Hebrews Chapter 9 is packed with powerful things worth pondering. As a bonus, it offers a surprising revelation: that the New Covenant of Christ is actually the promised eternal inheritance.

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

Up to now, the author focused on explaining the New Covenant. So why does the author suddenly begin using the term “inheritance?” Glad you asked.

You see, there are different kinds of covenants.

Some covenants are made by the mutual agreement of two parties. Using the blood of a sacrificed animal that represents themselves, they swear blood oaths, promising serious, lifelong stuff to one another. Serious, because they invoke death curses upon themselves or over each other, triggered by a failure to keep their promises.

Since you don’t remember ever doing that with God, you don’t have that kind of covenant with Him. You couldn’t have, frankly, what with Him being God and you being human — Him being holy, and you being not so holy.

Then there are inherited covenants.

Inherited covenants passed from one party to another when the original covenant maker died. The invitation to enter into the covenant is passed on as a gift to one who did not originally earn or validate the relationship by their own blood oath, sacrifice, and faithfulness. Typically these passed from father to son or other special relations.

Once the opportunity to inherit a covenant presented itself, the recipient then had a choice to make — whether or not to step into, honor and participate in the covenant as their own. In modern parlance, you have to own it.

Amazingly, this IS the kind of covenant God offers to you. The New Covenant is no less than the gifted opportunity to step into a relationship with God you could never earn, made possible only by the sacrifice and sinless blood of Christ. This New Covenant was actually conceived and birthed as the result of a covenant formed between the Trinity — Father, Son and Spirit — before creation.

We can’t know how and when the Father, Son and Spirit formed this eternal covenant; it isn’t described step-by-step in Scripture, but scholars discovered clues.

What was the purpose of this covenant? The Trinity purposed to bring mankind, their glorious creation, into an eternal relationship with them. This was their passion and purpose.

Your promised, eternal inheritance.

Remember, a covenant is only inherited by another after the original covenant maker died. In your case, the one who created the opportunity for your inheritance of covenant relationship by his death, was raised back to life by the power of the Spirit!

This was the plan and promise of the Trinity among themselves, even before your creation!

God foreknew sin would enter in this equation, separating Him from His beloved creation. God wanted make a way to bring you back home.

You were created for relationship with the Trinity.

Sin and separation would happen, but they had a plan. They had a love for one another and for you that motivated them to carry it their plan, at all cost. And the cost couldn’t have been higher.

Jesus entered the human race, and became one of us. He loved us, taught us and sacrificed himself for us, leaving the New Covenant as an inheritance.

Your opportunity for salvation from sin — and to enter into this covenant — began with the Spirit awakening you to your state of separation from your Creator. When you heard the gospel, learning that Jesus atoned for the sin that caused the separation.

When you embraced Jesus Christ as Savior, you received the right to step into that room where the lawyer reads the deceased person’s Last Will and Testament. Only your inheritance is explained in the pages of the Bible. Along with the amazing news that the one who died actually now lives, because He didn’t just die for you, He now lives for you!

Scripture connects the dots for us:

Ephesians 3:11 speaks of God’s eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Hebrews 13:20 describes the blood of Christ as the blood of the eternal covenant. That, beloved, is the New Covenant. How do we know?

Because of the blood. There was no blood among the Trinity until Jesus entered the human race and became one of us.

Jesus’ sinless blood purchased for you the opportunity to enter relationship with God — not a bare bones redemption from sin, but the invitation to share life, from now until forever. To actually know God.

God offers this covenant relationship to you as a gracious gift. Yet it was only made possible because God himself earned it for you.

Both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible are just that: God’s will and testament, left to you. The word “testament” had its beginning as a covenant term.

In fact, your Bible’s Old and New Testaments might well and accurately be labeled, Old Covenant and New Covenant.

What did Jesus leave us as an inheritance?

Nothing less than a relationship with the Father, the Spirit and Himself.

As you read your Bible now, especially the New Testament, read it with new eyes, beloved of God!