If Christ’s Work Is Finished, What Are We Still Waiting For?

Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Yet Christians still wait for him to return. We still bury people we love. We still look forward to the day when the dead will be raised.

How can Christ’s work be finished when so much is still ahead? Hebrews helps us answer that question.

One sacrifice for sins

Hebrews 10:11–14 asks us to notice the difference between a priest who stands and a priest who sits.

Under the old covenant, the priests stood day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again. Hebrews says those sacrifices could never take away sins. Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins for all time and sat down at God’s right hand.

His sitting down tells us that his offering was complete. A few verses later, Hebrews draws the conclusion. Where sins have been forgiven, there is no longer an offering for sin (Hebrews 10:18).

The same letter says Jesus lives to intercede for those who come to God through him (Hebrews 7:25). Our priest is still at work on our behalf. The sacrifice that gives us access to God has already been offered.

What about sacrifices in a future temple?

Some readers understand Ezekiel 40–48 to describe a future temple with animal sacrifices. Some who hold that view say those sacrifices would serve as memorials of Christ’s death. They agree that only Christ’s sacrifice can take away sins.

That distinction matters. Hebrews settles the question of what can take away sins. The question about a future temple also requires us to read Ezekiel carefully. In Ezekiel 45:15–17, the offerings are described as making atonement. If we understand them as memorials in a future temple, what in the passage or in the New Testament points us to that reading?

The New Testament does give Christians a way to remember Christ’s death. When we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:23–26). And when Hebrews tells us how to approach God, it directs us to Jesus. We draw near because he has opened the way through his own blood (Hebrews 10:19–22).

The King reigns while we wait

Peter told the crowd at Pentecost that God had raised Jesus and exalted him to his right hand (Acts 2:32–36). Paul explains what happens during that reign. Christ must reign until all his enemies are put under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death (1 Corinthians 15:24–26).

Think about the order. Jesus reigns while his enemies are still present. When we stand beside a grave, we see that the last enemy is still here. Paul says that enemy will be destroyed.

What are we still waiting for?

Hebrews 9:28 puts Christ’s sacrifice and his return in the same verse. He was offered once to bear the sins of many. He will appear a second time to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

We already have forgiveness and access to God through Christ. We are still waiting for him to return, for the dead to be raised, and for death itself to be destroyed. The Bible also looks ahead to judgment and to a new creation where God will dwell with his people (Revelation 20:11–15; 21:1–5).

Jesus has already offered the one sacrifice for sins. He reigns now and intercedes for us. When he returns, the dead will be raised, and death itself will be destroyed.

The sacrifice that secured our hope is finished. We are still waiting to see all that his victory will bring.

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