"25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."
Hebrews 9;25-28
There are two points to note here, as the Apostle continues the contrast between the many offerings of the Old Testament priests and the once-for-all offering of Christ. First of all, there is a threefold mention of Christ's appearing - in 26, it is said that once (which means here 'once-for-all') in the end of the world, (i.e. the last days, which were ushered in by His coming) hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. This 'appearing' embraces the thought of both Incarnation and Atonement, which after all are but two aspects of the same movement. Then, in 24, Christ is spoken of appearing in heaven for us, and this surely refers to His Ascension, which is the climactic movement, so to speak, of the drama of redemption which began with Incarnation. Then, in 28, it is said that He shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation - this is the final consummation of all He came to do for us men and for our salvation. The second thing is this: in 28 it speaks of His appearing to them 'that look for Him'. There is a beautiful picture here. Turn back to Luke's gospel, chapter 1:8-22. In the story of Zacharias (v 21) it is said that the people waited for him to come out of the temple. Why? Because the custom of their religious ordinance was that they should wait eagerly for his re-appearing as the sign that sin had been covered and atonement made. Zacharias ought to have come out to proclaim forgiveness to the people. This is what lies behind the Apostle's words 'them that look for Him'. We are in fact in that position now, awaiting the consummation of a great redemption. He will appear without sin - as evidence that sin has forever been dealt with - unto salvation. This is our blessed hope. Well might we wait eagerly for Him! 'Even so, come Lord Jesus'.