Unit Two: Finding Your Way Through the New Testament

Lesson One: The Purpose of the New Testament

When you look through a Bible, you will find a lot of small books. They are written by different authors, and they have very different styles. But they all have one basic story. They tell us about God and about ourselves.

These books fall into two major sections, which we call the Old Testament and the New Testament. The word testament is an old word. Lawyers like to use the word when someone declares something to be true.

Like a Last Will and Testament. That’s the piece of paper that tells a lawyer how someone wanted to divide their property. The person isn’t around to speak for themselves, but they left a testament that will speak for them.

The two testaments in our Bibles speak about two different time periods, and they fit together like two pieces in a puzzle. In a way, the Old Testament looks forward to the New, and the New Testament completes the Old.  

Before we connect the two, let’s get familiar with the New Testament. There must be a reason to write all those little books and bundle them together in a Bible. And there ought to be clues somewhere that will tell us the reason.

And there are. Let’s look at one of the early books, the gospel written by a dude named Luke.  

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah…
Luke 1:1-5

So there’s one clue. This guy, Luke, was writing his book to tell a particular story. Before he gets into the story, he tells the reader why he’s writing the book.

If you look a little farther in the book of Luke, you’ll run into something that we might think of as the first Christmas. It’s the story of Jesus and all the characters that were there at his birth.

That should tell us something. The gospels are the books at the beginning of the New Testament, and they all tell us about Jesus. So maybe this New Testament will have something to do with Jesus.

And it does. The big thing that requires a second testament is the birth and the ministry of Jesus. The Old Testament told us that something big was going to happen, and it happened in the gospels. 

And as we read through the gospels and continue through the rest of the New Testament, those books will explain so much of what God has told us in the Old Testament.

So that’s a purpose of the New Testament, especially in the gospels. By the way, Luke mentions that others were trying to tell the story, and we see evidence of that in the presence of four gospels included in the Bible.

They tell the same story but they include different details, because their audiences were different. They cared about different things. 

Besides, the story was so big. So much happened. One person couldn’t tell it all.

Check this out. This comes from the gospel written by a guy named John. 

Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:30-31

We see two things here. One is the reminder that the story of Jesus is huge. Nobody could include all the details. For example, nobody bothered to tell us what he had for breakfast every day. That would be too much and too unimportant.

And that wasn’t the purpose. John tells you why he wrote the book. He wants you to get something, and it isn’t just the details of the story.

John wanted you to have life.

So the reason for the New Testament is to help us find new life, and that life begins with Jesus. You can say that Jesus is the big theme of the New Testament.

Mark will agree. He wrote one of those gospel books, and this is a pretty strong hint about his purpose.

The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mark 1:1

Mark will tell you that the New Testament is almost always talking about Jesus, even when it seems to be talking about something else.

And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
Mark 1:4-8

Mark talks about John before he talks about Jesus, but not for long. This guy John, who baptized people, was just a way to introduce Jesus.

In the same way, the Old Testament is a big, long, detailed, sometimes boring introduction for Jesus. And when Jesus comes, the history of the Old Testament and the ministry of John all make sense.

But let’s find more about the purpose of the little books in the New Testament. We’ve got the big picture, but there’s more.

Here’s a book that has a lot to say about relationships. Check out this passage from a little, tiny letter at the end of the New Testament. 

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:1-3

What kind of relationships do you see here?

This is why churches invite people to come on Sunday morning. We want people to have a relationship with God.

That’s another clue to why the New Testament was written.

But let’s tack on one more thing. Here’s John again, in another even littler letter.

It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
3 John 3-4

This is serious stuff. We already discovered that John wants everyone who reads his little letters to have a relationship with God.

Now we see that he wants everyone to do right. He wants us to live our lives as if we knew God.

It may not seem like a big deal, but it’s an important piece of information. The New Testament is not a trivia book. It isn’t enough just to memorize the verses.

You have to do more. You have to live the truth that you discover here.

Which suggests a question. How do we do that?

We’ve already learned a few things. We are invited to have a relationship with God. If that is something you want, then tell him. Or ask the pastor or your Sunday School teacher to help you do that.

And then, pay attention. We’ll find out more as we work our way through the New Testament.

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