ONCE FOR ALL
Heb. 9:12
Morning Meditation 9/28/2012
"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
There was a time under the Old Testament economy that the blood of goats and calves served as a type of the substitutionary atonement that Jesus would make when He came. The offering of these sacrifices never took away sin. The faith that was demonstrated by the offering, being illustrated by that blood sacrifice, was declared righteous by faith. Abraham offered blood sacrifices but he was declared righteous by faith (Gen. 15:6).
Those sacrifices offered were never intended by God to be permanent. The permanent sacrifice was Jesus as God's Lamb. The altar on which this sacrifice was made was the cross. After His death on the cross, and the three days and three nights in the grave, He arose as our high priest, and with His own blood, entered the holiest to atone for our sins.
The words, "but by his own blood," are contrasted in this verse with the blood of goats and calves. The preposition "by" translates "dia," and means, "the ground or reason by which something is done." He did this without the help of anyone or anything. The blood of goats and calves added nothing to His sacrifice. It was "by his own blood," that He entered the holiest.
The words "he entered" translates "eiserchomai," and means, "to enter into anything." Satan can enter into a person. One can enter into a house. Jesus literally entered into the holy of holies in heaven with His own blood. It is a aorist active indicative verb. The aorist tense refers to the point of time He entered into the holy of holies in heaven.
After the resurrection Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and she did not recognize Him. Then He called her name. When He said, "Mary," she suddenly recognized that it was Jesus. Then in John 20:16-18, "Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her."
Then Jesus appeared to His disciples that same day at evening (John 20:19) and on this occasion He showed them His hands and feet to prove to them it was really He. Then eight days later (John 20:26) He offered Thomas the opportunity to touch Him to remove Thomas' doubts. The point is that after Jesus' resurrection, He did not allow Mary to touch Him. And as a reason, He said to her: "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father." When Jesus appeared later on that day, He had already ascended to His Father with His own blood as the payment for our eternal redemption.
The words "He entered in once," translate a word that means, "Once for all." The daily and yearly sacrifices had ended. His one sacrifice forever ended the need for further sacrifice. The words "the holy place" mean the holy of holies in heaven. The literal blood of Jesus is on the mercy seat in heaven right now as a testimony of the price paid for our redemption on the cross.
The words "having obtained," translates "heurisko," and means, "to acquire, get, obtain, procure." This word is an aorist middle participle. The aorist tense means that He obtained our redemption at a point of time, i.e., the cross. The middle voice means that He did it Himself, i.e., He bought us for Himself, we are His. He did not offer an animal sacrifice. He offered Himself and procured eternal redemption for us.
Jesus paid the price and obtained eternal redemption for us. We could not redeem ourselves. So He came to earth to redeem us from our sins and set us free from the penalty of sin forever. This is eternal redemption.
When we are saved, we are saved eternally because Jesus obtained eternal redemption for us. He is our salvation, He is our life. Not only is He our life now, He is our life eternally. For our life to be taken away, the Lord Jesus would have to be unseated from His mediatorial throne and His work on the cross nullified. Our salvation is a once-for-all salvation.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
