Appearances, appearances. People are not always inwardly what they appear to be outwardly. Perhaps someone making a very brave outward show is actually a coward. The Pharisees were people like this who outwardly appeared righteous but inwardly were corrupt. Now I used this play on the word appearance to actually discuss a different kind of appearance. In this passage the author uses the word appearance three times to discuss three different appearances Jesus made. And through this three-fold division the author tells us three truths about the work of Christ on our behalf.
The key idea of this passage is Christ’s completed work affords great benefit to those who will receive it.
I. He Appeared on Earth (vv. 25-26)
The first truth about the work of Christ is He appeared on earth. Though this does not occur first in the paragraph but in verses 25-26, it is first logically. Let’s read the verses. “Nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested (or has appeared) to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” These verses state two reasons Jesus appeared on earth.
A. To bear our sin
The first reason Jesus appeared on earth was to bear our sin. This is what the end of verse 26 says, “but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Verse 28 expands on this. “So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many.” The words “put away” and “bear” note what Jesus did with our sin. His death on the cross wasn’t simply a moral lesson of how God’s love should cause us to live better lives. His death actually took our sins away. The purpose for Jesus going to the cross was so our sin debt might be placed upon Him. The verb “bear” means to carry. Jesus carried our sins to the cross. They were placed upon Him and He took the punishment that was due us.
This is the reason the sacrifice of Jesus had to be perfect. Without such a sacrifice our sin could not have been fully atoned. And if we have been learning anything from this trek through the book of Hebrews it is, “the sacrifice was worth all or nothing.” Either it paid for all the sin or it didn’t pay for any of it. This is what we looked at a few weeks ago when we saw that animal sacrifices could not remove sin. They weren’t effectively providing forgiveness for sin. But this is not so with Jesus. He came at the consummation of the ages and was offered for us.
What does it mean Jesus came at the consummation of the ages? Did the author think this period now was the end of the world soon to pass away into the eternal state? Did the author think Christ would soon return? I think we find the answer in the book of Daniel. In Daniel chapter 9 God gives His word about what shall take place in the future for Israel. And in Daniel 9:24 God tells Daniel, “Seventy sevens (of years – 490) have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.” From this and the following verses Daniel is shown there are 490 years left in God’s prophetic calendar for Israel. Verses 25-27 describe that 483 years were completed (to the very day) when Christ came and offered Himself for the sin of mankind. So there are seven years remaining with which God will use the Jewish nation once again. The verses say these last seven years will take place when the anti-Christ will make a peace treaty with the Jewish nation.
In His first coming Jesus completed the first three events mentioned in Daniel 9:24. He finished transgression; he made an end of sin and made atonement for iniquity. The author of Hebrews describes this as the consummation of the ages. He is describing the time of the cross as the high point, the climax of human history not necessarily the end of human history. And because there is no real indicator when the anti-Christ will come and present himself to the world the author was not necessarily making predictions the world was coming to an end now but simply saying it could for all that remained for the Jewish nation was another seven years before the return of the Messiah. From our point of view, and the teaching of the Apostle Paul, we can see God stopped the timer until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in. Because God wanted to save a multitude of Gentiles He did not allow the end just after Christ’s first appearance. He is patient not willing any should perish but all should come to repentance so He has delayed His judgment. And so the author uses this phrase because there is really nothing preventing the completion of God’s plan with the Jewish people and the institution of His kingdom except His patience.
B. To make one sacrifice
The second reason Jesus appears on earth was to make one sacrifice. This is what the author says, not that He would offer Himself often AND, otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. In verse 26 it says, “but now once . . . He has been manifested to put away sin.” And in verse 28 the author notes, “so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many.” Jesus’ perfect sacrifice allowed Him to offer one sacrifice for sin. This one sacrifice took care of all our transgressions. Colossians 2:13 notes this, “When you were dead in your transgressions . . . He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.”
The truth is there is no more sacrifice to be made for our sin. The term once mentioned throughout the passage shows the sacrificial system has come to an end in its capacity to forgive. Later in the letter the author says, “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin.” There is no other sacrifice except the once for all sacrifice of Christ on our behalf to forgive our sin. And to say Christ needs to be continually sacrificed blasphemes His work on our behalf. It is a slap in the face of God to say Christ’s once for all sacrifice was not sufficient to wipe away our sins and further sacrifices need to be offered. If Christ did not pay for all our sin once for all at the cross then God is a liar.
I recently heard a story concerning John Brown of Haddington the famous shepherd turned pastor. He was counseling a woman on her deathbed to make sure she was trusting in Christ alone. And he pled with her, “Are you sure you are resting in Christ only.” Yes I am. He asked her, “What if it is not true that Christ alone can save you?” The woman replied, “Then I would simply lose my soul.” Brown said, “Isn’t that a high price to pay for being wrong?” She said, “If it were not true that my trust in Christ alone would save me I would only lose my soul, but far worse would be that God would lose His honor.”
God’s promises are not partly true. If He does not fulfill what He says He will do then He would lose His honor. Worse yet when people, who pose as religious leaders, say God will not do what He said He would do they dishonor God. They blaspheme the precious name of God and the promises He makes in His Word. When God said Christ died once for our sins it is blasphemy to say the sacrifice need be repeated. This is calling God a liar. How dare anyone take God’s Word and deny its saving truths through which God desires to give us assurance of His work in us. In Hebrews 10:12 the author says, Jesus made “one sacrifice for sins forever.” What ever this is it does not allow for an ongoing sacrifice or priesthood.
II. He Appeared in Heaven (vv. 23-24)
The second truth we see in this passage is He appeared in heaven. We find this in verses 23-24. Here the author tells us, “Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” There are two reasons he appeared in heaven.
A. To appease God
First, he appeared in heaven to appease God. Christ needed to present a perfect sacrifice because God demands perfection. The verses said Jesus didn’t enter a handmade holy place. Human error had not flawed this holy place. There was a different architect for this project. It was the Lord God Himself. He was the Creator of heaven. He formed it for His own abode and it was out of reach of the corruption of the physical universe. Jesus entered heaven itself.
Though the copy of the true tabernacle could be cleansed with the blood of goats and bulls the real tabernacle needed a true sacrifice. And Jesus was appearing in the presence of God so we could be forgiven. The phrase that He appeared in the presence of God “for us” describes He work on our behalf in heaven. Only Jesus the God-man could have provided the spotless sacrifice required for our sins. He appeared in heaven FOR US. He appeared so the Father’s anger might be appeased and the just demands of the law would be fulfilled in the death of Jesus. He presented His offering at the true mercy seat so we might stand before God blameless and pure.
B. To open the way
And this brings us to the second reason he appeared in heaven. He appeared in heaven to open the way. In Hebrews 6:20, the author tells us Jesus entered heaven as a forerunner for us. He was the one who prepared the way. His entrance prepared the way for us to enter by His blood. He has entered and so now we too may enter. The door to heaven had been barred by sin but the blood of Jesus Christ opened it for us.
This is why we can have confident access to God through Jesus as Hebrews 4:16 says. “Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” The way into the throne room of God is open to us, not because our goodness, not because we are influential or important but because Jesus has gone before us and shown us we may enter through Him. He has opened the way of access to the Father.
It seems as if the author continues to harp on the same truths again and again (or maybe its just me) but unless you understand this concept of our access before Him then you cannot have the victory over sin that God desires for us. What a privilege to have this access. And it is available when we most need. It is not available only when we are good. It is available through Jesus’ goodness and we can ask for God’s favor when we see how desperately we need it. Come unto the throne of grace boldly because Jesus’ perfect sacrifice has given us this access.
Don’t be doubting but believe God’s promise for you is access into His throne room. The fruit of the Spirit is available to you for the asking. But God doesn’t answer in a vacuum. For He will give you the fruit in the context of its use. God doesn’t make everyone around you easy to love and give you all circumstances in which it is easy to be patient and joyful. He doesn’t make it effortless for you to be good and kind and self-controlled. He will strengthen you in these areas so you will know it is He who has been doing it. When you ask for His joy He shows you how to live it out in the context when the natural person would be despondent or depressed. But this is why Christ has provided the access for us into the throne room. We can come freely as often as we need at all times throughout the day. When we start the battle of the day while still in our beds we can cry out to Him from that moment until we wait to fall asleep at the end of the day.
Please don’t think God makes it easy when we pray. But He will make us victorious. So when you pray don’t think the answer to your prayer is ease. It will be victory but victory through struggle.
III. He Will Appear Again
The final truth we see in this passage is probably one of the most wonderful truths of the Christian faith. He will appear again. In Titus 2, the apostle Paul calls the appearing of our Lord the blessed hope. It is our eager anticipation for the return of the Lord that allows us to revel when we experience difficulties now. This is the blessed hope that quells all our fears for the future.
Verses 27-28 describe for us this second appearance of Christ. “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”
This passage describes two purposes expressed in Christ’s second coming.
A. To complete our salvation
The first purpose of Christ’s coming expressed in this passage is to complete our salvation. Verse 28 says, “He will appear a second time for salvation . . . to those who eagerly await Him.” Now when Christ returns He will complete our salvation. Some may ask, “I thought I already had salvation,” or “I thought I was already saved.” The answer is “Yes and no.” There are really three aspects to our salvation. The first aspect takes place when an individual recognizes their sin, repents and calls out to Jesus Christ to save them. When this takes place a person is saved from the penalty of their sin. The sin upon them is removed and they are given the righteousness of Christ. From then on the curse of condemnation no longer rests upon them. They are free from this condemnation. This aspect of salvation is called justification. It is where the sinner becomes just in the sight of God through the blood of Jesus Christ applied to their account to make it perfectly clean. There is a second aspect of salvation in the progressive victory over the power of sin. This is the growth process of a believer. The believer is told to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. This growth comes by putting off sin, renewing our mind through God’s Word and putting on the provision of the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ. This aspect of salvation proceeds throughout the entire life of a believer while on earth. This second of aspect of salvation is called sanctification. Finally, the last aspect of salvation is when Christ returns and completes our salvation when He gives us glorified bodies like His own. This is called glorification. Philippians 3:20-21 note this. “We eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” At the time of Christ’s return we will be changed and receive new bodies made like His own. And the best part of this John tells us in his first letter is that we shall see Him. This more than anything else should cause us to rejoice in the fact of His coming.
What we should note in this passage is that true salvation is accompanied by true desire. The passage says He will appear for salvation to those who eagerly await Him. If you are not looking forward eagerly to meet the Lord Jesus when He returns, if the thought of seeing Him face to face doesn’t thrill your heart the question you should ask is have I truly been saved? True salvation is accompanied by true desire. There is no salvation to those who refuse to repent and desire Him more than they desire the pleasures of their sin. If Christianity is only something you participate in to advance your own personal cause then you have not understood who and how wonderful God is. A true understanding of God and His love and grace will not cause us to put ourselves forward but to humble ourselves. When we realize there was absolutely nothing in ourselves to cause God to send His Son to die for us and bring us to Himself but that it all bubbled out of His deep love for us then it should cause us kneel before Him in awe. It should raise not our self-esteem but our God esteem. Christianity and true salvation should cause us to exalt God, not self. True Christianity results in our saying, “He must increase, I must decrease.” One day He comes. Are you eagerly awaiting the completion of your salvation(last day)?
B. To give us firm assurance
The second purpose in Christ’s second coming is to give us firm assurance. God wants us to have a strong confidence of our salvation in Christ. How can this be? Every believer in Christ knows when Jesus comes they will be with Him. Paul notes this in 1 Thess. 4. He said we are to encourage one another with these words. When Jesus returns He is not coming in judgment for the believer. This is what the middle of v. 28 means. “So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin.” Without reference to sin means Jesus is not returning in judgment to those He has saved. All our sins have been removed. He will not set us in judgment concerning our sin.
But someone might ask, “What about the judgment seat of Christ? I thought we are going to stand before Him there.” Yes we will. But it is not a judgment concerning our sin. It is a judgment concerning our rewards. Because Jesus placed all our sin upon the cross our condemnation has been removed. It has fallen upon Jesus and there can be no double jeopardy in the law court of heaven. He will not try us again because of our sin that He paid for on the cross. If we have been saved there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and walk not after the flesh but according to the Spirit.
There is a confident assurance of salvation in Christ’s return to everyone who is trusting solely in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. If you have had your sins purged through the blood of the Lamb then when He returns for you it will not be in judgment. Someone who has not believed in Christ’s saving work should be fearful about Christ’s return or even their own death. I can remember before I came to a saving knowledge of Christ as hard as I tried I still had no peace about what would happen to me were I to die. I couldn’t be certain that when I stood before the Holy Judge I would be acquitted. How could I be? I had no basis to understand God’s judgment except some vague wish that He might not cast me into hell.
Christ presented a perfect sacrifice on our behalf so we might have full assurance of our salvation in our service to Him. He wants us to serve Him out of love not fear. I had thought of joining religious service as a youngster so I might have a better chance of getting to heaven. But that is not why I decided to become a pastor today. Once I became a Christian and had my sins forgiven and eternal life with the Father through Jesus I wanted to serve Him with all my heart. It didn’t matter how I served Him for the love of Christ controlled me. I just wanted to serve Him because He saved me and loved me so much. And when God directed my heart toward ministry it wasn’t because I thought I could better earn God’s favor but because I saw how effectively people had ministered to me in this capacity.
I have a full assurance that when Christ returns I shall be with Him not because I am a pastor but because I am trusting in Him and see the evidence of His grace in my life. So Since Christ has been once offered to bear my sins He will appear a second time without reference to my sin as I eagerly await Him.
Can you say the same thing? Have you been saved by His once for all sacrifice? Are you trusting only in this? Is all your hope fixed on Him as you eagerly await His return? If you are not then His call to you is the same as it has been for 2000 years. Come. All who come to Me I will in no way cast out.
What about you who say you believe? Are you eagerly awaiting His arrival? Jesus said there will be those who are like an evil slave. They claim to be a servant of Christ. But Jesus said, “The evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites.”
There are those who claim to be Jesus’ servants but their evil heart has never been changed. They make a pretense of serving the master but when things drag on and become dull and dreary they leave off their pretense and begin to act like their nature was all along. The problem with these people is they were never changed to begin with. They never experienced a change of heart but simply went along with the game perhaps even deceiving their own hearts. But these do not continue because they were not changed. If you have been a professor of Christianity but not a possessor of it then you too can come to be saved from your sin.
But to each believer who loves the Lord and looks forward to His perhaps soon return, you can look with confidence to that day when He will return and bring you to be with Himself. John tells us this in his first letter. “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence . . . at His coming.” Let the thought of Christ’s return cause us to look with anticipation to that day and cause us to purify ourselves even as He is pure.