The New Testament story

The New Testament tells how God sends his Son, Jesus, to be born into the nation of Israel. Jesus shows God's total commitment to defeat evil and win the world to his love. This commitment is expressed by 'incarnation' - God actually becoming a human being.

Jesus shows what God is like, by his teaching, healing and power to overcome evil. He gives his life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, by dying on a cross. He is raised from death by God, as a sign that sin is forgiven and death is conquered. Jesus' followers are filled with his Spirit and take the good news of his victory to other parts of the world.

While the story of the Old Testament covers thousands of years, the story of the New Testament covers less than a century. The New Testament begins with the birth of Jesus and ends with his promise, in the book of Revelation, that he will return 'soon'.

The New Testament, like the Old, is a collection of books. There are four accounts of Jesus' life (the Gospels), a record of the life and mission of the early church (the Acts of the Apostles) and some letters written by Paul and others. The New Testament ends with the ‘Apocalypse', or book of Revelation.

The four Gospels

The story of Jesus is told in four Gospels. In the early years of the church, they were known simply as 'the gospel'.

Three of the Gospels are similar - those of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Because they follow the same storyline and contain some of the same material, they are called the 'Synoptic' Gospels. The fourth Gospel is named after John. This Gospel is arranged around a series of' signs' that Jesus did, with teaching and commentary in the form of lengthy discourses.

'Gospel' means 'good news'. Whether preached or written, the gospel proclaims the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The purpose of a Gospel is that people may hear about Jesus Christ and put their faith in him.

The Gospels are the record of the eyewitness accounts of Jesus. At first the stories about Jesus were passed on by word of mouth ('oral' tradition). This was a very safe way of communicating his teaching, as Jesus was a rabbi who taught in a rhythmic and colourful style The Jews especially had well-trained memories, for that was how the law was learned. Jesus also promised his apostles that the Holy Spirit would remind them of his teaching and lead them into all truth.

When the eyewitnesses of Jesus' resurrection started to die out, it became necessary to collect the stories about Jesus and his teachings and write them down. Such collections were used in the early church for worship, teaching and evangelism. The Gospels included some of these collections. The first Gospel to be written was Mark, in the AD 50s. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke followed, using Mark's outline, but adding material of their own. The last Gospel to be written was John, around AD 90.

Acts

The book of Acts begins with the ascension of Jesus into heaven and the sending of his Holy Spirit upon his apostles.

The Holy Spirit enables the apostles to preach the gospel boldly. A lively, loving community of believers is established in Jerusalem. This is disrupted and dispersed by persecution from the authorities. The result is that the gospel starts to travel to other regions and cultures.

One of the leading persecutors of the church is Saul of Tarsus. He is dramatically converted on the Damascus road, where he encounters the risen Christ. As the apostle Paul, he makes three extensive missionary journeys. He travels to Cyprus and through areas which today are Turkey and Greece. His final journey is to Rome, where he is sent for trial before the emperor. So the book of Acts sees the gospel travel from Jerusalem, the centre of the Jewish religion, to Rome, the capital of the world.

The letters

The New Testament includes twenty-one letters. Most of them are by Paul, while others bear the names of Peter, James, Jude and John. A letter 'to the Hebrews' has no author's name.

Paul writes to the churches he has founded in the course of his travels. His letters are vitally important, because they are written before the Gospels. They give us the earliest evidence of the impact of Jesus.

Paul is born a Jew and educated as a Pharisee - someone committed to holy1iving by keeping God's law. He is also, through his family, a Roman citizen. Paul is not one of the original group of apostles, but has his own life-changing encounter with the risen Christ. He is converted from persecuting the church to preaching the gospel.

Paul brings to the church's mission a combination of physical energy, intellectual brilliance and sheer willpower.

He spends years digesting the implications of Jesus: the consequences of the gospel for Jews and their law, and for Gentiles and their morals. With others, Paul travels and preaches, teaches and writes.  He suffers hardship, brutal punishment and imprisonment for his faith.

In his letters, Paul raises issues with the churches, clarifies the gospel and deals with problems. The longest letters begin with Christian doctrine, then give practical application and close with personal messages.

Some of Paul's letters are named after the places where the churches were established: Rome, Corinth, the region of Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse and Thessalonica. Others are written to church leaders: Timothy and Titus. One short letter is addressed to Philemon, asking him to be good to a slave. The letters are placed in the New Testament in approximate order of length not in the order in which they were written!

Revelation

The early church suffered periods of severe persecution. The first letter of Peter was written during the Emperor Nero's persecution of Christians in Rome. The church's tradition is that Paul and Peter were executed at this time - Peter crucified upside down (AD 64-65) and Paul beheaded (AD 67).

A more terrible and widespread persecution occurred during the reign of the Emperor Domitian (AD 81-96). This is the background to the book of Revelation, which brings the New Testament to a close.

In Revelation, John has visions of the cosmic battle which is being waged between God and Satan. These visions are like those of the book of Daniel, which was also written in time of persecution. They form a coded message to believers, that God will give them victory despite all their present troubles.

The victory of Revelation is centred on Jesus, 'the Lamb who was slain'. He is now enthroned in heaven, at the heart of its glorious worship and eternal peace. From heaven will come the New Jerusalem, God's perfect community, where God himself will live for ever among his people.

In conclusion

The New Testament presents us not only with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, but also with his amazing power to heal disease, challenge legalism, break down social barriers, and conquer death. His gospel of God's love offers a new freedom for Jews and an open invitation to Gentiles.

The New Testament shows us how people come to faith in Jesus from all sorts of backgrounds and in all kinds of circumstance. These believers form Christian communities in which they worship Jesus as Lord, face the challenges of persecution and heresy, and deal with the internal conflicts of pride, disobedience, ignorance and lack of vision. Their priorities are to commit themselves to God and each other in Christian love, to be an influence for good in their society, and to look forward to Christ's return.