12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
For years, the ground in the tabernacle or in the temple ran with the blood of sacrifices. Daily offerings, regular sin offerings, even the special Day of Atonement, always new offerings were required. This of course makes sense; we sin so regularly, so easily. It is hard to be remotely good. It is impossible to be as good as God. Yet God’s standard is perfection. So, from day to day to day, victim after victim bled for the sins of the people of God.
When one remembers that this system was put in place in the time of Moses, and that a millennium-and-a-half had passed in which that system was perfected, one might think that, truly, the sacrifice of animals, day after day, was the only way for people to be made right with God. What could ever put an end to this cycle of sin, confess, sacrifice, sin, confess, sacrifice?
We have to see the establishment of the sacrificial system with clarity in order to see the amazing, joyous, unbelievable words of Hebrews 10:12-14. Jesus Christ, with one sacrifice, he made an end of this system. With one offering, the offering of himself, Jesus perfects all who will be perfected. Jesus cleanses all who will be cleansed before God. Jesus, with one perfect and infinitely-glorious sacrifice, cries out to the world that all who will come to him and trust in his sacrifice will be saved. You need not be Jewish. You need not be a man. You need not be wealthy. All who will come to Jesus and trust in him will be saved. No other sacrifices are required. In fact, no other sacrifices will avail you at all. Only one sacrifice now exists for the sins of humanity, the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christians, perhaps we do not stand in awe enough of this once-for-all sacrifice. Perhaps we have become too accustomed to the message of the gospel. Perhaps we have failed to remember the glory. We have committed a lifetime’s worth of sin. We have infinitely offended an infinitely holy God. We have earned his judgment. We have earned hell. Yet God, for the sake of his glory and out of his love, has made a way for us to be reconciled to him. This reconciliation is not something we buy with a life of religious obedience. No, God bought our reconciliation with him through the precious blood of his own Son. Jesus came and willingly laid down his life to save us, once and for all.
Let this thought lead you to praise Jesus. Let it lead you to remember that your good deeds do not add to your salvation. Let it cause you to thank Christ and to live for him out of gratitude and out of joy. Let it cause you to vigorously share your faith, because there is only one sacrifice for the sins of the world. Let the gospel lead you to love Jesus more as you consider the grandeur of the single sacrifice for sins.
Pastor Travis Peterson 