Christ Our Mediator

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever sat at a lawyer’s desk, signing a will? Maybe you’ve never thought about it—but you will. It’s one of the most serious documents you’ll ever put your name on. A will doesn’t go into effect when it’s written… it only becomes binding when someone dies.

Now imagine this: what if the person who wrote the will had to die in order for you to live?

That’s exactly what the writer of Hebrews wants us to see. Jesus Christ did not merely come to give you a better religious system. He came to bring you into a New Covenant—a binding relationship with God that gives you a new heart, a new identity, a new inheritance, and eternal life.

But here's the reality: covenants aren't sealed with ink; they’re sealed with blood. And this covenant—the new one, the better one, the one that secures eternal redemption—required the blood of the Son of God.

You see, Jesus is more than a teacher. More than an example. More than a moral guide.

He is the Mediator, the Representative, the Sacrifice, and the Guarantee of the New Covenant. And until blood was shed—His blood—you and I could never hope to stand rightly before a holy God.

So the question today is not just, “Do I go to church?” or “Am I trying to be good?” The question is: Am I in the covenant? Because only those under the blood receive the blessings of the covenant.

Let’s open God’s Word and see what it cost to make you part of God’s eternal plan.

**Alternate**

Civil War Substitutes

Hebrews 9:15–22 ESV

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

BIG IDEA: Christ serves as the REPRESENTATIVE of the new covenant, securing our RECEPTION of covenant blessings, by satisfying God’s REQUIREMENT.

What is the new covenant? If there’s a “new” one, there must be an “old” one, right?

If you were here a couple of weeks ago, you’ll remember that Joseph opened up this whole topic that the writer of Hebrews introduces us to comparing the Old Covenant—under Moses—and the newer, greater, more eternal covenant under Jesus.

Covenant—a binding relationship between YHWH and His people. Includes four factors—parties (who is involved), conditions (what is involved), results (blessings), security (or, how does is this “binding”?) (signified by the sacrifice of an animal).

Mediator

The Old Covenant

Law/Works

Condemnation

Go through list of laws & penalties

Faulty

Moses as mediator

The New

Grace

Salvation

Faulty

Christ serves as the representative of the new covenant.

“Therefore, He is the mediator of the new covenant…”

“Therefore…”

Hebrews Exegesis

Since Jesus entered God’s presence and cleansed the conscience through his blood, he is the mediator of a new covenant (cf. also 12:24).

A mediator is one who stands between God and others—not to negotiate or compromise, but to approach God on their behalf and faithfully deliver His truth and assurance with divine authority.

Our salvation depends on the pleasure God takes in our mediator. That is to say, our salvation rests on the delight that God takes in the person of his Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Philip Graham Ryken; R. Kent Hughes

Jesus has perfectly lived out the law’s demands (sinlessness) and has, therefore, fulfilled the old covenant. He institutes a new covenant between God and man—one that is a result of His perfect obedience in the place of sinners.

Christ (the mediator) secures our reception of covenant blessings.

“…so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance…”

A) “…those who are called…”

We are paupers

How do you enter into the covenant of salvation? By God’s grace.

The old covenant—physical birth

The new covenant—spiritual birth

B) “…may receive the promised eternal inheritance…”

Promised (certainty)

Grace // impossible for God to lie

Eternal (quality)

The Message of Hebrews c. The Generous Bequest

It cannot waste away or be taken away. It is not exposed to the ravages of time. Hebrews was written to Christians on the verge of persecution and suffering. But, although their opponents rob them of earthly possessions and even physical life, their heavenly inheritance and eternal life were alike imperishable. Their treasures had not been laid up in the banks and repositories of the Roman world, but in the place where Jesus had told them to deposit their true riches, in heaven itself.

Inheritance (content)

All of the covenant blessings

Forgiveness of sins (full pardon)

Adoption as a child of God

Co-Heir with Christ

Resurrection of the dead

“spiritual blessings in heavenly places”

Only “in Christ”

Christ (the mediator) satisfies God’s requirement.

(vs. 16-22)

“…since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”

**Security**

His death accomplishes two things—forgiveness of sin & securing of the covenant

Hebrews 9:16–22 “For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

For freedom from condemnation, there had to be a death.

For a covenant to be ratified, there had to be a death.

For an inheritance to be gained, there had to be a death.

ALL THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST OUR MEDIATOR.

CLOSING

Recently, I’ve been reading a book by John Grisham called “Sycamore Row.”

It’s about a wealthy man named Seth Hubbard, dying of cancer, writes a handwritten will just before taking his own life. He disinherits his children and leaves almost his entire multi-million dollar estate to his black housekeeper, Lettie Lang.

No one sees it coming. The family is furious. Lawyers are puzzled. Why would a white man in 1980s Mississippi—who barely spoke to anyone—leave everything to someone society would have overlooked? What prompted such a radical reversal?

As the story unfolds, we discover why: decades earlier, Lettie's ancestors had been brutally wronged by Seth’s family. Her people had worked that very land—land they were cheated out of, land soaked in injustice. In a final act of repentance and justice, Seth uses his death to set things right. His will reveals his heart—and it opens the door for someone unexpected to receive an undeserved inheritance.

Hebrews tells us that Christ is the Mediator of a New Covenant—a covenant established by His death, just like Seth Hubbard’s will took effect after his death.

“...so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them...” (Hebrews 9:15)

Like Lettie Lang, we had no claim. We were outsiders. Sinners. Unclean. Yet through Christ’s sacrificial death, a new will—a new covenant—was enacted. It didn’t come through negotiation or fairness, but through grace and blood.

“Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” (v. 22)

The Cross is the place where the New Covenant was signed—not with ink, but with Christ’s blood. And through that death, an inheritance has been secured for the most unlikely heirs—us.

Just as Lettie was stunned to discover she was the main beneficiary of a wealthy man's will, we should stand in awe that we—once enemies, outsiders, rebels—are now heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). Not because of what we’ve done, but because of what Jesus did in His death.

"This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28)

So rejoice, believer—you are included in the New Covenant. Christ died not just to forgive your sin but to make you a full recipient of God's eternal inheritance.

"We are Lettie Lang. Undeserving. Unlikely. Overlooked by the world—but not by Christ. He died to include us in His eternal inheritance. Let the wonder of that grace fill your heart with gratitude, your lips with praise, and your life with obedience."