Hebrews 9:15-18 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. Big Idea: The new covenant required the death of Christ. Hebrews 9:15 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. 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. 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. 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.” 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. “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 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. 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. diatheke - διαθήκη A covenant A will Some of the major historical covenants in the OT: The Noahic covenant (Gen 8) 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. 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 night will not cease.” The Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 15) 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. 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. The Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 19-24) The Davidic Covenant (2 Sam 7, Ps 89, 132) 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.” 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. Bayit - בַּ֫יִת - house, temple, palace, or prison. Philippians 2:9-11 For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Christ is the mediator of EVERY covenant in Scripture Theological Covenants in Scripture: The Covenant of Works (Gen 1-3) The Covenant of Grace (Gen 3:15) 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. 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? 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 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.” Hebrews 9:18 That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood. Next Step: I will repent and submit my life to Christ.