Hebrews 9:27-28 And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment:… He shall not come the second time to die for our sins as He did the first; this is the genuine sense. When He came to sacrifice for sin, He came in great humility; this low condition was suitable to the work He then undertook. But now He comes as King and Lord to judge the world, and therefore He comes in glory. The end of His coming is to reward, and the reward is salvation, and the parties to be rewarded are such as look for Him. By salvation is meant eternal life and full happiness, which He purchased by His precious blood, and it is so called because man in danger of eternal death shall then be fully delivered from all sin, and all the sad consequences of sin, and that for ever, for then death, man's last enemy, shall be destroyed. Yet this immunity from all evil believers do expect, and because they know they shall not fully enjoy it till Ills second appearance, they look for His coming from heaven, that then their joy may be full. Some think the apostle doth here allude to the order of the Levitical service. The high priest enters the sanctuary to pray and expiate sin, and the people stay without, and wait for his coming out to bless them. So Christ enters heaven, that glorious sanctuary, there appears before God, and stays a while, and all His saints do wait for His return and coming out from thence, that they may by Him be eternally blessed. These lookers for Him are they who shall be rewarded. For though Christ came the first time to die for all, so far as to make their sins remissible, yet lie comes the second time to confer the ultimate benefit of His redemption only upon them that look for Him. To look for Christ from heaven doth presuppose the parties regenerate and renewed from heaven, justified, and in the estate of justification. And this looking for Christ is their hope, with a longing desire, expressed sometimes by groans, and yet a patient waiting God's leisure, out of an assurance that He that shall come will come, and will mot tarry. (G. Lawson.) Parallel Verses KJV: And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:WEB: Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment, |
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