For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; (25) not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another——(26) He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages. He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (27) And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, (28) so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

The author of Hebrews is unknown but the epistle was written to Christian Jews who were tempted to revert to Judaism to escape persecution and the first readers of Hebrews were having a hard time letting go of the physical temple and sacrifices. The author is repeating the major themes of the truth of the superiority, supremacy and all sufficiency of Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death for our sins – and the impossibility of salvation by human works or worth. This was a once and for all sacrifice unlike the annual and temporary sacrifice of the Jewish High Priest. Man can do nothing to earn salvation: no penance, personal determination, self denial, good deeds. The Old Testament sacrificial system cannot erase sin. We are to put our trust in Christ.

In verse 27 we are told that we are appointed to die once, then judgment. Death is not a natural process. It is a reality because man sinned and God ordained the penalty for sin is death. It is God’s curse on our sins. God sovereignly appoints our days on earth – it is never an accident when we die. Death is final and we don’t get a second chance to receive Christ. What happens when we die depends on what happens before we die. For when the saved die they go directly into the presence of the Lord. Christ died once to bear our sins but is coming again to finalize our salvation. This second coming will NOT be in reference to sin for the faithful since that issue was completely resolved at His first coming.

At the second coming we will be given our resurrected bodies which never wear out, never suffer injury, never grow old, never get sick and never die. The faithful are going from the land of dying to the land of the living. The background of our verses is the ceremony of the Day of Atonement for the children of Israel. They didn’t have a final forgiveness but one that every year had to be renewed. Religion does not put away sin. Ritual does not save. Liturgy does not save, does not put away sin. Only Christ Jesus has put away sin by sacrificing Himself.