Sermon Tone Analysis

Hebrews 9:11–14 (NLT)

So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come.

He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world.

With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity.

Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God.

For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

The Anointed King of Heaven and Earth is Our High Priest

He Entered Heaven with His Own Blood as an Offering…

Securing Our Redemption Forever

His Blood Can Do So Much More Than Animal Blood

It Can Purify Our Consciences From Our Sins…

Allowing Us to Worship God with a Clean Conscience

No More Awareness or Guilt of Sin

We are Completely Clean Because of His Perfect Sacrifice

Hebrews 9:15–17 (NLT)

That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them.

For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.

Now when someone leaves a will, it is necessary to prove that the person who made it is dead.

The will goes into effect only after the person’s death.

While the person who made it is still alive, the will cannot be put into effect.

Hebrews 9:15 (NASB95)

For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Because of Jesus’ Sacrificial Death, He Became the Mediator of a New Covenant

This New Covenant Spoken of By Jeremiah…

in Which God Will Be Merciful to the Iniquities of His People…

And Will Remember Their Sins No More

What Does it Mean for Jesus to Be the Mediator of this New Covenant?

The Goal of the Gospel of Jesus is to Reconcile Humanity and God

For Us to Live in Perfect Harmony with Him Like Before the Fall

Jesus Represents Both Parties and Works Toward Our Reconciliation

He Represents Us By Being Human and He Represents God By Being God

He is the Perfect Representative of Both Parties at the Same Time

The Thing that Stands Between Us and Perfect Harmony with God is Sin

Jesus is the Mediator Whose Job it is to Get Rid of What Stands Between Us and God

And this New Covenant He is Mediating was Prophesied to Bring About the Reality of Sin Being Forever Forgotten

Jesus, Through His Sacrificial Death is Fulfilling that Promise

Hebrews 9:15 (NASB95)

For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

What Does it Mean that Jesus’ Death…

Was for the Redemption of the Transgressions that Were Under the First Covenant?

Jesus’ Sacrificial Death Wasn’t Only for the Purpose of Redeeming Those of the Present and Future

His Sacrificial Death Redeemed Those Who Transgressed/Sinned Under the Old Covenant Too

Hebrews 9:15 (NASB95)

For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Jesus’ Sacrificial Death Made it Possible for Those Who are Called (Past, Present, and Future)…

To Receive the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance

Who are the Called?

Under the New Covenant:

Those Who Have Given Their Allegiance to Jesus After Receiving the Message of the Gospel

Under the Old Covenant:

Those Who Had Given Their Allegiance to God By Obeying the Law of Moses

What is the Eternal Inheritance?

Salvation and Life in the Holy Presence of God in the Age to Come

Hebrews 9:16–17 (NASB95)

For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.

For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives.

There is a Lot of Theological Debate on this Passage

The Debate Primarily Depends On How One Interprets diathēkē

diathēkē is the Word for “Covenant” in the NASB

Some Interpret it to Mean “A Last Will and Testament”

Some Interpret it to Mean “Covenant”

Whichever Interpretation You Choose to Hold, Both Seem to Be True

I’ll Try to Quickly and Simply Explain Both Interpretations

The “Will/Testament” Interpretation Goes Like This:

A Will Doesn’t Go into Effect Until the Person Who Made the Will Dies

God’s New Covenant that He was Establishing Through Jesus…

Couldn’t Go into Effect Until Jesus Died

Therefore Jesus’ Death was Necessary to Establish the Better New Covenant…

Where Total Forgiveness of Sins and Reconciliation to God can Be Found

The “Covenant” Interpretation Goes Something Like This:

A Covenant is Between 2 Parties and Can Be Established Without the Death of Either Party

But, According to the Scriptures, Covenants Did Require Death

To Make a Covenant in the OT was Literally “Cut a Covenant”

We See Why in Genesis 15

God Wanted to Cut a Covenant with Abraham

So He Told Abraham to Cut Several Different Animals in Half

Then God Appeared to Him in Between the Pieces and Made His Covenant with Him

In Establishing the Covenant with Israel, Moses Sprinkled the Blood of a Sacrifice…

On Several Different Things, Including the People

In Fact, this is Exactly What the Author of Hebrews Immediately Mentions

Hebrews 9:18–21 (NASB95)

Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood.

For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the 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 which God commanded you.”

And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood.

With the “Covenant” Interpretation…

It Isn’t an Animal that is Sacrificed to Establish the Covenant Between God and Humanity…

It is Jesus

The Person Who is Both God and Human Sacrifices Himself to Establish the Covenant Between God and Humanity

So Whether You Take the “Will/Testament” or “Covenant” Interpretation of Verses 16-17…

Both are True

In Order for the New Covenant to Be Established and Reconciliation to Be Available…

Jesus had to Die

And So We See in Verses 18-21 that a Covenant Can Only Be Established with Blood

Blood May Simply Represent Death…

But it Seems Like it May More Specifically Refer to a Violent Sacrificial Death

A Death in Which a Lot of Blood Would Be Involved

When 2 Parties Cut a Covenant Together…

They are Swearing to Keep Their End of the Deal

And if They Fail to Do So, Then May Violent Bloodshed Come Upon the Guilty Party