But he has appeared once for all. (Heb. 9:26)
We really don’t understand completion. We eat breakfast, but we’re hungry again by lunchtime. We wash the car, but one drive across town in the rain leaves spots all over the windshield. We brush our teeth in the morning, but we have to do it again before bedtime. We care for the lawn, and in just a couple of days, the grass waves in various unruly lengths. We put new shingles on the roof, but in a few years, we have to add a fresh layer on top.
This is life as we know it. Endless maintenance. Repeating our work because it’s never done forever. And under the Old Testament covenant, atonement fell into the same category. The people sacrificed the lives of unblemished animals so they could receive forgiveness for their sins. And yet the bloodshed never ended. Over and over they had to bring new sacrifices to atone for their most recent sins.
But we read in Hebrews that Christ brought a mysterious new gift to us: completion. He didn’t sacrifice his own life over and over again. He doesn’t continue to suffer. His one-time death on the cross fulfilled the need for sacrificial blood—forever. We may not fully comprehend this mystery of completion, but we can still fully receive what it offers. Isn’t that wonderful news?
Receive the gift, even if you don’t understand the mystery.
Bekah Shaffer lives in Kokomo, Indiana, and enjoys endless coffee, scrapbooking, speaking, and planning adventures with her husband, Ryan.
© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
