But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.
Hebrews 10:12
When I was younger I eagerly awaited the release of the new versions of all sorts of games and software.
Asteroids Deluxe was more exhilarating than Asterdoids because you had a protective shield. Microsoft Word 6.0 was a significant upgrade from Word 5.5 in terms of efficiency and compatibility. And CDs sounded so much better than cassette tapes.
Of course, now all of this is totally obsolete. I’ve become jaded about all the new upgrades my phone and laptop want to do every other week. We all know that next year there will be a better gaming system, a new way to watch movies, and a better app for music. I got stuck in the vortex of trying to convert all my music into MP3s, but now I’m told I should stream everything on Spotify. I give up.
That’s just the way it is with everything.
Except for the gospel, that is.
The first and last version is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth as a man. He lived a perfect life and willingly sacrificed himself on the cross as a substitute for the sins of anyone who would believe in him. He died and was raised up after three days, ascended back into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God the Father (indicating the sufficiency and completion of his saving work for sinners). Period.
That’s the good news.
There’s nothing more for us to do for our salvation than to accept this in faith. We can’t add anything to what Jesus has done, and we can’t improve upon it one bit. All that we do as believers—worship, repent, sacrifice, pray, serve, love, suffer, give, proclaim—is done as a response to the perfect and complete work of our Savior.
Remind yourself every day of what Christ did for you. He offered himself as one sacrifice for sins for all time. This will stir your passion for him and make you more effective this summer.
And by all means, don’t wait for an upgrade; there is none. Jesus got it right the first time because he’s God—that’s the whole point.
