Watch the Sequel

Why We’re Doing a New Testament Overview This Fall

Sequels are all the rage in movies and books these days. More and more, we are left feeling a bit confused and on edge as a long-awaited story ends with a cliffhanger and we have to wait another year (and shell out more money) to find out what happens next.

But good news! We’re doing a sequel this fall that costs nothing, but it’s guaranteed to be far better than anything you’ll see on the screen! Following up from our Old Testament Overview study last year, we’re doing a New Testament Overview this fall 2021.

When we left off in Malachi, we saw God making many, many promises through His prophets, yet we were left looking ahead to their fulfillment. We saw God do incredible things – part the Red Sea, crush mighty armies, and predict the exile and return – but were left looking forward to His doing the most incredible thing: accomplishing the redemption of sinners.

• “God with us” was predicted (Is. 7), but then years and years of silence followed.
• A Son of God conquering the nations was predicted (Dan. 7:13-14), but God’s people languished under empire after empire, from Persia to Greece to Rome.
• A servant who would suffer and pay for our sins was promised (Is. 53), but God’s people still piled up their sins, turning from idolatry to hypocrisy and legalism.
• The ultimate seed was foretold: One who would crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3), come from the family of Abraham (Gen. 12), and rule from David’s throne (2 Sam. 7). Yet the people of God lived with a king from the line of Esau (King Herod the Great), not from the line of Israel/Jacob – much less David. And even that king was a mere puppet of the ultimate power in the world, the Roman Caesar.

How could this happen? Had God forgotten His promises? Had He given up on His people?

No one likes a person who makes big promises but doesn’t deliver. We are fed up with contractors who promise their ability to get a job done this week, but delay week after week. We get frustrated when someone promises to meet us for lunch but bails at the last second. And we all do that from time to time – we all let people down!

But does God do that? Is He just like us, over-promising and under-delivering?

The Opening Credits

That’s where the Old Testament’s sequel comes in, and it opens with these words:

“An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham…”

Matthew 1:1

In the very first verse, we see the promises coming true! The Son of David, the seed of Abraham has come! Jesus, meaning “Savior,” has entered the scene: fully God, fully man.

Our New Testament Overview series starts in a different spot, however. We will begin with the letter to the Hebrews. This pivotal book acts almost as a bridge between Old and New Testament, and it spends a lot of time talking about God’s fulfillment of the covenants we studied last year.

Notice how Hebrews opens:

“Long ago, God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.”

Hebrews 1:1-2

It’s the dawning of a new era! No longer will God speak merely through prophets who are given flashes of a glorious future. Now He speaks in person through His Son Jesus, the Heir of the world, the Maker of all.

We can already tell that this is going to be one epic sequel!

Think about all that is revealed through the New Testament: Jesus’ miracles and perfectly righteous life, His death on the cross, His resurrection, the spread of the Gospel across the world, redemption, forgiveness, justification, peace, hope, love, and ultimately our future glory in a New Heaven & New Earth!

Why Are We Studying the New Testament?

Our goals are straightforward:

1. To give you a taste of each of the books and to inspire you to study them on your own.
2. To show how each book fits with the bigger picture.
3. To explain how God keeps His promises and fulfills His covenants.
4. To be challenged to LIVE differently because of what we see.

We invite you to jump into a Sunday Class if you’re not in one already and to participate in the discussion and education. We also encourage you to follow along through our Reading Plan.  We will cover the entire New Testament reading 1-3 chapters a day, and the reading assignments will tie into each week’s lesson. You can download it here.

We’ve got a lot of glorious ground to cover this fall! So join us as we dive into these glorious truths and take a “birds’-eye-view” of each book.

We are so privileged to be living in this era of the “sequel,” to see so many of God’s promises come true for us personally, and to look forward with hope knowing He will keep every promise and set every wrong right one day.