When Jesus “took away” our sins, where did He take them?
Jan 14, 2011
The Base for Grace - part twenty-five in a study of the book of Hebrews
By Mike Gaudet
Jesus came to “take away” our sins.
Where did He take them?
“Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:24-28
What did God accomplish on the cross?
Did He send His wrath down?
Or . . .
Did He take our sins up?
The cross is often portrayed as the place where God poured His wrath down upon His Son. This passage suggests otherwise. Not wrath coming down, but sins going up. Jesus came to “take away” sins.
Where did Jesus “take” our sins?
With “the sins of many people” on His shoulders, Jesus “entered heaven itself.” In so doing He was able “to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Jesus was able to “take away” sins “once and for all.”
Jesus’ bodily resurrection is God the Father’s “thumbs up” sign that His Son was indeed able “to do away with sin.” No need for Jesus to “suffer many times.” No need for Him to “offer Himself again and again.”
One sacrifice.
For all sins.
For all time.
People on this planet place their faith in a number of different religious figures. What right does Jesus have to claim to be the only way to God? Jesus promised that He would only “bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” What gives Him the right to make such an exclusive claim?
God furnished proof that Jesus is the only reliable object of faith. “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:31 God certified that Jesus is the only one “worth waiting for” by “raising him from the dead.”
Jesus will “appear a second time” upon the earth. When He does, He will bring something with Him and also leave something behind. He will “bring salvation” with Him. He will leave sin behind. Because Jesus was able to “take away” sin when He came the first time, He will not need to “bear sin” when He comes again.
We are “destined” to “die once” and then, to “face judgment.” Jesus is the one whom God has “appointed” to “judge the world.” When people from every tribe and nation stand before God, Jesus’ face is the face they will see.
Jesus Christ alone stands at the crossroads of eternity.
Those who are “waiting for him” will live forever.