In Hebrews 7 through 10 Christ is presented in a threefold way: as High Priest, as Minister, and as Executor of the new testament. When Christ is mentioned as the High Priest, we are also told that He is the Minister of the holy places and the Executor of the new testament. These three titles are mentioned together because their functions overlap. While Christ is carrying on His priestly work, He is also executing the new testament and simultaneously ministering its contents to us.
In this message we shall consider how He executes the new testament. This is the most complicated point in the New Testament for us to understand, yet it is all-inclusive.
Throughout the Bible God’s speaking was in three ways: His word, His promise, and His covenant (or testament). In God’s speaking there was His promise. When His promise was enacted by an oath, it became a covenant, which is also a testament.
From the very beginning God spoke to man. Before Adam disobeyed, God spoke to him. After the fall God came again to speak to him, this time promising that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). With God’s speaking came God’s promise.
The same was true with Abraham. In God’s speaking to him, He promised him a seed and the good land (Gen. 13:15). God spoke and God promised.
How did the promise become a covenant? It was by the addition of an oath with a sacrifice where blood was shed (e.g., Gen. 15:7-18). A covenant is an agreement in which one party promises certain things to the other party.
A testament, in turn, is a bequest of what has already been accomplished. In modern terms it is a will, a written legal statement for the distribution of the enactor’s property upon his death. The entire Bible is actually God’s testament; its two parts are even called the Old Testament and the New Testament.
God is a speaking God. The more He speaks the more He is bound by His words. But He cannot help but speak! He has much to say to man. The Bible is full of God’s speaking. This book is God’s word to man.
When we speak, we may unconsciously make promises. If we get others to talk to us, we may be able to induce them to promise us something they had no intention of promising. As long as they are quiet, we cannot ensnare them; but when they speak, we may be able to get a commitment from them.
God has spoken. In both the Old and New Testaments He has spoken. In His speaking He has made promises. The Bible is full of promises. Promises to Adam. To Noah. To Abraham. To David. To us, the New Testament believers.
If the Lord Jesus had not died, these promises would have remained only promises. But to fulfill these promises He did die. By the shedding of His blood these promises became a covenant. Now there is a firm commitment for them to be realized. In this covenant some things are yet to be done, and some have been accomplished already and have been bequeathed to us. The covenant then has become a testament, telling us what our inheritance is.
“And because of this He is Mediator of a new covenant, so that, death having taken place for redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, those who have been called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where there is a testament there must of necessity be the death of him who made it. For a testament is confirmed where there has been death, since it has no force when he who made it is living” (Heb. 9:15-17).
In Greek the same word is used for both covenant and testament. The new covenant, consummated with the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:11-14), is not merely a covenant, but a testament with all the things which have been accomplished by the death of Christ bequeathed to us. Firstly God gave the promise that He would make a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:8-13). Then Christ shed His blood to enact it (Luke 22:20). Since there are accomplished facts promised in this covenant, it is also a testament. This testament, or will, has been confirmed and validated by Christ’s death, and is being executed and enforced by Christ in His resurrection. The promise of God’s covenant is insured by God’s faithfulness; God’s covenant is guaranteed by God’s righteousness; and the testament is enforced by Christ’s resurrection power.
The Bible first tells us that Christ will come. Then it promises us that He will come. There is not only the speaking but the promise as well. Many blessings are included in this promise. He will die for us that our sins might be forgiven and that we might be redeemed. Life will be given to us. This life is the Spirit, who is God Himself as everything to us for our enjoyment. Finally, we shall inherit whatever God is, whatever He has, and whatever He does.
After God’s speaking and His promising (including the content of His promise), Christ went to the cross and died, shedding His blood. Because of His death, the promise has been consummated, the covenant has been established, and the testament has been enacted.
We have, then, four stages in God’s speaking to man: His speaking, His promising, His covenant-making, and His testament-executing. Adam in Genesis 2 was in the first stage. Abraham in Genesis 12 was in the second, or promising, stage. The disciples, when they saw Christ dying on the cross, were in the third, the covenant-making, stage. We today are in the fourth stage, when the testament is executed. God has spoken, He has promised, Christ has made the covenant, and the covenant has become a testament to us.