and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him
Hebrews 5:9
When it comes to making repairs on just about anything, I’m a do it once kind of guy. I’d rather spend more money and take longer to do it once and be done with it. Redoing things over and over just drives me nuts.
Recently, we replaced the sliding glass doors on our house. And like my normal way of doing things, I didn’t hold anything back. We bought the best, most expensive ones we could find. They will help keep our house cool in the summer and safe through hurricanes. They can stop flying rubble and not shatter into a bazillion sharp pieces. These windows should last the rest of our lives.
But I can’t say the same things about the screens that came with the nearly indestructible doors. I don’t know how, but one of them already has this hole in it. And the locking handle on the other one broke. The hole is still in the screen, but I did fix the handle. So, I’m one-for-two in the home DIY repair category.
The writer of this letter is telling the Hebrews that God and I have something in common. He likes to do things once. And when it comes to his Son being our great high priest, he won’t have to do it again.
Jesus, God’s Son, has once and for all time been made perfect. Period. There’s no making him perfect again. He came as perfect God and lived as a perfect man. Anything that’s perfect can’t be made any better because it’s already perfect. Also, if it’s really perfect, it will never change either.
But we need to spend a minute on what this word perfect truly means. We really overuse this word to describe just about anything. Just listen to the people around you for a while and the word perfect will pop up all over the place.
Give an order in a restaurant and the server says, “Perfect.”
Answer any question over the phone and they say, “Perfect.”
Give your name to check-in and the person says, “Perfect.”
Drive your car into an oil change station and they say, “Perfect.
Pay with a credit card and the cashier says, “Perfect.”
Pay with cash and that same cashier says, “Perfect.”
To the Hebrews, perfect means something different. Something specific. It has the idea of someone or something reaching the final goal. It’s ultimate purpose. There’s a finish line in mind and it’s reached all the way to the end. It was made to go so far, and it’s reached that goal. Think about these examples.
A door is closed all the way, and you hear the latch click shut.
An antenna was made to be so tall, and it’s up all the way.
A telescope was made to be so long, and it’s pulled all the way out.
The idea behind perfect says that Jesus reached the end. He’s accomplished and fully completed all the things he came to Earth to do. Not one thing was left undone. When he took our place on the cross, he paid for all sin once-and-for-all. Past, present, and future sins were completely taken care of.
Since there was no need for any more sacrifices, he was and still is our perfect great high priest. This is why Jesus’ last words from the cross, “It is finished[1]” are so important.
As the source of our salvation, it’s like he’s the author of the story. He personally is the “cause” of our salvation. His death caused salvation to be made available to all who would believe.
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
John 1:12
Being made clean before God has been totally made available. It’s paid in full and our notice of debt and foreclosure before the court of heaven has been nailed to the cross[2]. Jesus has once-and-for-all made this fully restored relationship with our loving heavenly Father.
We have a role to play though. Yes, it’s available. Yes, it’s totally paid for. Yes, Jesus our great high priest is ready, willing, and able to receive us back. Like any payment, we have to receive it. And what’s the proof of receiving forgiveness? What’s the receipt that we can hold in our hand as proof that it’s really paid for?
Obedience is the result, the proof positive. Not an obedience that’s trying to pay God off or force him to do what we want. But an obedience that wants to please the one who loves us. The one who died for us. The one who’s coming again for us. Obedience is the result, not the cause. It’s the fruit, not the root. It’s the natural, logical response to God’s “once made” kind of salvation. His “once made” kind of relationship.
Noodling Questions
In your own words, define perfect.
Describe a time when you’ve experienced something that was perfect.
Why is it hard for us to think about anything perfect?
[1] John 19:30
[2] Colossians 2:14
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