Jesus existed in eternity past in loving fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Becoming obedient even to the point of his death on the cross, Jesus humbled himself and although he was sinless, took upon his being the sin of all mankind and offered himself as a sacrifice on our behalf. He left the Father’s side and was born into this world and lived, suffered, and died on the cross. He then rose from the dead and ascended back into heaven to resume his place beside the Father. He did this once and for all. There will be no repeat of such a sacrifice. Hebrews 9:25-26 says, “Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
Things in the physical realm are subject to passing time and change. Everything experiences a beginning, growth, decay and an ending. Ecclesiastes makes it clear that in the physical realm it is all about time and change. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 explains the various times and seasons in this physical realm with respect to our lives. “There is a time for every purpose under heaven.” It’s specifically addressing “under” heaven, not “in” heaven. Heaven is the realm above time from which Jesus came. He breached the barrier between time and eternity and accomplished something in time that he carried back to eternity for all believers. “There is a time to be born and a time to die.” The writer of Hebrews will mention this truth later in chapter nine when he reminds us all that “it has been appointed for man once to die” followed by the judgement.
In the physical realm things are changing all the time. “There is a time to plant and a time to harvest. There is a time to laugh and a time to cry. There is a time to embrace and time not to embrace.” These changes only happen in the physical realm. Things in heaven are permanent. Thus in the earthly tabernacle sacrifices have to offered over and over again, year after year, and even day by day. But once accomplished in the spiritual realm that satisfies eternity! It never needs to be offered again because once accomplished, it’s accomplished! God has made it so and God has promised to keep it so. Thus, Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf, taken to God in the heavenly sanctuary, suffices for all eternity and keeps us, secures us and maintains our position with God in heaven. Guzik explains, “Imperfect sacrifices must be repeated continually, but a perfect sacrifice can be made once for all time, and genuinely put away sin (not just cover sin, as with sacrifice under the Old Covenant). The message is clear: He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”[1]
[1] David Guzik, Hebrews, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Heb 9:23–28.