The new covenant is the last will and testament of Christ sealed by His blood. Heb. 9:6-22 (96)
“The Savior was “the Mediator of the new testament.” Many functions were undertaken by Him. Just as one type could not set forth all that the Lord Jesus did and suffered, so no single office could display all the relations which He sustained and all the benefits He procured for us. That which is done by a prophet, by a priest, by a king, by a surety, by a mediator, by a husband, by a father, that and more has been done by Christ.” Pink Arthur W. The passage before us, stressed two things: first, is a known fact which is recognized among men, namely, that a will or testament requires the death of the testator to give it validity. Second, he refers to an Old Testament type which exemplifies the principle which he is here setting before us.
- “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise, it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth” vv. 16, 17. “16–23 is the nature of a parenthesis, brought in to show why it was necessary for the incarnate Son to die. He in v. 24 returns to his proofs for the superiority of the ministry of Christ over Aaron’s. The character and design of that covenant of which He is the Mediator, is that Christ must die. Because that covenant was also to be a “testament” it was confirmed by the death of the Testator. Appeal is made to the only use of a will or testament among men. The death of Christ was not merely as it was a death, which is all that is required of a “testament” as such, without any consideration of the nature of the testator’s death; but also (and primarily) as it was a sacrifice by the shedding of His blood (vv. 12, 14, 18–23), which belongs to a Divine covenant, and is in no way required by a “testament.” Pink Arthur W. Saphir was right when he said, “The testator is, properly speaking, God; for we are God’s heirs; but it is God in Christ.” See 2Cor. 5:19. The “everlasting covenant” or Covenant of Grace has the nature of a “testament” from these four facts. First, it proceeded from the will of God: He freely made it Heb. 6:17. Second, it contained various legacies or gifts: to Christ, God bequeathed the elect as His inheritance Deut. 32:9, Ps. 16:6, Lk 22:29; to the elect themselves, that they should be joint heirs with Him Rom. 8:17, Rev. 3:21. Third, it is unalterable Gal. 3:15, “ordered in all things and sure” 2Sam. 23:5; having been duly witnessed to 1Jn 5:7, hence, being of the nature of a “testament” there are no stipulations for men to fulfill Gal. 3:18. Fourth, the death of Christ has secured the administration of it. A deed is not valid without a seal; a will cannot be probated until the legatee dies, nor were God’s covenants with men (the historical adumbrations of the “everlasting covenant”) ratified except by blood-shedding. Thus it was with His covenant with Abraham Gen. 15:9, 18; thus it was with His covenant with Israel at Sinai Ex. 24:6. The necessity for the sacrificial death of Christ as the Mediator, both as the Mediator of a “covenant” and as the Mediator of a “testament”: for it, both the promises contained in the “covenant” and the bequeathments of the “testament,” are made irrevocably sure to all His seed. “Now the “mediator” of the “Old Testament” was Moses, and it was not until his death, immediately after it, that Israel entered their inheritance, the land of Canaan! Looked at from the standpoint of God’s government, the death of Moses was because of his sin Num. 20:10–12; but considered in relation to his official position, as “the servant over the house of God,” it had another and deeper meaning as Deut. 3:26 shows, “the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes”- this foreshadow the reason why God’s wrath was visited upon Christ: Christ, as Moses, must die before the inheritance could be ours.” Pink A. W.
- In v. 17 it is execution of a testament: its efficacy depends solely on the testator’s death. The words “is of force” mean, is firm and cannot be annulled; it must be executed according to the mind of the one who devised it. The reason why it is of “no strength” during his lifetime, is because it is then subject to alteration. Christ was “appointed Heir of all things” Heb. 1:2: but in His death, He made a bequeathment of them unto all the elects. An absolute grant is made without any conditions. So is the kingdom of heaven bequeathed to all the elect, so that nothing can defeat His will. He who has made the promises works in His elect these graces of repentance and faith: Acts 5:31, Phil 1:29. Finally, the testator assigns the time when his heirs shall be admitted into the actual possession of his goods; so too has Christ determined the season when each shall enter both into grace and glory.
