Complete Salvation (Heb. 9:27-28)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04-29-03

 

                                                                                                           

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Complete salvation

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Hebrews 9:27, 28

 

            Message of the verse:  “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, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”  (NASB)  “And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died only once as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people.  He will come again but not to deal with our sins again.  This time he will bring salvation to all those who are eagerly waiting for him.”  (NLT)

            There are but a few exceptions to this statement, and that are all of those Jesus Christ raised from physical death while He was upon this earth, for they all died again so that would mean that they died twice.  There are two other exceptions to this that are seen in the OT, where Enoch and Elijah both went to heaven without physically dying, which is a picture of the rapture of the Church where there will be many who are alive at that time will not see physical death.  It might be noted that all of these people mentioned above were born dead spiritually, so in that sense they too died.  In verse 28 the writer says that Jesus Christ died so that all who have excepted His death for them will be saved and the finial part of that salvation will be seen when He returns to take those home with Him to heaven at the rapture of the Church and also at His second coming which takes place at the end of the great tribulation.  In the OT on the Day of Atonement the people eagerly awaited the high priest to come out of the Holy of Holies to show that God had excepted his sacrifice, so it will be when Christ returns from heaven as believers will be assured that God has accepted Christ’s sacrifice for their sins, for salvation will be complete at that time.

 

              Spiritual meaning for my life today:  These verses are the heart and soul of my hope and the hope of all believers of all times for in them they tell about the final aspect of my salvation, which will be given at the second coming of Jesus Christ when He comes for His Church of which, by His grace and mercy I am apart of.  The Lord’s Table is to remind me of the whole of this truth as I think back to the death of Jesus Christ, which paid for my sins, the fact that He is now in heaven as my Great High Priest interceding for me, and that He will come again to receive me unto Himself.

 

The Word of God was very inspirational to me as I read it today, and it also challenged my heart to live for Christ today and everyday.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To trust the Lord, and to live for Him in all that I do today.  To trust Him to work into my life the qualities of courage and compassion, and to work out of my life the undesirable qualities of selfishness and fear.  To trust Christ to be in control of IBS, that affects me in so many ways of my life, physical, mental, and spiritual.