Once And Forever

Hebrews 7: 25

Therefore He is able, once and forever to save completely those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

The writer of Hebrews has just explained to us how Jesus is our priest, not in the order of Aaron, but in the order of Melchizedek. That is why He saves us completely and totally, nothing else will ever need to be added to it, He has finished it all for us. 

Jesus is both the Sacrifice and also the Priest Who offers the Blood of the Sacrifice, as He has entered beyond the veil in the Heavenly Temple (Hebrews 6:19-20).

Hebrews 8: 1-2

The point of what we are saying is this:

All of chapters 6 and 7, about the Law and the Priesthoods.

We do have such a High Priest, Who sat down

Sat down!? Priests never sat down, there were no chairs at all in the Tabernacle or the Temple, their work was never done.

at the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in Heaven, 

So His seat is on the Throne of the Majesty in Heaven. His work is done, it's all finished, and He can now sit down, not like any of the priests in the order of Aaron, who never sat down.

and Who serves in the Sanctuary, the true Tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.

This "true Tabernacle" is the Pattern that God showed Moses at Sinai, telling him to be sure to pay attention to all the details to get them right (Exodus 25:9, 40; Numbers 8:4). Now Jesus, as our High Priest, serves in the Heavenly Temple, His Blood ever fresh, always washing away all our sins. 

At this point in Time, everything that we need for Salvation and Redemption is already finished, ready to be applied to us. When I was born, before I did anything right or wrong, all my sins had already been paid for. But that payment was not applied to my account until that day God revealed to me that Jesus had taken my place by dying the death I deserved on the Cross. That day, the weight of all my sinfulness was taken off my shoulders and placed on Jesus at that moment in Time. All my sinfulness--the sin-nature I inherited from Adam, all the sins I had done in messing up my life, and also all the sins I was yet to commit--all of it was paid off long ago and applied to my account that day. 

Now when I make a mistake, or decide on a foolish plan, or allow myself to dwell on a negative thought about another person; I need to admit to God what I have done, confess it as sin, and accept His forgiveness (I John 1:9). I never need to dwell on my wrongdoings, because God has already cleansed me of all of it. I need only to face what I have done and deal with it, for my own mental health. 

That is also why I need to forgive others when they sin against me, to let it go and let God deal with that person, not try to get them back. I trust God to be just and merciful, to be powerful on our behalf, and to do everything that will ever need to be done for us and against His and our enemies. 

O my Father, thank You so much for Your great love, Your justice, Your mercy and grace, and Your strength and power and authority to accomplish all You have planned. Thank You for Your great wisdom and Your sense of humor, and Your cleverness in all the interesting ways You deal with Your created beings. 

Thank You that You are worthy of all my trust, that I can safely lean on You in my weaknesses, and that You have tenderly carried me and will carry me through all the hard, painful times I face in this World. You have shown Yourself faithful to me and to all who belong to You by creation, by purchase, and by New Birth and Redemption. 

And thank You that all Your plans are continuing to unfold for this Universe. Show me, Father, where You are working, where I can go to join You in Your work, to do my small part in this grand Plan of the Ages, to place my strand of thread in Your great Tapestry of Time.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!