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For God so loved the world, that He gave
His only begotten Son.
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How did God give His only begotten Son? How
much did He love the world?
In observance of their Law, the Jews continued to
shed the blood of an animal each time they offered
a sacrifice to God. Jesus, however, fulfilled
the whole of the Law as He offered His own body
as the eternal sacrificial offering.
| But this man, because He continueth ever,
hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Wherefore He is able also to save them to
the uttermost that come unto God by Him,
seeing He ever liveth to make intercession
for them. (Hebrews 7:24-25)
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It says here that "He ever liveth." Even now, Jesus
is at the right hand of God, making intercession
for our sin. We can always confess before the Lord
the sins that stain our lives from day to day, and
God has promised us through the Holy Spirit that
this is all we need to do. The Jews offered sacrifices
continually, changing their priests time and again,
but now Jesus, the eternal high priest, has dealt with
our sins by offering Himself once for all. All we
have to do is believe this fact.
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Nor yet that He should offer Himself often,
as the high priest entereth into the holy
place every year with blood of others; For
then must He often have suffered since the
foundation of the world: but now once in
the end of the world hath He appeared to
put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
(Hebrews 9:25-26)
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If the sacrifice of Jesus had been like that offered
annually by the high priests, He would have had to
die often, but this wasn't the case. In the Bible it
says that He appeared as God foretold in the prophets
"in these last days" (See Hebrews 1:1-2) or, as it
says in the verse above, "in the end of the world."
What is meant by "these last days," or "in the end
of the world"? It's the time when Jesus appeared.
Let's consider this matter in terms of BC and AD.
For us living at the present time, the period referred
to here as "in the end of the world" actually lies in
the past. People who lived during the period of history
BC believed in the Messiah who was to come,
but we who live in the era AD believe in what the
Messiah accomplished when He came. So people who
lived before Jesus came into the world looked to the
future and believed, while today, we look back and
believe in Christ who died in the past.
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So Christ was once offered to bear the sins
of many; and unto them that look for Him
shall He appear the second time without
sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:28)
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Did Jesus offer His body gradually over a long period
of time, or did He offer Himself once for all? There is
a verse in the Old Testament that says, "I will remove
the iniquity of that land in one day" (Zechariah 3:9).
How many days did it take for sin to enter this world?
It didn't even take one day; sin entered in just a moment
in time, the moment when Adam ate from the
fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In that case, how long will it take for sin to be forgiven?
When Jesus was crucified, did He say, "It is
taking two or three days to finish"? No. On that day,
He took upon Himself the sin of all mankind and
said, "It is finished" (John 19:30).
The Bible says, "So Christ was once offered to bear
the sins of many." Then it also says that "unto them
that look for Him shall He appear the second time
without sin unto salvation." This is a promise that
Jesus will come again later to completely transform
our bodies.
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By which we are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. . . But this man, after He had offered
one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on
the right hand of God. (Hebrews 10:10, 12)
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Did Christ offer a sacrifice for the sins we committed
in the past, or did He offer one sacrifice for sins
for all time?
Oh love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forever more endure,
The saints' and angels' song. 3
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What kind of love is this that endures forever? It
isn't the kind of love that gives salvation and then
takes it away again if we don't listen to what we are
told. It's an eternal, unchanging love.
Glory, glory! Thus I sing
Nothing but the blood of Jesus:
All my praise for this I bring
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 4
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Our sins have been forgiven through the blood that
Jesus shed on the cross, but how far does that forgiveness
go? It's eternal, but where does eternity
begin and where does it end?
3 Frederick M. Lehman (1868-1953),
The Love of God, 1917
4 Robert Lowry (1826-1899),
What Can Wash Away My Sin, 1876
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