Christ Died Once for All

FROM A HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE this epistle appears to have been written to the church during a transition period in the first century. At the time Jewish believers had great difficulty as a whole in accepting that following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to Cornelius and his household, Gentiles could have access to the Abrahamic promises. “The Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit.”—Acts 10:44-48

“Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”—Heb. 9:11-14

As the apostle to the Gentiles, Paul understood clearly the philosophy of Christian suffering that thereby we “fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ.” (Col. 1:24) Out of the suffering and death of Jesus come the blessings of lasting life for both the church and the world. Those who die with him and suffer with him are, in the divine arrangement, contributing to the lasting welfare of others—to the church now as we lay down our lives for the brethren, and to the world by and by, in the Messianic kingdom on earth.—Matt. 6:10

Additionally, with great clarity the Scriptures affirm the efficacy of how the sacrificial death of Christ through the shedding of his blood will be applied during God’s kingdom to remove the original sin of Adam through his disobedience in Eden.—Heb. 9:22,23

Our Key Verse asserts that Christ died once for all. Those who are presently his disciples, if faithful, have the hope of a heavenly reward. All others will be given an opportunity to gain earthly life through obedience and internalizing the principles of righteousness in the coming age.

God has a special place in his plan for those who live unto him at the present time. They become Spirit begotten New Creatures to whom is given the ministry of reconciliation. (II Cor. 5:17-20) The shed blood of Christ is the basis of reconciliation, and it is our privilege to point men to this as the only way which leads to life. This is to be the great work of the future when Christ’s kingdom is in operation, and when the saints are reigning with him. (Rev. 20:6) However, we are to do what we can now. Our sacrificial efforts now are training us for the larger opportunities later. Our worthiness of sharing in the great work of tomorrow is dependent upon our loving interest in our fellow men today.