A Summary of the New Testament - Term Paper Example

? Full A Summary of the New Testament The New Testament narrates in the gospels or the first four books of the New Testament how God showed His great love to the people He created by giving His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross for the remission of sins so that men could be reconciled with Him. The basic reference to the claim of the Messianic nature of Jesus is the Old Testament where verses from it are quoted by authors of the books of the New Testament to prove that Jesus is the long awaited promised Savior of the Jews. It also narrates how salvation was given to the Gentiles or those outside of the Jewish citizenry in the book of Acts and the epistles or letters especially of Paul for instance, to the Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians. Love, which is the focal message of the Bible is widely discussed by the different authors and explicated in various ways. Warnings are given to the audiences about the end of the world, the second life and the doom of evil men in the gospels and discuss at large the kingdom of heaven or the famous millennial reign of Jesus in the book of Revelation written by John the beloved or the apostle. The gospels written by Matthew and Luke narrate the immaculate conception of Jesus through the virgin maiden named Mary, who was at that time engaged to be married to Joseph. Thoughts of breaking away from her silently because of the shame the circumstance could bring them were not implemented by Joseph because of his vision of an angel who explained to him that the baby Mary bore was from the Holy Spirit so instead he married her. Isaiah 7:14 gives this prophecy and was reiterated in Matthew 1:23. As popularly depicted during Christmas season, Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem for the census ordered by Caesar Augustus for the entire Roman world (Luke 2:1-7). This is referred as the fulfillment of the prophecy in Micah 5:2 as echoed by Matthew in chapter 2 verse 6 saying, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd My people Israel”. The baby was borne and was named Jesus whose last record of his childhood was when he was found at the temple questioning and sharing with the teachers the word of God. While the aforementioned gospels started their narration from the birth of Jesus, Mark and John the apostle meet up with them in the start of Jesus’ ministry only giving a few lines to trace back the objective of the Savior’s coming to the world with the introduction of John the Baptist. After Jesus was baptized, He was led to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-10, Mark 1:9-13, Luke 4:1-13) and when he successfully overcame the temptations, He went back to His town and started performing miracles, the turning of water to wine being the first of them (John 2:1-11). Other miracles which have been discussed as well in the four books like the healing of the sick, driving out of demons from possessed people, raising of the dead and feeding of many people. The most famous of which is the feeding of the five thousand from the lunch box of a young boy which contained two fishes and five loaves of bread, found in all the gospels (Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:5-15). The most important objective of the four gospels is the reason why Jesus came to this earth, that is, to die on the cross so that the sins of men will be forgiven. After calling his twelve disciples and training them, performing many miracles, teaching and preaching the word of God for three years, Jesus was condemned to die by the teachers of the law, accusing him of blasphemy, claiming to be God because He claimed to be the Son of God. Judas, one of His disciples betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and sent the soldiers to the Mount of Olives for His arrest. Jesus was then brought to Caesar for his conviction and was sentenced to death which started His sufferings under the Roman soldiers, being beaten, mocked, spat on and laughed at. He was forced to carry His cross to Mount Calvary amidst the multitudes who went to watch His crucifixion, being beaten along the way, hungry, thirsty, tired and bleeding. Despite all these, Jesus clung to His message of showing love to one’s enemies, being merciful to those who need salvation and His belief that He alone can save the people. The four gospels did not only narrate how Jesus suffered and died on the cross but also gave account to His resurrection, showing Himself to his disciples for forty days and teaching them as He did before His death, promising them the Holy Spirit before going up to heaven as witnessed by His followers. The book of Acts picks from where the gospels ended and narrates the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise for the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost where all the believers gathered in “one place when suddenly there was a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind filled the whole house and there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire and sat upon each one of them. They were all empowered and they started fulfilling the works Jesus gave them, teaching the word of God, proclaiming the message of repentance for the second coming of Jesus to take all who obey Him but condemning to hell the wicked who would not receive His word as truth, healing the sick and performing miracles as Jesus did. They helped each other not only with the preaching of God’s word but also financially, selling their possessions to provide for the needy. They lived amidst indignation against them yet showing the love Christ has shown them like Stephen who cried to God “Lord, do not charge them with this sin” while He was being stoned to death by those who did not like his preaching (Acts 7:54-60). Present during that time was Saul, a Roman soldier who was also a Jew (Acts 22:3), zealous for the religion of Judaism, persecuting the early Christians and using his authority to kill them and destroy the brotherhood of the Christians. He encountered Jesus on his way to Damascus in one of his missions to get the members of the “Way” as prisoners. On the road, He was blinded by a flash of light from heaven and Jesus made Himself known to Saul, gave Him instructions of how he will regain his sight (Acts 9:1-9). This started his extreme life as a follower of Jesus, preaching to those who once were his allies and going against those who helped him persecute the Christians. He preached the message of salvation to his fellow Jews as did the other followers and worked in unity with the disciples for the spread of the gospel. He suffered cold and hunger in prisons frequently because he refused to deny his Lord, has been flogged more severely than the other disciples and have been exposed to death time and again (2 Corinthians 22:23) yet he brought the message of salvation to the gentiles as he was ordained to do (Acts 9:15). The Pauline epistles are the letters of Paul to the gentiles and three individuals in the person of Timothy his disciple, Philemon and Titus which generally exhorts on them to live as Christ would have them in their individual lives regardless of their status or circumstances. He discussed in part his experiences only to encourage them from the point of view of one who has known hardship in bringing the good news to the world. Another kind of letter called the Johannine epistles were written by John the beloved whose themes are about the love of God, reflected in the way he constructed his sentences and felt through the tone of his letters who unlike Paul was careful with the way he delivered his messages. Whatever the tone and message the two apostles had, their aim was for the teaching of the church and their empowerment to live holy lives as God wants them to. Lastly, the book of Revelation which was written by John the beloved when he was exiled to Patmos, reveals the future reign of the Christians and all those who have gone before them before the death of Jesus like the patriarchs, in the kingdom of God. The text uses several figurative languages and symbolisms which are difficult to understand by laymen and poses many questions with the pictures it paints because it speaks more of a world that no one has ever seen, making it quite vague. In summary, Revelation speaks of the future reign of Jesus after destroying the enemy, Satan and throwing him along with his followers in the lake of burning sulfur where they will be tormented day and night (Revelation 201:10). The book prophesies of a new Jerusalem where heaven and earth will pass away, changed by a new heaven and earth with a new Jerusalem coming down from heaven portrayed as a beautifully dressed bride. It describes an era where “the dwelling of God is with men and where He lives with them, they will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God”. It describes a life where there would be no death, mourning, crying or pain because the old order of things passed away and everything is made new (Revelation 21:1-4). The book promises a life that is far different from the one people are experiencing in the present where there are a lot of imperfections causing the pains they feel. In conclusion, the New Testament not only brings hope to the Jews but also to the gentiles of a life that is perfect, one that everyone would desire but for the price of giving up pride and believing in Jesus, repenting of one’s sins and living in the leadership of the Holy Spirit in order to live a righteous life. It discusses the fallen state of men through one man named Adam and how it is to be saved through the seed of Adam, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:12) and offers a world that would be a dream come true, where everyone is equal, no prejudices, no hardships, no pain but united in the presence of God, enjoying His goodness and grace. Reference The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1985. Print. Read More