Christian Daily

Psalm 31:9, 10

When ‘Jesus plus nothing equals everything’ becomes your way of life, and not just a phrase you like, only then will you experience the freedom and fulfillment you were rescued by God to experience.”

Tullian Tchividjian, Jesus + Nothing = Everything, p. 164

 Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, may Your glory be shown and revealed to all who read this study of Your Word. May Your Holy Spirit fill us, and may we be healed of our sickness, infirmity, and sinfulness by looking to Christ as revealed in You Word. We give You the glory, honor, and praise for what You have done, are doing, and will do, in Christ’s name, Amen.

In the previous study we saw that Christ’s sacrifice was “one and done,” meaning that He died once for all sins for all men, women, and children. This was found to be way superior to all Old Testament sacrifices, including the ultra-concentrated and powerful ritual of the “red heifer.”  Now, Paul makes a conclusion based on those verses.

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.  Hebrews 9:15, NIV

Paul concludes the explanation from the previous verses, stating that if an animal could have so much cleansing power so as to provide ceremonial cleansing to God’s people for generation upon generation, and Christ’s blood surpasses such amazing cleansing power, then He is completely qualified to be the Mediator (or go-between) of the new covenant between man and God.

Wuest writes: “The word ‘mediator’ is the translation of mesites which refers to the one who intervenes between two, to make or restore peace and friendship, to form a compact, or to ratify a covenant.  Here the Messiah acts as a go-between or mediator between a holy God and sinful man. By His death on the cross, He removes the obstacle (sin) which caused an estrangement between man and God. When the sinner accepts the merits of Messiah’s sacrifice, the guilt and penalty of his sin is no more, the power of sin in his life is broken, he becomes the recipient of the divine nature, and the estrangement between himself and God, both legal and personal, disappears.” (Kenneth S. Wuest, Hebrews in the Greek New Testament, p. 162-163)

Jesus has ratified a New Covenant formed with His blood to remove the obstacle of sin between us and God. Now we are set free from the sins of the first covenant.  Let us keep in mind that the first covenant was based on what man could do. We made promises to God that we would obey His word and follow His law. With each failure, not only are we violating His law, we are also violating the old covenant promise to do what God instructs. In making a new covenant, Jesus frees us from the prison of our inadequacy, washing away the debts we incurred by sinning against God and breaking our promises to Him, essentially lying to His face.

This text doesn’t only illustrate Christ resolving our inadequacy with this blood-bought covenant. It also refers to the salvation of those who lived and died before Christ came. They had little to no knowledge of what Christ would do. So, how could they be saved? Was there any hope for them? MacDonald describes this situation, stating that Old Testament believers were saved “on credit” in a sense. God knew what sacrifice Christ would make for them, so He counted them as accepting Christ once they accepted then-known revelation from God. This is known as he pretermission of sins. It’s also noted in Romans 3:25

And so we see, the power of the new covenant is that it still sets us free as the old covenant intended, but it sets us free from our imperfection, because now the power of the covenant’s success is in the all-powerful God who never lies, rather than weak and sinful men and women. Would you like to be free based on the new covenant? Accept Jesus, look to Him, and never take your eyes off of Him. He is your healing. He is your salvation. He Himself is your deliverance! Look to Him, and be saved. Feel free to share any questions or thoughts in the comments. God bless!

Source: MacDonald, William. Believer’s Bible Commentary (1995).

Look outwards today, and ask Jesus to help you walk with Him. Because ‘he who says: I know Him, and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.’” 1 John 2:4, 5

Alejandro Bullon, Finding Fulfillment in Christ, p. 342

I love you too, Lord, from the bottom of my heart. Have me, it’s the least I can give to repay You. May I be saved to be in Your kingdom forever, in Christ’s name I pray, Amen.