And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
The sacrifice of Christ took care of sin once and for all.* This is especially important because had it not, Christ would have had to die repeatedly since the foundation of the world.* As it is, His sacrifice reached back to Adam and Eve and into eternity.* That’s powerful! If all was taken care of via the sacrifice of Christ, why does there need to be a second coming of Jesus?
Hebrews 9 is the only place in the New Testament that uses the words the “second coming.”* This second coming, as 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us, will deal with the physical body (we were saved spiritually, we are being saved in our souls as we form to be more like Christ, and we will be saved in our bodies).* Our bodies must be saved as the whole person becomes the dwelling place of God for eternity.* As it is, our bodies are not eternal.
Because sin has been taken care of once and for all, Jesus does not come a second time as He did the first: as a humble sacrificial lamb.* He comes as a victor who shares the spoils of his victory with His people.* The second coming will be the completion of the salvation of His people: complete deliverance (for those who believe in Jesus) from sin and from this fallen world and all that is wrapped up in it.*
But then what…
The uncertainty of what is next haunts many. Do we live in an etherial cloud? Do we maintain our consciousness and our sense of self? Passages outside of the book of Hebrews shed light on this, but from Hebrews 9, we gather that heaven is the place that we follow our great high priest Jesus Christ into (He didn’t lose His sense of self or true identity, neither will we).* In heaven, we draw near to God.* In heaven, we will know fully the presence of of God.* As George Guthrie shares,
Heaven is ultimately the place of God’s presence fully known and experienced.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to rest assured (take a deep breath) that if you believe in Jesus, your past, present, and future is secured completely and totally. Perhaps today God wants you to allow Him to continue to save your soul as He forms you to the image of Christ. Maybe today God wants you to care for the temple of God (your body) that He has given you, though one day He will restore it completely.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
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*Stedman, R. C. (1992). Hebrews (Heb 9:15–28). IVP Academic.
Grindheim, S. (2023). The Letter to the Hebrews (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 464–466). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
France, R. T. (2006). Hebrews. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 124–125). Zondervan.
Guthrie, G. (1998). Hebrews (pp. 315–316, 320). Zondervan Publishing House.