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high priest of the good things

Hebrews 9:11-28 (JDV)

Hebrews 9:11 But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation),
Hebrews 9:12 he entered the most sacred place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained permanent redemption.
Hebrews 9:13 You see, if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, purifying those who are defiled, make sacred for the purification of the flesh,
Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the permanent Breath offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?
Hebrews 9:15 That is why he is the mediator of a new covenant so that those who are called might receive the promise of the permanent inheritance because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Hebrews 9:16 Where a will exists, the death of the one who made it must be established.
Hebrews 9:17 You see, a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in effect while the one who made it is living.
Hebrews 9:18 That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood.
Hebrews 9:19 You see, when every command had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and purified the scroll itself and all the people,
Hebrews 9:20 saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded to you.
Hebrews 9:21 Similarly, he purified the tabernacle and all the articles of worship with blood.
Hebrews 9:22 According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews 9:23 Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the things in the sky to be purified with these sacrifices, but the sky things themselves to be purified with better sacrifices than these.
Hebrews 9:24 You see, Christ did not enter a sacred place made with hands (only a model of the true one) but into the sky itself, so that he might now appear in the presence of God for us.
Hebrews 9:25 He did not do this to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the sacred place yearly with the blood of another.
Hebrews 9:26 Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the universe. But now he has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of failure by the sacrifice of himself.
Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for humans to die once but judgment will come after this,
Hebrews 9:28 in the same way also Christ, having been offered once to bear the failures of many, will appear a second time, not to bear failure, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

high priest of the good things

The image of Christ’s birth as the opening act of a three‑act drama captures the movement of redemption with clarity. The incarnation was not an isolated miracle but the beginning of a story that stretches from Bethlehem to Calvary and finally to the clouds of heaven. Hebrews 9:28 gathers the final two acts into a single sweeping statement: Christ appeared once to bear the sins of many, and he will appear again to bring salvation in its fullness. The cross and the second coming stand together as the two pillars on which the believer’s destiny rests.

The second act—Christ’s sacrificial death—was the decisive moment in which he carried the failures, guilt, and rebellion of humanity. His offering was once for all, never to be repeated, because it accomplished what no other sacrifice could. It removed sin at its root, satisfied divine justice, and opened the way for reconciliation. Everything that follows in the Christian life flows from that finished work. The resurrection that followed was not temporary, symbolic, or partial. It was permanent. Death no longer had any claim on him, and because his resurrection life is permanent, the removal of sin for those who trust him is also permanent. Nothing can undo what his blood has secured.

The third act—his return—will reveal the full effect of what the cross accomplished. The resurrection and glorification of believers are guaranteed because they are tied to the resurrection of Christ himself. What happened to him will happen to those who belong to him. The temporary, fragile existence of the present age will give way to a life that shares the permanence of his own risen life. Salvation will not merely be forgiveness experienced in the conscience but transformation experienced in the body. The high priest who bore sin will return as the king who perfects his people.

This permanence is one of the great treasures secured by Christ’s priestly work. The old covenant could offer cleansing that faded, sacrifices that needed repeating, and rituals that never reached the heart. Christ offers a salvation that endures, a life that cannot be corrupted, and a future that cannot be lost. The believer’s hope rests not on shifting circumstances but on the unchanging priest who has already completed the work of atonement and will one day complete the work of redemption.

The story has begun, the decisive act has been accomplished, and the final act is certain. The permanence of Christ’s resurrection guarantees the permanence of the salvation he gives.