The first condition of a Will is that the "testator" must be dead. "For where a testament is there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is only in effect after death: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth" (Heb. 9:16-17). So the remedy and the promises of the New Covenant are based on the death of the "testator." Therefore, "without the shedding of the blood" (the death of Jesus Christ), there is no remission for sins" (Heb. 9:22). The second condition of this Will is that it be must be received by the legal heir, or family member. Only a born-again child of God qualifies as the recipient.
Everyone knows that when a family member dies, he leaves his nearest of kin an inheritance, but the inheritance is only received after the reading of the dead person's Will. We Christians have an inheritance from Jesus, our older brother. But, as we all know, He had to die before the Will could be effective. And we, the recipients, had to receive the promise of the inheritance by faith.
The New Covenant, or the BLOOD covenant of Christ, is His "Last Will and Testament." Through His death, all who receive Him are promised the legal right to inherit all that He is. Actually Romans 8:17 says, "...if children of God, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with him, that we may be also glorified together."
"Ye are dead," writes Paul in Colossians, "and your life is hid with Christ in God." How did man die, too? It was not for Himself that the Son of Man went through the Cross, to the grave, and then to the throne in His glorious resurrection. It was for all of mankind. Christ was our substitute. What happened to Christ happened to all mankind: "God was in Christ Jesus reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (II Cor. 5:19). It potentially happened to all of mankind, but is only actualized when it is entered into by faith. When we accept this co-crucifixion with Christ, it is the job of the Holy Spirit to make freedom and victory the supreme fact of our lives, as well as an unshakable reality in our experience.
Let us look at what we as Christians have inherited through this blood covenant. The Bible proclaims that: "we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Eph. 1:7); we have peace with God "through the blood of his Cross" (Col. 1:20); "we are elect through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (I Pet. 1:2); we are redeemed by "the precious blood of Christ" (I Pet. 1:19); we are cleansed daily by "the blood of Jesus Christ" (I John 1:7); we are "washed from our sins in His own blood" (Rev. 1:5); and we overcome Satan by the blood of the lamb (Rev. 12:11).
Now we sing a new song unto our God: "For thou was slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God, kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth" (Rev. 5:9-10).
