New Testament Overview

Introduction

We had a challenge last week to read one chapter of Micah everyday. There was a purpose for this: We see God’s judgment on a faithless Israel through one of His prophets. But there was not only destruction and fear, there was hope given. Micah 5:1–5a “Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace.” This is a Messianic prophecy. This shows us that though the Jews were not always faithful and were even facing judgment, that God had a grander purpose, He was pointing them forward to the Savior of the world that He would bring through them.

Last week we learned half of the Bible’s story (Hold us Rubik’s Cube, which is solved at F2L in the pulpit). The Old Testament leads us to the New. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Jewish Scriptures. Matthew 5:17 ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Now, in the New Testament, we get the rest of the story.

Gospels Info from Eerdmans’ Handbook to the Bible: The purpose of the gospels is to present the good news of Jesus in an orderly fashion to produce faith in people (John 20:30-31) (p. 469).

I. The Gospels (Matthew-John)

A. The O. T. ends with a prophecy of the Sun of Righteousness (Jesus) and His forebearer (Elijah/John the Baptist) (Malachi 4:2-6)

1. The last thing we were waiting for is the coming Messiah and His coming would be directly after the coming of Elijah

2. The N.T. begins with the genealogy, birth, and start of the ministry of Jesus

a. John the Baptist begins his ministry as a fulfillment of this prophecy (Matthew 11:9-15)

b. Jesus is called the Righteous One (Acts 3:14). He is the One the world had been waiting for and the One Israel was chosen to bring about

B. The purpose of the gospels is to present the good news of Jesus in an orderly fashion to produce faith in people (John 20:30-31)

1. Matthew depicts Him as the Messiah, the King of the Jews

2. Mark shows Him as the Servant of God, humbly serving (defying expectations of a political Messiah)

3. Luke demonstrates the humanity of Jesus, showing Him to be the Son of Man

4. John reveals Jesus to be the Son of God

C. If Jesus died and resurrected, and He did, then He is the Lord, the Son of the Living God

1. Our duty is to follow His ways, becoming more like Him

2. He is the example of godliness. He lived the way God intended all mankind to live. Now, we pursue Christ in hopes of becoming like Him

II. The Result of the Gospel (Acts: the history of and prescription for the church)

A. What does Christlikeness look like in individuals and in groups? How does Christ’s great commission play out in real life? The Book of Acts details that for us

1. We see what it means to follow Jesus as Lord

2. The apostles obeyed Jesus’ commission and made disciples of all nations

3. The church was and is the body of Christ and displayed righteousness as they were being transformed into the likeness of their Lord

B. The book of Acts can be broken down in a couple of different ways

1. The Ministries of Peter (ch. 1-12) and Paul (Ch. 13-28)

2. The Spread of the Gospel throughout the known world (Acts 1:8)

a. Jerusalem (ch. 2-7)

b. Judea (8:1-4)

c. Samaria (ch. 8)

d. Outer Most Parts of the Earth (ch. 9-28)

C. We find a description of the early church and a prescription for how the modern church should pattern themselves

III. Learning a Christlike Life (Romans-Revelation)

A. The epistles give us further instruction on what it means to be like Jesus.

1. “They [the epistles] combine teaching about God and the Christian gospel with instruction on life and behavior” (Eerdmans’ Handbook to the Bible, p. 574)

2. If we only had the gospels and Acts we would be at a loss

a. There’s lots of important questions of practical, godly living that would go unanswered

b. The letters written to churches and individuals show us how Christlikeness plays out in everyday life in lots of different situations

B. The letters were written to deal with certain people in specific situations

1. Keeping the context of each letter in mind helps us learn how we can apply what the author told them

a. The book of Acts helps us place certain cities and individuals to learn who they were and what they were dealing with

b. We can also infer there beliefs and actions based on what the author states.

c. 1 Corinthians 1:10 “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” (apparently, the Corinthians were divided over many things. Paul’s goal was to help them come to unity of belief and action)

2. Many of the trials and problems of the early church are the same we deal with today, just gift wrapped a little differently

a. We see principles and commands to follow to correct issues and be God’s light for a dark world that’s corrupted by sin

b. Again, these letters are to help Christians live more like Christ, be holy and godly in everything

3. 2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,”

Conclusion

There’s so much to know about Jesus and the Bible. The New Testament hinges on the Old. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament to solve the biggest problem mankind has faced, sin. God provided salvation to us by faith in Jesus and we know He is the Messiah because of the Old Testament. Now we live in the New Testament age and we learn how to live upright and godly lives by following Jesus’ example and obeying the instructions of the apostles and prophets.

Now we have the whole story (Solve the rest of the Rubik’s Cube) and it’s all about Jesus. Dive into the Scriptures to learn who Jesus is and how we can be like Him. Be like Christ in everything.