Hebrews 9:16 Commentary and Bible Study

This statement is given as a self-evident truth. In order for a will or testament to come into effect, the one making the will, the testator, must have died. Of course, the will would have been made while he was still alive, but nothing will happen to it and no one will inherit while he continues to live. The implementation of the will is triggered by his death. If the covenant that God has made with us in Christ, the covenant of grace, is given in the form of a testament, then there too the testator must die. Who then is the testator in this case? Who is it that must die before we can receive the inheritance promised us by God? Christ must die, and this passage teaches us to see the covenant made with Abraham and ratified by Christ as not only a covenant, which can only be sealed by the shedding of blood, but also a testament, a will, through which we inherit from one who has died. So for a second reason there must be a death. This picture of a will, all possible elements is not brought in here by the inspired writer of the Letter to the Hebrews. But it’s very wonderful. Who is the testator, the one who made the will? It is Christ. Who are the heirs? The redeemed from all ages. What do we inherit? In the language of the New Testament, we inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:12); we inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5); we inherit the kingdom (Matthew 25:34); we inherit everlasting life (Matthew 19:29); indeed we inherit all things (Revelation 21:7). All of this inheritance comes to us through Jesus Christ, and it is made ours by his death. This is another very interesting way of looking at the death of Christ which we are not used to. God’s arrangement takes the form of a will which has been put into effect by a death. It continues to be true however that all that we inherit is purchased for us by the propitiatory death of Christ, without which there would be no adoption as his children and we would have no right to an inheritance.Who are the witnesses, for a will must have witnesses? The apostles witnessed the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of Christ was the proof, the ultimate proof, that Calvary had succeeded that his suffering and death had covered the sin of all God’s people. He did not die before atoning for the very last sin committed by any of the redeemed. And what is the seal? This is the illustration: a will had a seal, and the seal is the precious blood of Christ.But although Christ has died and activated the testament so that we could inherit the promises, he did not remain under the power of death but rose triumphant from the grave. He therefore lives to receive the inheritance himself, for he too has been promised an inheritance: ‘Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession’ (Psalm 2:7-8). And we share that inheritance with him: ‘The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17). There are so many wonderful aspects to his saving work.