Rebecca Writes - Rebecca Writes

This is another reposting from a series of posts examining the statements of purpose that scripture gives us regarding the death of Christ. You can find the other posts from this series by clicking on the purposes of Christ’s death label at the end of this post.

Next up in our list of purpose statements is the one in Hebrews 9:15:

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. (NASB)

This verse is similar to the text we looked at in the post on Galatians 3:13-14, and I considered grouping the two texts together, but since I think there are a couple of new things added here, I decided this text is worthy of it’s own post.

So what is the purpose statement in this verse? When we see the phrase “For this reason,” we automatically think this must be pointing out a purpose statement. However, there is a real possibility that this phrase is looking backward rather than forward, showing the connection between this verse and the one before it. If so, then “for this reason” means “because of this” instead of “for this purpose,” and it is saying that because of the death of Christ mentioned in the previous verse, Christ is the mediator of the new covenant. The ESV translates to show the connection this way.

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

But even if we don’t take “for this reason” to be a purpose statement, there is still a purpose statement here: so that…those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Christ is the mediator of a new covenant through His death, so that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Christ, through his death, mediates a new covenant. This doesn’t mean that he mediates in the way we commonly think of mediation, working a compromise between two parties. Rather, the term mediator points to Christ’s function as the one who works out a new relationship between God and humankind, who have become estranged under the old covenant.

We see in chapter 8 of Hebrews that this estrangement comes because there was a problem with the old covenant, or, more specifically, the people under the covenant had a problem keeping it. As we saw in our look at Galatians 3:13-14, the old covenant included a promise of blessing to the people under the covenant if they kept the terms of the covenant, and a curse to the people if they broke the terms of the covenant. It would have served as a way to bring God and his people together if the people had kept their side of it, but they didn’t. Covenant breaking was a universal problem, causing the covenant to serve as a barrier between the people and God instead of a way for them to stay in relationship to Him.

So God established a new covenant, a covenant cut by the blood of Christ, in which those who have been called “receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” Those who are called can receive their inheritance because Christ’s death redeems them from the curse that results from their lawbreaking under the old covenant.

Another purpose for Christ’s death is so that those who are called will receive the promised eternal inheritance.