Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 306 · November 2
Once to Die
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
In London, at the end of February 1631, a man who had been very ill got up to preach at Whitehall, in front of the king. The preacher was John Donne, and his subject that day was death. His friend and first biographer, Izaak Walton, records that people who heard him said afterwards that he had preached his own funeral sermon. He died about a month later.
Most of us do not think about our own death steadily. The thought comes for a few minutes after a funeral, perhaps in the car with the heater running, and we hold it for the drive home and then put it down. Today's verse says it plainly: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." The Greek word behind "appointed" means laid up or set aside, and it is the same word Paul uses for the crown that is "laid up for me." It is a calm, flat word with no drama in it, and that is why it settles the matter.
The verse is only the first half of a comparison, and the second half is the reason it is there: "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." The word that matters most is "once." Hebrews is arguing against a sacrifice made over and over: "Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others." Every person dies once, and in the same way Christ was offered once, and His one offering was enough.
The promise comes at the end of that same sentence: "unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Keep hold of the words "without sin." When Christ comes again, He does not come to deal with sin a second time, because His one offering has already dealt with it. If you are looking for Him, His return will not be about your record. It will be about your salvation. Hebrews puts it in this order: we die once, Christ was offered once, and He will appear a second time to bring salvation to everyone who is waiting for Him.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 306 is Mercy in the Heavens (Psalm 36:5).