“For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Hebrews 10:14 NIV)
My son had a hard time pronouncing “v’s” and “r’s” when he was young. He was in the fourth grade by the time he could say “very” instead of “wehwy.”
At his sixth birthday party all his friends gathered around the kitchen table when it was time for him to blow out the candles on his cake. Uncontainable joy spread across Paul’s face in one huge smile as he listened to his friends and family sing “Happy Birthday.” Still standing on his chair after he blew out his candles, he let out a deep and satisfied sigh as he surveyed the gathering of his friends. He reflexively cupped both hands over his heart and happily declared, “Puhfect, puhfect, puhfect! Jus PUHFECT, eheybody!”
Perfection is a recurring theme in the Bible. An animal had to be perfect, that is, without any defect, spot, or blemish before it could be offered as a sacrifice (Ex. 12:5; Lev. 1:3, 10). A house had to be perfectly clean of all leaven before Passover could be held in it (Ex. 12:15). And, a person has to be perfect before he can enter heaven (Mt. 5:20, 48). Just being good isn’t good enough.
This is why God sent Jesus to us – to make us perfect. We weren’t good enough. In fact, we all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Rm. 3:23). In order to be made perfect we needed a perfect sacrifice.
Jesus was born of a virgin so he could be fully human, yet without the sin nature passed down from Adam through human fathers (Rm. 5:12-14). He had to go through every type of temptation humans go through and yet remain sinless (Hb. 4:15). And, Jesus had to endure the suffering that is part of the human condition as a result of sin, yet remain sinless (Hb. 2:10). Finally, He had to offer Himself up as a perfect sacrifice to atone for our sin, so we could inherit His perfection before God (Ph. 2:6-8; Hb. 10:5-10).
Jesus perfectly fulfilled all that was necessary for us to be considered perfect in God’s sight (2Cor. 5:21; Eph. 1:4). So, as we approach the celebration of Jesus’ birthday, let us look to Him with deep and joyful satisfaction. Let’s cup our hands over our hearts and happily declare, “Puhfect, puhfect, puhfect! Jus PUHFECT, eheybody!”