The Finality of the Consummation Text: Hebrews 9:23-28
Introduction: Shadows and Reality
The book of Hebrews is written to a group of Christians who were feeling the immense gravitational pull of their old way of life. The temple in Jerusalem was still standing, the priests were still offering sacrifices, and the smell of incense still hung in the air. It was tangible, visible, and impressive. In contrast, the Christian faith seemed, to the flesh, somewhat insubstantial. It consisted of a crucified and ascended Lord, a spiritual kingdom, and a promise of future glory. The temptation for these Hebrew Christians was to retreat, to go back to the shadows because the shadows were solid and could be touched.
The author of Hebrews confronts this temptation head-on by demonstrating, chapter after chapter, the absolute superiority of Christ over every aspect of the old covenant. Christ is a better messenger than the angels, a better leader than Moses, a better rest than Canaan, and a better priest than Aaron. And here, in our text, we see that He offered a better sacrifice in a better sanctuary. The entire Levitical system, with its tabernacle and rituals, was a magnificent object lesson. It was a divinely-ordained copy, a blueprint of a heavenly reality. But it was never the reality itself. To prefer the blueprint over the building is the height of folly. To prefer the shadow over the man is to live in a world of ghosts.
Our passage today drives home the finality, sufficiency, and singularity of Christ's work. The world is awash in religions that are based on repetition, on endless cycles of appeasement. Man knows he is guilty, and so he invents treadmills of ritual to try and work it off. But the gospel declares that the work is finished. The sacrifice has been made, once for all time. This is not just a quantitative difference, it is a qualitative one. It is the difference between a leaky bucket and a fountain of living water. The old system was designed by God to show its own inadequacy, to create a hunger that only Christ could fill.
This passage is about the great exchange of the ages: the earthly for the heavenly, the copy for the reality, the repeated for the once-for-all, the shadow for the substance. It establishes the absolute finality of Christ's work and the certain reality of our future.
The Text
Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter holy places made with hands, mere copies of the true ones, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy places year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
(Hebrews 9:23-28 LSB)
Copies and Heavenly Realities (v. 23-24)
The writer begins by drawing a sharp contrast between the earthly tabernacle and the heavenly one.
"Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter holy places made with hands, mere copies of the true ones, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;" (Hebrews 9:23-24)
The logic here is straightforward. The earthly tabernacle was a "copy" of the heavenly reality. Moses was explicitly told to make it according to the pattern shown to him on the mountain (Ex. 25:40). Because it was a place where sinful men would interact with the symbols of God's presence, it had to be ceremonially cleansed. This was done with the blood of bulls and goats, "with these." The blood of animals was sufficient to cleanse the copy.
But this points to a greater necessity. If the copy required cleansing, how much more the heavenly reality itself? Now, we must be careful here. This does not mean that heaven was somehow stained with sin. Rather, it means that for sinful man to have access to that heavenly sanctuary, for the way to be opened into the very presence of God, a sacrifice of infinitely greater value was required. The blood of bulls and goats could never open heaven; it could only cleanse the furniture in the earthly scale model. To open the way into the throne room of the universe required a "better sacrifice."
Verse 24 makes the contrast explicit. Christ did not enter a building made by human hands. The Holy of Holies in the temple was a magnificent room, but it was still just a room. It was a shadow, a type. Christ walked straight past the copy and entered "into heaven itself." He did not go into the map; He went to the location. And what is He doing there? He is there "to appear in the presence of God for us." He is our representative, our advocate, our high priest standing before the Father on our behalf. His presence there is the bedrock of our assurance. We have a man, our kinsman-redeemer, in the control room of the cosmos, and He is there for us.
The Once-for-All Sacrifice (v. 25-26)
The superiority of Christ's work is seen not only in where He offered it, but in how often He offered it, which is to say, once.
"nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy places year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." (Hebrews 9:25-26 LSB)
The old covenant was a system of repetition. The high priest had to go into the Holy of Holies every year on the Day of Atonement. This annual repetition was a built-in reminder of its own inadequacy. The sacrifice never truly and finally dealt with sin; it only covered it for another year. It was like a subscription service for forgiveness that had to be constantly renewed. But Christ's offering was not like this. He did not offer Himself repeatedly.
The author's logic is devastating. If Christ's sacrifice operated on the same principle as the Levitical ones, then He would have had to suffer and die repeatedly, over and over again, "since the foundation of the world." Every time a sin was committed, another crucifixion would be necessary. This is an absurdity, and it highlights the infinite, eternal efficacy of Christ's one-time death.
Instead, we are told that "now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested." The first coming of Christ was the pivotal moment of all history. It was the "consummation of the ages," the point toward which all the Old Testament shadows were flowing. All the previous ages were preparatory. With the coming of Christ, the final age has dawned. And in this final age, Christ appeared once to do what no other sacrifice could ever do: "to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." He did not just cover sin, or temporarily atone for it. He put it away. He annihilated its legal claim. He disarmed it. When God looks at those who are in Christ, the sin is gone. It has been dealt with, finally and forever.
The Divine Appointment (v. 27-28)
The final verses draw a powerful analogy between the universal human experience of death and judgment and the singular work of Christ.
"And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him." (Hebrews 9:27-28 LSB)
Here we have a fixed, divine principle. It is "appointed" for men to die once. Death is not an accident; it is an appointment we all must keep. And it is not the end. After death comes judgment. There is a final accounting for every human life. This is a universal law, as certain as gravity. There are no do-overs, no second chances, no reincarnations. One life, one death, one judgment.
The writer then says, "so Christ also." The structure is a direct parallel. Just as man's destiny is a "once, and then...", so is Christ's work. He was offered "once to bear the sins of many." He stepped into our place, and at His first coming, He took our appointment with the judgment of God upon Himself. He bore our sins in His body on the tree. He died our death. He faced our judgment. It was a one-time event with eternal consequences.
Because He dealt with sin completely at His first coming, His second coming will have an entirely different purpose. He "will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin." When He returns, it will not be to make another sacrifice for sin. That work is finished. The sin question has been settled for His people. He will come back not to deal with their guilt, but to bring their salvation to its final consummation. This is the glorification of our bodies, the resurrection of the dead, and the ushering in of the new heavens and the new earth in their fullness.
And for whom does He appear? "To those who eagerly await Him." This is the posture of the Christian. We are not those who dread the future, who fear the end of the world. We are those who are eagerly, expectantly, joyfully waiting for the return of our King. Our hearts should long for His appearing. This eager expectation is the fruit of a conscience cleansed by His once-for-all sacrifice. We can look forward to the judgment day with confidence, not because of our own righteousness, but because our High Priest has already appeared in the presence of God for us, having put away our sin forever.
Conclusion: Living in the Consummation
What does this mean for us? It means we are to live in the reality that Christ has accomplished, not in the shadows. The old system is obsolete. The sacrifices have ceased because the Sacrifice has been offered. The temple is gone because our High Priest has entered the true Holy of Holies.
This truth liberates us from the endless cycle of religious performance. We do not have to offer God our own pathetic sacrifices to appease Him. We do not have to wonder if we have done enough. Christ has done enough. His work is perfect, complete, and final. Our task is not to repeat His work, but to rest in it through faith.
Because Christ's sacrifice was once for all, our forgiveness is once for all. When God forgives you in Christ, He does not put you on probation. He does not forgive you with His fingers crossed. He puts your sin away, as far as the east is from the west. This should produce in us a profound sense of security and a deep well of gratitude.
And finally, it gives us a certain and glorious hope. We have an appointment with death, it is true. But because of Christ, we do not have an appointment with condemnation. Our judgment day occurred 2,000 years ago at a place called Golgotha. And so we can, and we must, eagerly await His return. He is not coming back to deal with our sin, but to complete our salvation. This is the blessed hope, the anchor for our souls, firm and secure, because it is fixed in the finished work of Jesus Christ, our great High Priest.