The New Testament is almost entirely about Jesus, but it is also about you and me. It is the greatest love story of all time. This love story is both deep and wide: deep in love and wide in promise.
According to Guinness World Records, the Bible is the best-selling book in history. What has made it so popular? It is more than just a book divided into two parts called the New and Old Testaments.
The Bible is full of captivating stories with profound meanings for our lives. There are the Old Testament and the New Testament. Both have their value and place in history, but here we will focus on the New Testament. What is the story and meaning of what is called the New Testament?
Read more : 5 reasons to read the Old Testament
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General Principles of the New Testament
The New Testament begins with four books called the Gospels. These four books focus on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Three of these four books are called the Synoptic Gospels. They are named so because of their similarity or parallelism with each other and they provide a comprehensive summary of Jesus’s life and ministry. The Gospel of John is written uniquely and contains different stories compared to the other three Gospels. The remaining books detail the events after Jesus’s resurrection and his return to heaven. The initial details seem simple and lifeless until we grasp the meaning of the New Testament.
The Main Story of the New Testament
The New Testament is all about Jesus, but it is also about you and me. It is the greatest love story of all time. This love story is both deep and wide: deep in love and wide in promise. God created man in His own image, and when sin entered the world, His heart broke. Because of His great love, He promised to send a savior, whom He called Immanuel (God with us). Doing this cost God a great deal, but His love is deeper. He sent His Son Jesus to become human, endure all the righteous judgment of humanity, and reveal a great mystery.
Unveiling the Plan
How God would redeem humanity was meticulously planned from the foundation of the earth (Revelation 13:8). He gradually unveiled key parts through His prophets in the Old Testament. Isaiah states that He would be born of a virgin and be God with us: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
Micah states that He would be born in Bethlehem from the tribe of Judah: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2).
Ezekiel 34 states that He would be the good shepherd and God with us: “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them… I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord.
I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak… I will place over them one shepherd… I will make a covenant of peace with them… They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them… Then they will know that I the Lord their God am with them…’”
Zechariah states that He would be pierced and would release the spirit of grace: “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son” (Zechariah 12:10).
There are many other prophecies that God gave through His prophets, and Jesus fulfilled all of them.
Mysteries Revealed
There are many mysteries in the Bible to be discovered. One such mystery is how wide and complete Jesus’s salvation is for anyone who wants to be saved (John 3:16).
“The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them, God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27). “No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7-8).
This mystery is unbreakably established in the New Testament.
The New Testament Is More Than a Title
The term “New Testament” is not just a title for a part of the Bible. The words “new” and “testament” both have distinct meanings and applications. Many have looked at the term “testament” and considered it to mean a will. And to some extent, this is correct. However, the more appropriate word is “covenant”; both in translation and application.
The New Testament is a new covenant that God Himself made for humanity. This new covenant replaces (or is superior to) the old covenant. Where the old covenant was based on law and deeds (our adherence to laws and so forth), the new covenant is based solely on God’s deeds (an unconditional contract). Jesus established it. “In the same way, after the supper, he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you'” (Luke 22:20). This new covenant changes everything for us.
The Mystery of God’s Mercy
The Lord took all the risks and granted us a priceless gift of mercy. “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (Romans 5:17).
The term is “unilateral contract.” This is a legal term for a binding agreement that is made purely for the benefit of the individual receiving it. The one making it does so without any promised benefit or advantage for themselves. It is a gift… righteousness offered as a gift, a grace, an unconditional contract.
This gift is guaranteed solely in Christ.
“For it is declared: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’ The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: ‘The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: You are a priest forever.’ Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant” (Hebrews 7:17-22).
With all that God has done for us, we have only one thing to do—choose.
