(1) “Now once in the end of the world has He APPEARED to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26).
(2) “Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands … but into heaven itself, now to APPEAR in the presence of God for us” (Hebrews 9:24).
(3) “Unto them that look for Him shall He APPEAR the second time without sin to salvation” (Hebrews 9:28).
The greatest events that have ever taken place are the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
On these events hang vast and everlasting consequences. No salvation can come to any of Adam’s race save as the direct results thereof. Heaven would be bereft of the multitude that no man can number, and could never be vocal with the mighty anthem of the redeemed, were it not for what Christ accomplished when He died for sinners.
Christ’s first appearing, then, was in view of His death on the Cross. It is said to have taken place in “the end of the world,” or, more properly, “in the consummation of the ages.” Man had been tested in various ways. Age succeeded age till the hour for the final testing arrived. The Son of God came into the world, and man’s hatred against Him showed itself in fearful antagonism. Thus ended the day of probation for man, and in “the consummation of the ages” God declared Himself, full of pity and patience, a God of infinite resource and power. The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, man’s crowning act of wickedness, was thus turned into an occasion by God for the unfolding of His love. The work done by the Holy Sufferer on the Cross satisfied the claims of His righteousness, and enabled Him to freely forgive sinners of deepest dye.
Christ’s second appearing—in the presence of God for believers—is consequent on the first. If His work upon the Cross had failed in the smallest degree, He could not have been our representative in the presence of God. But in virtue of the full and glorious success of His work on the Cross, He represents each believer on high.
Now representation implies maintenance. An ambassador at a foreign court represents his sovereign, and maintains relations between the countries. When relations are no longer maintained representation ceases. When war is to be declared the ambassador is recalled.
What peace and rest it is to the believer’s heart to think of the high honour of having such a Representative at the court of the Majesty on high. Christ is appearing in the presence of God for us!
Are we weak and beset with infirmities? Are we filled with dismal forebodings? Let us remember our great High Priest, ever ready to sympathize, to succour, and to save. Have we, alas! committed sin? He is our Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous. He is righteously our Advocate, because He has settled once and for ever the whole question of our sins. It is on the basis of His first appearing that He maintains us. Nothing can break down His representation, nor upset His maintenance of relations.
Observe, He is our Advocate with the Father, and His service in this connection is in view of our communion, when broken by sin. He exercises His advocacy that we may be brought to judge and confess our sin in the light of His grace, and of the Cross where it was put away. Thus the communion that befits the relationship in which we stand is restored.
To believe that the sin of a true believer can break down the representation of Christ on high on his behalf exhibits the gravest ignorance. For if ever this representation broke down it would be equal to saying that the work on the Cross had failed. If His representation depended in ever so small a measure on our conduct it would immediately cease, for our conduct is far from perfect. How sweet to turn away from self to Christ, the perfect One. His work is perfect, therefore His representation abides for all His people.
Christ’s third appearing will be at His coming in glory. We are in this world as strangers and pilgrims. Generations of the Lord’s people have fallen asleep since Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. But the bodies of the saints in the graves are precious to the Lord. They have been redeemed by Him in virtue of His work on the Cross, and the hour draws nigh when He will complete the story of salvation by raising them and giving them a fashion like His own. We, too, who are alive and remain till the Lord’s coming shall have our bodies of humiliation changed like to His body of glory, and we shall be caught up, with the raised saints, to be for ever with the Lord.
In Hebrews 9:28 we read, “He shall appear the second time without sin,” that is, apart from the question of sin. Why does He not raise the question of sin at His second coming? Because He settled it at His first. To raise this question again would mean certain doom for us, for Christ will suffer and die no more.
Moreover, His coming again for His saints emphasizes the full value of the work done at His first appearing. So fully has He settled the question of sin for the believer at the Cross that it can never be reopened. So completely has every requirement been met that at any moment the believer may be translated from a scene of infirmity and sorrow, delivered from a body of humiliation, into a realm of perfection and glory.
Our acceptance in Christ is complete. Righteousness forbids that sin should ever be imputed in the smallest degree.
The sense of all this, the knowledge of our standing in grace, will only work in us carefulness of walk, and beget in us a deep desire to be pleasing in our ways to Him who, by His death, has made us for ever fit for God’s presence, and will one day transfer us there “in the twinkling of an eye.”
We believe that time is very near. Everything bespeaks the imminence of the Lord’s return. The knowledge of what His first appearing has effected, and His second appearing is maintaining, will enable us, without a particle of distrust or fear, to wait for His future appearing.
The three appearings remind us of a telescope. One follows the other, and all are mutually dependent on each other, as each part of a telescope draws out and is dependent on each other part.
May the Lord increase our true knowledge of His work and its consequences, and thus draw us in deeper affection to Himself, and give us to be more constant and earnest in watching for Him.