One perfect offering. One eternal hope.
“For by a single offering he has perfected for all times those who are being sanctified." Hebrews 10:14
People have a built in desire to be free from sin and the things that trouble them. A God consciousness in every person sends people in search of a way to be forgiven for the things they have done wrong. Religions have sprung up everywhere there are people. Through various rituals and sacrifices, festivals and events people seek to appease a god(s), to be free from the burdens they carry, or ward off evil spirits that harass them.
In the Israelite tradition a sacrifice for sin was done by a priest killing an animal and sprinkling blood on the altar. The ugliness of sin was on full display as illustrated by the gory spectacle of blood from the slaughtered animals, the smell of burning flesh and the stench of the unusable parts being carted away for burial outside the camp. Unfortunately, the forgiveness experienced by the sin offering did not last beyond the moment when the sacrifice was made. People immediately fell under the power of sin with the first bad thought, unkind word or selfish act. Imagine being on the way home from the sacrifice and realizing you had just done something offensive to God and you had to carry that burden until the next annual trip to the temple to be forgiven. Under this system it was impossible to be free from sin and live knowing freedom from guilt and shame. Hebrews 10:1 sums this up very well.
"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship."
I encourage you to pause and reflect on the contrasts between Hebrews 10:1 and our captioned verse from Hebrews 10:14. The first verse in Hebrews 10 is full of hopelessness because of a flawed system that did not work to relieve people of their guilt. But, verse 14 states there is one single sacrifice that occurred in the past but it is perfect from then to eternity. The key words that jump out to me are "single offering." One sin offering through the sacrifice of Christ sufficient for all people, for all time and never to be repeated.
Discipleship starts with inviting people to avail themselves of the forgiveness provided by Jesus. It continues in a life of learning what it means to fully appropriate the eternal sacrifice of Jesus into the abundant life he promised for us here and now as well as throughout eternity.
