New Testament literally means ‘New
Covenant’, which replaced the old covenant.
The New Testament begins with the Gospels & the history of Jesus
& goes through the most important things we need to know to live the
Christian life
The Gospels
·
Jesus was crucified & rose in three days
·
He stayed on earth for 40 days after His
resurrection
o He
appeared to 100s of people
§ To
demonstrate to His followers that He truly was alive
o He walked
the Earth is a ‘Spirit’ body
§ He ate
& could be touched
·
Doubting Thomas
§ He walked
through walls
§ This is a
window to our perfected bodies
·
This radically changed the disciples
o 10 of 11
died as martyrs
§ Andrew:
Martyrdom by crucifixion (bound, not nailed, to a cross)
§ Bartholomew
(Often identified with Nathaniel in the New Testament): Martyrdom by being
either 1. Beheaded, or 2. Flayed alive and crucified, head downward.
§ James the
Greater: Martyrdom by being beheaded or stabbed with a sword
§ James the
Lesser: Martyrdom by being thrown from a pinnacle of the Temple at Jerusalem ,
then stoned and beaten with clubs
§ John: Died
of old age, but was boiled alive & sent to Patmos
§ Jude
(Often identified with Thaddeus in the New Testament): Martyrdom by being
beaten to death with a club.
§ Matthew:
Martyrdom by being burned, stoned, or beheaded
§ Peter:
Martyrdom by crucifixion at Rome with his head downwards
§ Philip:
Martyrdom
§ Simon:
Martyrdom by crucifixion or being sawn in half.
§ Thomas:
Martyrdom by being stabbed with a spear
Acts & Paul
·
Acts
o Jesus ascended
& Peter preached
§ Led the
conversion of 3000 at Pentecost
·
Feast 50 days after Passover
§ Many signs
& wonders
o The first Christian
church is described
§ “And the
Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (2:47)
§ Roman
& Jewish persecution
o Stephen
§ Preached
to the Sanhedrin
§ Was stoned
to death by the Jews, led by Saul
o The old
covenant transition
§ The spirit
living in believers
§ Peter and
the unclean animals
·
Paul was Saul of Tarsus
o He was a
Pharisee and a son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6)
§ A Hebrew
of Hebrews of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil. 3:4-5)
o He zealously
persecuted the church
§ As a young
Pharisee, he was present when Stephen was stoned and murdered (Acts 7:58-83)
§ He
traveled with letters of arrest from the high priest and went to other cities
to waste the church of Jesus Christ (Acts 26:10-11; Gal. 1:13)
§ It was on
one of these missions that Saul was converted while on the road to Damascus.
o Was also a
Greek by culture
§ He was
familiar with many of the sayings of classical and contemporary writers
§ Consequently,
Paul was uniquely qualified to be the one chosen to carry the message of the
gospel to the Gentiles
§ “I have become
all things to all men, that I may by all means save some” (1 Cor. 9:22).
·
Conversion of Paul
o While on
the road to Damascus, Paul had an encounter with the glorified resurrected
Christ
§ He had
denied the Christian claim that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God
§ Further,
he did not believe that He had risen from the dead
o God
blinded him with scales
§ He removed
the scales when Paul realized Jesus was Christ
§ Thus, in
the synagogues of Damascus, he proclaimed Christ as Savior
·
Paul spread the Gospel of Christ
o Paul’s
three missionary journeys (13:1–21:16)
o His trials
in Jerusalem and Caesarea (21:17–26:32)
o His final
journey to Rome (27:1–28:31)
o Wrote 13 Epistles
§ Letters to
the churches
§ Mainly
instruction
§ Romans is
a dense theological argument in favor of the Gospel of Christ
The Apostles & Revelations
·
Non-Pauline Epistles
o More
instruction by various authors
o All walked
with Jesus
·
Revelations
o Says how
it will end
o God wins
& the new heaven & new earth are created
·
