Verse 28 of Hebrews 9 tells us that Christ has been offered once to bear the sins of many (v. 14; 10:12). In the eyes of God, sin is gone and has become history. We should not believe Satan, our feelings, or our failures. They are lies. We must declare that sin was put away by Christ in His first manifestation.
According to 7:27, our High Priest “does not have daily need, as the high priests do, to offer up sacrifices first for his own sins and then for those of the people; for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.” This does not refer to what Christ is doing today but to what He did in the past. This verse assures us that never again need we be bothered by sin, for Christ offered Himself for sins once for all. On the cross He solved the problem of sin once for all. Now on the throne, He is carrying out His priesthood forever.
Christ offered Himself to God for our sins (7:27; 9:14, 26; 10:10, 12). The first thing that our Lord did in His priestly ministry was to offer Himself to God for our sins. He was the real sin offering, the unique sin offering. From the foundation of the world, Christ was the unique sin offering (Rev. 13:8). As such an offering, He offered Himself to God for our sins. Christ offered Himself to God for our sins once for all, and He does not need to do it again. It was accomplished once for all for eternity.
We all must declare and announce the good tidings that the problem of sin has been solved. We should not listen to lies. Even our experience is a lie. Sin is no longer here. We all must declare that sin has been taken away. Christ’s offering of Himself put away sin. Thus, John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” However, many Christians do not realize or believe that sin has been taken away. We should believe that sin has been taken away. Even if we have a failure or defeat, we must tell Satan that we do not believe him and that we believe the holy Word, which says that sin has been taken away. We must forget our experiences and what we are, strongly take the Lord’s word, and declare to the enemy and to the whole universe that sin has been taken away and that sin has nothing to do with us any longer because Christ offered Himself to God to take it away.
Aaron, as the high priest, took care of things pertaining to God on behalf of the people (Heb. 5:1). Christ is superior to him in taking care of the people’s cases before God. Aaron offered both gifts and sacrifices for sins in type for the people and for himself (vv. 1, 3), but Christ offered Himself as the sacrifice for sin in reality.
Verses 4 and 5 say, “No one takes the honor upon himself, but only as he is called by God, just as Aaron also was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself in becoming a High Priest, but it was He who said to Him, ‘You are My Son; this day have I begotten You.’” Christ did not glorify Himself to become a High Priest but was called by God, even as Aaron was.
Aaron did not take honor unto himself but was called and established by God to be the high priest (vv. 4, 1). This is even more true with Christ. He did not glorify Himself to become a High Priest; He was ordained by God in His resurrection, according to the order of Melchizedek (vv. 5-6).
As the High Priest, Christ was glorified through resurrection. In verse 5 the word glorify replaces honor used in the foregoing verse. With the high priest taken from among men, there is only honor, a matter of position. With Christ as the High Priest, there is not only honor but also glory, not only the preciousness of His position but also the splendor of His person.
Verse 5 contains a quotation from Psalm 2:7, saying, “You are My Son; this day have I begotten You.” This refers to Christ’s resurrection (Acts 13:33), which qualifies Him to be our High Priest. For Christ to be our High Priest, He had to partake of our humanity, as mentioned in Hebrews 2:14-18, and enter with this humanity into resurrection. In His humanity He can be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses and be merciful to us (4:15; 2:17). In resurrection, in His divinity He can do everything for us and be faithful to us (7:24-25; 2:17).