Memorize the Bible - Hebrews 9:15

Previously, I memorized Philippians 4:15 by remembering the mnemonic, "Filly piano ride 'em" and visualizing Jesus helping me lift a filly with a piano on her back.  Thus I remember that the verse says;

"I can do all things in Christ my strength."

This is not verbatim, because if I look up the verse it says, exactly:

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (KJV)

That's impressive because I normally can't remember verses which I don't regularly use in my apologetics.  In addition, I've memorized my car tags and one of my friend's phone numbers whom I frequently call.  So, slowly but surely, the mnemonics are making a difference in my life.

Let's do another one.  I use this verse often in my apologetics but I have trouble remembering it.  I like this verse because it teaches me why Jesus had to die upon the Cross. This verse is packed with information:

Hebrews 9:15
And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

If we look at context of Hebrews 9:15, it tells us that Jesus died upon the Cross in order to fulfill the promises of the Old or First Testament:

16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

In other words, its as though God wrote a legal declaration of His wishes.  This is what we call a last will and testament.   When we die, our Last Will and Testament is read to the people and the things we want accomplished are done for us by those we leave behind.

But God does not die.  He is not human that He should die.  Therefore, in order for the Old Testament to be fulfilled, God had to come down to earth, take on a human body and die upon the Cross. It is at this point that the sins of the First or Old Testament were redeemed and the Faithful Jews who were awaiting the fulfillment of these promises, were admitted into the True Promised Land which is heaven.  And this is confirmed in another verse:

Hebrews 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:  40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

So, let's start.

The word, "Hebrews" reminds me of the words, "He" and "brews".  So, I picture a Jewish man brewing some coffee.  Using the same number to text conversion that we used before, the number nine is "b", the number 1 is "t" and the number 5 is "L".   If we put those together, the words that I come up with are "battle".

So, the word picture is "He brews battle".

Now for the words:

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

So, now my word picture changes a bit.  I still see the Jewish man brewing some coffee.

But now I see Jesus standing in front of him but

a.  with a Bible in one hand, i.e. mediator of a new testament;

b.  and a crucifix in the other and facing the Grim Reaper,  i.e. by means of death;

 c.  and a multitude of our Jewish Patriarchs entering heaven, i.e. for the redemption of the transgression that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

So, to repeat.  I visualize a Jewish man brewing "battle" and picture Jesus with a cross and a bible doing battle with the Grim Reaper while a multitude of the Patriarchs or Fathers, whose sins have been redeemed enter the heavenly kingdom in fulfillment of the promises of the first or old testament.

And from memory, Hebrews "battle", "btl" or Heb 9:15

He is a mediator of a new testament in order that by means of death He should obtain the redemption of the sins committed against the first testament and they which are called receive the promised eternal salvation. 

Ok, well, I'll obviously have to work on that.  Its not as easy as the first verse I tried.  But I wanted to make it a bit more challenging.  One thing, I seem to be remembering Hebrews 11:39 without even trying.

One other thing, I just noticed that it doesn't say they received eternal "salvation" but eternal "inheritance".  Its as though, by His death, Jesus made them all sons of God.  They now become heirs to the Father's legacy.  Which again, goes with the idea of the Last Will and Testament.

Anyway, we'll check back in a week and see how well I remember this verse also.

Sincerely,

De Maria