Death Required

Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. Where a will exists, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in effect while the one who made it is living. That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood.

This is the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

In our passage last week, we saw how Christ entered the Temple in heaven, not with the blood of bulls and goats that were required in the Old Testament law, but with his own blood. It was through this sacrifice that Jesus obtained eternal salvation for his people.

Today, we will see how that sacrificial offering of Jesus, his death

Big Idea: The new covenant required the death of Christ.

Hebrews 9:15

Because Christ's sacrifice is so much better and greater than the ones of the Old Testament, he has been established as the mediator of a new covenant.

1 Timothy 2:5-6

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time.

This is the New Covenant described in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Before quoting this prophecy to show us how it points to Christ, the author of Hebrews says:

Hebrews 8:6

But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established on better promises.

With this new covenant, those who are called, who have submitted their lives to God, will receive the promise of Eternal inheritance, eternity in heaven with the Lord. In the first couple of verses of this prophecy, God says through Jeremiah that his new covenant will not be like the one that he made with Israel when he brought them out of Egypt, the covenant that the Israelites broke by not obeying God.

Jeremiah 31:33-34

“Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.”

This is the new covenant in Christ. This is what Christ has mediated for us in his life, death, and resurrection. His death has paid the redemption price for the sins of man. The author directly relates this to the sins committed under the first covenant. He is speaking specifically to Jews who were very familiar with the Old Covenant law. (Review Day of Atonement again?)

The author mentions that this new covenant provides the promise of an eternal inheritance to those who are submitted to Christ. I think the greatest description of that is found in Romans chapter 8. Last week, I mentioned many of the ministries of the Holy Spirit that are listed in this chapter. But in verse 28, after telling his readers that the Holy Spirit helps people pray when they do not know what to pray, he says this about those who are called:

Romans 8:28

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Note, this verse does not say that God works out everything to be good for those who love God. It says that God works out all things FOR THE GOOD of those who love God. Too often, we want blessings now. We want healing now. We want financial blessings now. We want everything to work out as we want it to be now, in this life, in this moment.

Though God does provide that kind of blessing, that kind of healing, that kind of provision at times, it does not mean that he is required to do that every time for everyone. When it says God works out all things for THE good of his people, it means that the difficult things that you go through in this life are refining you, like purifying gold by melting it under extreme heat, so the impurities can be scraped up or burnt away.

Working things out for OUR good and not just to be good means that the blessings in this life are nothing compared to the blessings of spending eternity with God after this life passes away. If we are too focused on the possible blessings that God could give us in this world, we will start to harden our hearts toward God and the eternal good things he has in store for us because of our disappointment.

In his book Salvation Accomplished by the Son, theologian Robert Peterson sums up this point so well when he says this:

“God will use everything, even present struggles, for the ultimate well-being of his people, those who know and love him, those whom he has effectively summoned to himself in the gospel.”

Robert A. Peterson, in Salvation Accomplished by the Son

In the last bit of this verse, the author says that a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant. I have tried to point out many times as we have worked our way through the book of Hebrews that the law, the Mosaic Covenant, could not save us from sin. It could only show us, like a mirror, how sinful we are. The law points out our unrighteousness by telling us not to do things we want, and telling us to do things we don’t want.

How many of us bristle every time we are told to do something, even if we know it is the right thing to do? How many of us had an older sibling who told you to do something that your parents said you needed to do, but because your sibling was the one who told you to do it, you automatically said, “Nope, not gonna do it!” Or, “If mom and dad tell me to do it, I will.”

That is us every time we see something in the Bible that we don’t like and don't want to do. We may know that God has given the instruction to do something, or not do something, through Scripture (like an older sibling), but then we start to get full of ourselves and think, “If God really wants me to do that, he can come and tell me himself. I won’t do it otherwise.”

That is because the law cannot save us. The law could not redeem us from sin. That is why Jesus came. Paul says in Romans 3:25:

Romans 3:25

God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.

You see, Paul lets us know that until Christ came, not even the sins of the Old Testament believers had actually been redeemed, at least not in an earthly sense. Scripture tells us that Jesus was the lamb who was slaughtered since before the foundations of the world. Since this was the plan all along, and God knows all things and sees all of his plans through from beginning to end without error or change, the sins of Old Testament believers were always going to be atoned for in Christ. It is because of God’s patience, restraint, and his knowledge that he would redeem those who were faithful to him under the first covenant, that he did not strike them down for their sin.

Instead, he showed compassion and fulfilled the entire Old Testament covenant, wiping away the sins of Old Testament believers in the work of Christ.

Hebrews 9:16-17

Where a will exists, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in effect while the one who made it is living.

The author now gets into the legal statutes regarding a person’s death. In our translation that we have today, it talks about a will. This is a type of document that we still have today. It is what directs where someone’s assets will be distributed after they die.

What is interesting, though, is that the word translated in our passage as “will” is the word:

“diatheke” - διαθήκη1. A covenant2. A will

In Hebrews, the word diatheke is used 17 times, but the only time it is translated as “a will” is in these two verses. There is some disagreement among translators and theologians as to whether the Greek in these two verses should be translated as “covenant” or “will.” Personally, I think using the word “will” is fine, as long as we understand how it fits into the covenantal context.

The author says that if someone has a will, you must establish that they have actually died for the will to be enacted. It cannot be put into effect while the person is still alive because it's only enforceable after the person has passed from this life. Have you ever seen someone try to enforce a will before the person had died?

How would it go if you went to your parents and said, “So, can I have my part of the inheritance already?” I know some families where that would start a brawl. Why is that? Because you are telling your parents that you wish they were dead already.

Jesus actually starts out one of his parables with a story like this. It’s the parable of the prodigal son. What makes this parable so remarkable is that it’s about a son who told his father he would rather his dad were dead, he spends all of the money on partying and wild living, finds himself eating with pigs so he doesn't starve to death, finally decides to go back home, and his father runs out to greet him and take him back - even though his son had basically told the father that he wished he was dead. This seems crazy to us because we know that an inheritance, for the most part, is only distributed according to a will AFTER someone has died.

When we look at covenants that are made in the Old Testament, a death of some kind is involved.

Some of the major historical covenants in the OT:

Noahic covenant (Gen 8)

In the Noahic covenant, after the floodwaters had receded, we see God calling Noah and his family out of the ark. God tells them to let the animals out so they can fill the earth. And when Noah comes out of the ark, Genesis 8:20 tells us what he does next.

Genesis 8:20

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

How did God respond to this sacrifice? Let’s look at the next two verses:

Genesis 8:21-22

When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, he said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.

As long as the earth endures,seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,summer and winter, and day and nightwill not cease.”

Noah’s sacrifice is seen as a pleasing offering to God. So God makes a covenant with Noah not to destroy the earth again.

Some of the major historical covenants in the OT:

Noahic covenant (Gen 8)

Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 15)

In the Abrahamic Covenant, we also see blood to initiate the covenant. I have mentioned this story many times in past sermons. Abraham has no children. His only heir is a servant of his named Eliezer. And God tells Abraham that his descendants will be more numerous than the stars. His descendants will inhabit the land of Canaan. Abraham asks how he can know that it will happen. In Genesis 15:9-10, we see what God commanded of Abraham and how Abraham responded.

Genesis 15:9-10

He said to him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

So he brought all these to him, cut them in half, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds in half.

The purpose of this was for the two parties to walk between these animals together, saying, “If I do not keep my end of this covenant, may what happened to these animals happen to me.” After Abraham fell into a deep sleep, he felt darkness surround him, and he was terrified. Then this happens in verse 17:

Genesis 15:17

When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals.

God walks between the animals himself, taking the complete responsibility upon himself to fulfill this covenant. And still, this covenant was started, initiated with blood.

Some of the major historical covenants in the OT:

Noahic covenant (Gen 8)

Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 15)

Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 19-24)

Next, we have the Mosaic Covenant. This is the Law that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai to instruct the people on how they were to follow the Lord. I don’t want to get into too much detail about this one because our passage next week will cover the ceremony that Moses conducted to initiate this covenant. But part of establishing this covenant was the sacrifice of many bulls.

Some of the major historical covenants in the OT:

Noahic covenant (Gen 8)

Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 15)

Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 19-24)

Davidic Covenant (2 Sam 7, Ps 89, 132)

In the Davidic covenant, we see something a little different. In 2 Samuel 7, we see David, who has been made king of Israel. He has captured the city of Jerusalem from the Jebusites, he has brought the ark of the covenant back to Israel, and he is settling into his new palace, made with cedars from King Hiram of Tyre. (Lebanon, where the ancient city of Tyre is, is famous for its massive cedar trees. The Cedars of Lebanon.)

David decides that he wants to build a house for the Lord. He does not think it is right for him to live in a house made of cedar while the Lord’s presence rests in a tent made of animal skins.

But the Lord speaks to Nathan the prophet, telling him to give a message to David. He tells him that David will not make a house for the Lord. Instead, God makes this promise to David.

2 Samuel 7:12-16

“When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and blows from mortals. But my faithful love will never leave him as it did when I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and kingdom will endure before me forever, and your throne will be established forever.”

When we read this message from God, we can see two different characters in this. We see Solomon, the one through whom the kingdom line would continue. He was the one who would build the first temple for the Lord in Jerusalem. We also see Jesus, the one that God’s faithful love would never leave, who would establish the throne of David forever. Jesus would be disciplined, not for his own sins, but for the sins of you and me. Jesus would also build a house for the Lord.

In the book of Ephesians, Paul is telling his Gentile listeners that they are part of the family of God, part of God’s household. He then goes on to describe God’s household like this:

Ephesians 2:20-22

…built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

In Christ Jesus, the people of God are built as a house to the Lord. In Hebrew, the word for house or palace is the same word for temple.

Bayit - בַּ֫יִת - house, temple, palace, or prison.

The way you know the meaning is by the context in which the word is used. If it is for a king, it is a palace. If it is for a priest or God, it is a temple. And yet, we have a Savior who is prophet, priest, and king.

After this message from the Lord that Nathan delivered, we do not see a sacrifice made to the Lord. We do not see any blood of animals. Instead, David lets out a long prayer of gratitude. However, we can’t look only at the account in 2 Samuel to find the sacrifice that establishes this covenant.

If we look closely, blood was still needed to establish this covenant. You see, the nation of Israel eventually split into Israel and Judah. Both countries eventually were overtaken by foreign countries and exiled to lands they did not know. After that exile, being brought back to the land of their forefathers, they were again conquered by Rome. This does not seem like an everlasting kingdom to me.

But the fulfillment, or establishment, of this promise to David comes in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, he was given an eternal throne:

Philippians 2:9-11

For this reason (Jesus humbling himself and being obedient to death on a cross) God highly exalted himand gave him the namethat is above every name,so that at the name of Jesusevery knee will bow—in heaven and on earthand under the earth—and every tongue will confessthat Jesus Christ is Lord,to the glory of God the Father.

God highly exalted himand gave him the namethat is above every name,so that at the name of Jesusevery knee will bow—in heaven and on earthand under the earth—and every tongue will confessthat Jesus Christ is Lord,to the glory of God the Father.

The descendant of David is given an eternal kingdom. Christ also became the cornerstone of the foundation on which God’s temple is built, as we saw in Ephesians 2. It is in Christ that we are built into a holy temple to the Lord. His death is what secured the promise to David.

The first verse in our passage today states that Jesus is the “mediator” of a new covenant. However, he is not just the mediator of a “new” covenant:

Christ is the mediator of EVERY covenant in Scripture

We just saw how he mediated the Davidic covenant through his death and resurrection. For the Mosaic Covenant, Jesus lived the perfect life, being completely obedient to the law, but took the punishment for the covenantal lawbreakers (you and me) through his death on the cross, and provided the covenantal blessings that only he could earn.

In the Abrahamic Covenant, Jesus’ death and resurrection provided salvation and blessing, not just to the people of Israel, but to “all nations.” Just as Abraham was told, “All nations will be blessed through you,” Jews and Gentiles alike are invited to submit themselves to Christ and find freedom from sin and death.

In the Noahic covenant, God promised not to destroy the earth again, ending the lives of every creature on earth. And in Christ’s sacrifice, we see the provision for all of mankind to find true life.

Then we have the theological covenants that we find in Scripture.

Theological Covenants in Scripture:

The Covenant of Works (Gen 1-3)

The Covenant of Grace (Gen 3:15)

The Covenant of Redemption (John 10)

The Covenant of Works begins in Creation, where Adam was given dominion over the earth. Life was promised through perfect, personal, perpetual obedience to God, but death would come to those who disobeyed. Adam’s sin brought condemnation on all of his offspring. However, Christ fulfills the Covenant of Works by living a life of perfect obedience to the law. And in his death, he provides life to those who submit their lives to him.

The Covenant of Grace is first announced in Genesis 3:15. After Adam and Eve’s sin, God curses the deceptive serpent. In this verse, we see the protoeuangelion, or the First Gospel, the First Good News:

Genesis 3:15

I will put hostility between you and the woman,and between your offspring and her offspring.He will strike your head,and you will strike his heel.

We see this covenant play out progressively throughout Scripture and redemptive history as God freely promises salvation to sinners by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Jesus’ death on the cross was the striking of Satan’s head, destroying the power of sin and death, even as Christ himself was struck.

(Picture of Christ on the cross with the serpent under his feet)

The Covenant of Redemption is the plan set forth by the Trinity in eternity past of how humanity would be redeemed from sin that they knew we would fall into. It was the arrangement of the Father calling people to himself, the Son would redeem those people through his obedience, death on the cross, and resurrection, and the Spirit would apply that redemption, sealing God’s people for eternity as children of God.

Our final verse of last week’s passage pointed to this Trinitarian working in the act of redemption. The author says that if the sacrifices of bulls and goats could provide outward purity according to the law in Hebrews 9:13, then in verse 14 he says this:

Hebrews 9:14

…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?

We see all three persons of the Trinity involved in the act of redeeming humanity.

As we have looked at these various covenants throughout Scripture, we see that every single covenant that we find in Scripture where God makes a promise to his people is fulfilled in Christ. So when the author of Hebrews tells us in 9:15 that Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, there is no one else who could mediate it. And that mediation happens through his blood, through his work on the cross.

The covenant was not in force in the olden times until there had been a sacrifice to confirm it, and a will does not stand until the death of the testator has been proved to make it valid. The heart’s blood of Jesus is, as it were, the establishment of His last will and testament. Jesus, the great testator, has died, has made an end of sin, and His blood is the great seal of His testament, and makes it valid to us.

Charles Spurgeon

So, just as a will cannot be enforced until the person who created it dies, a covenant from God is confirmed or initiated through blood, finding its ultimate fulfillment in the blood of Christ. During his last supper with them, Jesus announced to his disciples that he was bringing a new covenant. After breaking the bread and offering it to them, he then moved on to the cup.

Luke 22:20

In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

Jesus’ death, less than 24 hours after this meal with his disciples, is where the blood sacrifice would be provided to establish the new covenant. Jesus knew that a covenant must be established with blood. This is why the last verse of our passage today says this:

Hebrews 9:18

That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood.

In order for the promises within a will or Covenant to be distributed, a death is required. This is why the first Covenant, in which the author of Hebrews is referring to the Mosaic Covenant, was also established, or inaugurated, with blood. As I said earlier, we will get into the details of that ceremony in next week’s passage as we come together for Palm Sunday.

I stated that in the Covenant of Works, perfect obedience was required for life. Adam could not do that. We cannot do that. Only Christ could do that. Our sin separates us from God. Our sin brings death and destruction, not only to our own lives, but also to those around us as well! Your sin has an impact on your spouse, your family, your friends, and anyone else you come in contact with. It can impact your witness to them.

But your life does not have to rest on the results of your sins. You do not need to be defined by your sins or mistakes! You can take refuge in the works of Christ. You can trust in the one who took the punishment you deserved for your sins. Recognize that you are sinful, that you cannot live up to the standard that God has set for right living. Repent of those sins, asking God to forgive you of your rebellion against him. Submit your life to Christ, putting your old way of life behind you and living in the new life that God has given you, the life that Jesus purchased for you through his death and resurrection.

Next Step: I will repent and submit my life to Christ.

Let us pray.

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