God Made a Will; Heb 9:15-22

Most adults make a will. A will says that when certain conditions are met (ie when I die) then certain promises are enacted so that certain people will receive gifts from me. A will is a pretty easy thing to grasp. It has four parts: the benefactor, the written legal framework of promises, the promised gifts and the beneficiary. 

Strange though it may sound, that is exactly what Heb. 9:16 says that God did: he made a will. 

• The benefactor is God
• The written legal framework is the promises throughout the Bible, reiterated here, that God will one day given an eternal inheritance through the death of his son. Jesus death is the death required for the will to take effect
• The promised gifts made available through this forgiving death are called "eternal inheritance", elsewhere "eternal salvation" (5:9). The writer thinks of this eternal salvation as the fulfilment of the great Gen 12 promises to Abraham (6:13), finally perfected and made complete. He thinks mostly of what God achieves in us and where this takes us. (a) what it achieves in us is the declaration now and forever that we are perfect and perfectly righteous because we have Christ's righteousness credited to our account. I see that in 10:14. (b) where this takes us is into the holy of holies, the very presence of God that nobody could previously enter. We see this in 10:19-22
• The beneficiaries are not everyone. They are those who are in God's family, who are named in the will. 9:15 says "those who are called" those who are set free by Jesus' ransom

Therefore the most critical question we can ever ask is "are we among the called?" How do we know? The Bible gives some very easy tests. For example it says that "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God has raised him from the dead then you will be saved."

If that is true of you then you have been forgiven, had your conscience cleansed, been declared "perfect for ever" and have confidence to enter the very presence of God because of Jesus. You are in God's will. Today enjoy, appreciate and use these benefits. Come to him, rejoice in him, give thanks to him and ask him for yet more grace.

If it isn't, what is stopping you?

Comments

[Mum and Dad]

Excellent interpretation and thinking.