Once For All
September 12, 2023
“Once for all” Jesus entered into the Holy Place through the blood of His death on the cross. If you really dwell on that, it can boggle the mind, and I highly urge reading this entire chapter for more mind-boggling implications of what Jesus’ death truly accomplished for everyone who has ever believed in Him. Many of us think of the Old Testament believers being saved by a different salvation than we are. The idea we tend to have is that they were saved by sacrificing animals and offering their blood on the altar of God, and once a year the priests would enter the Holy of Holies to offer the sacrificial lamb for the sins of every Israelite. And we who live on this side of the cross, believe we are saved by Jesus, with a different salvation based on grace and faith. But this is not the case – it is the exact same salvation! We must remember that every believer that came before the Law of Moses had no form of sacrificing animals in the tabernacle to Yahweh. Just like us, their faith was credited to them as righteousness (seen with Abraham: Genesis 15:6, Romans 4: 1-3). It was by grace they were saved, through faith, and not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:9).
What we see spelled out in Hebrews 9 is that the temple rituals were put in place as a model for God’s people, a way to see that blood is required for salvation and redemption, in order to enter into God’s presence. And while they used the blood of a sacrificed lamb as that model, Jesus is the fulfillment of that, our sacrificial lamb that willingly offered Himself to bring eternal redemption. Not only that, but he also served as the High Priest, who entered into the Holy Place, the presence of Yahweh, to bring His own blood in to cover all of us, from Adam and Eve until the end of this Earth (Hebrews 9: 24, 25, 27). And so, the ritual of the Old Testament sacrifices did serve an important purpose – but it wasn’t the actual work of salvation. It was to point us to a saving faith in Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected, even though they didn’t understand all the details like we do. They looked forward to the 1st coming of the Messiah, just as we now look forward to the 2nd coming (Hebrews 9:28). So, we, not through the blood of goats and calves, but through the blood of Jesus, entered into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption. Once for all. How glorious that is! Rejoice in the salvation we have been given!
Brittany Hynson
’94 / 08 San Jose Costa Rica
CoLaborers International Missionary
Doris Jean H
’44 / ’55 Manheim PA