made His footstool, He will come again. All the dead will be raised, and He will take into the halls of heaven all who died believing in Him as their Savior and all the believers who are still living on earth at that time.
“By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” By faith in His one sacrifice, we make the assurance of His forgiveness our very own.
When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.
Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a tribute far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. Amen.