Messiah’s Sacrifice was Once For All Time
10: 11-14
DIG: Because of God’s holy nature, what must be removed for someone to have access to God? What is the twofold significance of the fact that Jesus sat down at the right hand of God? What is the significance of the contrasts between the Levitical sacrificial system and the sacrifice that Christ made? How did Jesus’ one sacrifice for sins make future sacrifices unnecessary? What is the difference between positional sanctification and practical sanctification? What did the death of Messiah on the cross guarantee? What proved that the Adversary couldn’t defeat Yeshua?
REFLECT: What is the standard for getting into heaven? When were you made perfect? When does the process of being made holy end? Can you reach perfection in this life? In what way is ADONAI calling you to practice greater holiness? If you were asked to memorize one verse from 10:1-14, which one would you choose and why?
We continue to show the insufficiencies of animal sacrifices by comparing them to the sufficiency of Messiah’s sacrifice. His sacrifice is shown to be better in seven different ways.
The Levitical priests were still ministering in the Temple in Yerushalayim, which shows that the book was written before 70 AD, at which time Tziyon was destroyed by the Romans (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Mt – The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple on Tisha B’Av in 70 AD).263
Fourth, Yeshua’s sacrifice is better because it removes sin: Day after day every the Levitical priest (Hebrew: cohen) stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this Cohen, Yeshua Messiah, had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He “sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:11-12 quoting Psalm 110:1). Messiah’s sacrifice was better because it removes sin, which the Levitical sacrifices could never do. The B’rit Chadashah went from daily sacrifices to one sacrifice, from many ineffective sacrifices to one perfect sacrifice. These two verses are a series of contrasts – the many priests to the one Priest, the continual standing of the Levitical priests with the sitting down of the Great Priest, the repeated sacrifices with the once-for-all-time sacrifice, and the ineffective sacrifices that only covered sin with the effective sacrifice of Jesus Christ that completely removes sin. The Levitical priests always stood because their ministry was never finished. But Yeshua didn’t need to stand up because His work was completed. The Levitical priests, with all their repetition, could never take away sins, however, Jesus’ one sacrifice took away sins of believers for all time.264
Fifth, Christ’s sacrifice is better because it destroyed His enemies: And since that time He waits for “His enemies to be made His footstool” (Hebrews 10:13 quoting Psalm 110:1). Christ’s sacrifice was better because it conquered His enemies. All the Levitical sacrifices did nothing to get rid of the Adversary. They had absolutely no effect on him at all, nor on the godless demons and people who serve him. But when Jesus died on the cross, was resurrected and ascended to the heavenly Tabernacle, He dealt a death-blow to all His enemies. First, He conquered him who holds the power over death – that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:14b). Second, Yeshua also triumphed over all the other fallen angels (Colossians 2:14-15). Third, Jesus disarmed and triumphed over all the rulers and authorities throughout the ages who have rejected and opposed ADONAI (Colossians 2:15). Now He only waits “His enemies to be made His footstool,” that is, until they acknowledge His lordship by bowing at His feet (Philippians 2:10).
Yeshua Messiah will stand above all those who were His enemies. He won the victory over them at the cross. There, all the enemies of God throughout the ages gathered together to inflict on Him their worst, which was death (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Lv – Jesus’ Second Three Hours on the Cross: The Wrath of God). But Jesus conquered death just as He conquered the other enemies. He also conquered death for all who ever have and ever will believe in Him. Yeshua turned the Adversary’s worst into YHVH’s best.265
Sixth, Messiah’s sacrifice is better because it perfects believers forever: For by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (10:14). The word perfect is the translation of the Greek teleo, which means to bring to a state of completion. Here the Ruach ha-Kodesh emphasizes that completion means salvation. The sinner receives everything needed for salvation is received by faith in Messiah’s sacrifice. The death of Christ on the cross removes sin forever for those who belong to Him. We are totally secure in our Savior (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer). The forgiveness is permanent because the sacrifice is permanent.
Underline the word perfect. Note that the word is not better. Not improving. Not on the upswing. God doesn’t improve . . . He perfects; He doesn’t enhance . . . He completes. Now I realize that there’s a sense in which we’re imperfect sinners. We still err. We still stumble. We still do exactly what we don’t want to do. And that part of us is, according to the verse above, being made holy. But when it comes to our position before God, our standing before ADONAI, we’re perfect. When He sees each of us, He doesn’t see our sin, He sees us as one who has been made perfect through the One who is perfect – Jesus Christ.266
Those now being made holy in their practical sanctification, from God’s viewpoint, have been perfected forever in their positional sanctification. This verse is good for showing the contrast between practice and position. Earlier (see Cc – The Sufficiency of Messiah’s Sacrifice), we dealt with positional sanctification: because believers are in Christ, Ha’Shem views them as being permanently sanctified, and are already made perfect in His sight. They are not perfect because of how they live their lives, but because of what they are in Christ. In practice, they still sin; therefore, the Spirit of God is slowly conforming them into the image of ADONAI.267
Like salvation, sanctification has a past, present, and future aspects. Past: Because of Christ, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time (Hebrews 10:10). Present: For by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Hebrews 10:14). Sanctification is also a life-long process. Future: At the same time sanctification is something that we will fully experience only in our resurrection. Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (First Corinthians 15:51-52). Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. All who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure (First John 3:2-3).
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