Hebrews 9:25a
"Nor yet that he should offer himself (what’s the next word?) often…."
What does that mean? "Often" Well, again, flash back to the Old Testament economy. That’s what He’s doing. How many days a week did the priests minister there in the Temple or in the Tabernacle before that? Every day. Non-stop. They had courses of the priesthood so that that could be going on constantly. The Day of Atonement – once a year. But how many years? For as many years as the Law was in vogue. What 1500? Every year. The same thing – over and over and over. Until He who is "the last of days" came. But this priest – He appeared in the Heavenliest and the Holiest place on our behalf – once! Do you See it? Many don't and that is why they remain in their sin.
Hebrews 9:25-26a
"Not yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood (animal’s blood and remember the animals are also under the penalty of the curse and therefore are powerless to remove from mans conscience his sin nature) of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world:…"
If that was the case – if His priesthood wasn’t different. But it is! It’s totally different. As the Son of man He took upon Himself our sin nature, then as the last of days He took all that was revealed through the Covenants, Law and the Prophets of Judaism and Israel's self imposed religion as revealed in them of Him and nailed all in all to the tree of His cross and there they were crucified and ended. This He made an open display of as He had triumphed over them in the finished work of His death on the tree as a curse for all humanity, past, present and future (Colossians 2:15 paraphrased).
Hebrews 9:26
“For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world (this is the same word of Genesis 1:2 only there its "earth", and it is void of harmonious arrangement and life, until the Light [the essence of Christ] as it equates to order and eternal Life):”
All right and so, "Once in the end of the harmonious arrangement." Now the word ‘world’ Strong's G2889, (but from the Thayer's Greek to clear the air) I think is a bad translation just here. As the Strong's applies to the second use in this verse. Because coming up out of the Old Testament economy you want to remember Christ’s first advent was the end of everything because it was all in proximity according to the Old Testament, as soon as Christ ascended the Tribulation was going to come in. The Tribulation was only going to be seven years and Christ would return and set up His earthly Kingdom. So all of this is in proximity within a matter of a few years, so this is what it is. Now this word world in this application means also: the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God; the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile and are obstacles to the cause of Christ.
To this then we can say with Paul:
2Corinthinas 5:19-21
"To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin (as a Gentile not under the Law); that we might be made the righteousness of God in [en, denoting a fixed position of placement] Him."
Hebrews 9:26b
"…But now, once in the end of the world....(harmonious arrangement, order, government) "
I’ve got this underlined in every Bible I’ve ever had. The word ‘o-n-c-e.’ Highlight it, underline it. Once! The old hymn writer expressed it how? "Once for All." Once for all, oh happy condition. See? So they were then at the end of the prophetic age, He came once to put away sin. To bury it in the deepest sea.
Now I’ve been looking, as I thought that was a Scripture but I don’t think it is. If somebody can tell me where it is, please tell me. I’ve been looking and looking. But I’ve always had the idea that there was a verse in the Psalms that said – that our sins are buried in the deepest sea. And I can’t find it. So I need help. I don’t want to be like the guy I read about some time ago that supposedly had a verse of Scripture for an answer. And everybody thought, "That old man knows his Bible. He’s got a Scripture for every occasion." Well, after he’s dead and gone somebody started checking him out. Not a bit of it was Scripture! It was all just various clichés, see? So I don’t want to be caught doing that. You understand what I’m saying, our sins are far removed. Now its not in the Psalms but is in Micah chapter 7 verse 19, we'll go there shortly to look at it.
Now we could look back at verse 15, 17 as it follows here also, and sin is brought to nothing or naught, look for yourselves at Mark 7:9 and Galatians 3:15.
Hebrews 9:26c
"…he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."
And "he appeared to put away." Christ is the ontological of Christocentered Life in the dynamics of Grace. Thereby sin is Never to be remembered against us. So Never when you and I as believers come up before the Lord are we ever going to face God with our sins. It’s done. Oh, we’re going to have to face Him with what we’ve done as a servant, as a child of God. What have we done for reward? But never will God throw our sin in our face. That’s been done. That’s forgiven! It’s washed in the blood through the cross. It’s purged.
All right and so, "This he did once in the end of the age, to put away sin by the sacrifice (again, not of animals, but of what?) of himself." Himself. But listen, this is what we gain when our trust is counted as being, by faith. Now, there is not a religion on this planet that can even come close to anything like this. Not one. They don’t have this kind of a payment for sin. They don’t know what it is to be redeemed or to have a right to enter His Salvation wherein we become a "son of God or a God-child". They know nothing of it. And this is what has caused all of Judaism, Islam/Muslims, Buddhists, Hinduism, and all cults and most of "Christianity" to fail. Just as we saw in the one word 'world' above. They are the obstacles of Christ's present day ministration just as the book of Revelation reveals.
Micah 7:19b
"…and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."
They’ve been cast into the deepest sea. That’s a little different wording than I had thought. And then another one is "that they are as far removed as east is from the west." How far is that? When you start going east from say the middle of the good ole US of A where do you stop going east and start going west? Well you never do. You’re always going east. And so that’s how far our sins have been removed, as "far as east is from the west." Okay, so we got that covered.
Now let’s come back again to Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27.
Hebrews 9:27
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"
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