THE PROMISED ETERNAL INHERITANCE

In the Bible, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant were both means of relating with God through a system of mediation. In the Old Covenant, God put in place a system of sacrifices to atone for sin. These were to be performed by the Levites because they needed the priests to approach God in their place. However, the priests themselves were unholy men; hence they needed to go through those elaborate rituals, following God's instructions carefully.

Unfortunately, those rituals and sacrifices did not provide a permanent solution. Now when we consider the Levitical priesthood under the Old Covenant and the priesthood of Jesus Christ under the New Covenant, Jesus is the revelation who ushered a superior priesthood because He is the only mediator who has the true power to reconcile us to God on a permanent basis.

Reference: Hebrews 9:15 English Standard Version (ESV) "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."

Christ is the mediator of a new covenant who stood between a holy God and sinful mankind to establish a divine relationship, and this necessarily required some kind of payment for sin. Christ's ultimate sacrifice is a death sacrifice that redeemed us from all transgressions and provided for remission of all sins committed by mankind under the first covenant, as well as the sins of those who came after Jesus' death. Before His coming, there was an ongoing death sacrifice of animals, but such sacrifices could not fully atone for human sin, which indicates that animal sacrifices have value but their value is not eternal. For this reason, the priests of the old covenant had to constantly offer those sacrifices.

Animal sacrifices could not wipe off the penalty of sin. They only provided ritual purity for a moment but couldn't change anyone on the inside. However, Christ's sacrifice on the cross accomplished what those repeated sacrifices could not. Now that Christ has died for us, He has established the new covenant in His blood so that we can receive "the promised eternal inheritance."

When someone dies and leaves a will, their possessions can be sorted out and distributed as instructed in the will. So to obtain an inheritance from someone, we usually think of someone who has died and left a will. The inheritance is given as part of the deceased person's last will and testament. In the same manner, for us to receive the promised eternal inheritance, Jesus died for our sake. Our referenced Scripture tells us that as a result of Christ's death, those who are called will receive the promised eternal inheritance. Eternal salvation is one of them, according to Hebrews 5:9 (NLT) and it reads: "In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him."

Hebrews 9:12 (NIV) also tells us that Christ did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. This means that eternal redemption is also our inheritance. In several ways, the language used here in Hebrews relates to that of a last will and testament, especially when we think about an inheritance. So the "new covenant" in Christ can be described as "last will and testament", when compared with the old covenant. Romans 8:17 says, 'and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.' This also implies that we share inheritance with Jesus, and we have the access and right to inherit all that belongs to Him.

Scripture Reading - Romans 4:13; Galatians 3:16; Ephesians 1:13-14; Galatians 3:29.

Guided Prayer: Precious Father, you are great and your Word is my daily desire. In it, I have security, untold wealth, health and all the good things of life. I thank you for the glorious inheritance I have in Christ and that of eternal life with you because of Jesus' death. As I submit to your will, I walk fully in my inheritance, and fulfil your purpose and destiny for me with glory and sustained joy, in Jesus' Name, Amen!