Dear Brethren,
I would like to share with you a short summary of each of the Book in the New Testament which I learned from Noah Quarshie’s book “Bird’s Eye View of the Bible”. I hope this will help you in your daily reading of God’s Word. May you never neglect your daily Quiet Time which is your everyday spiritual meal. Do not starve your soul for it needs to be nourished with God’s Word. Let us say like the Psalmist :
“O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:97
The Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew portrayed the Lord Jesus Christ as King. Matthew, a tax collector whom Jesus called to be one of His disciples, wrote the Gospel to the Jews to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was the King of the Jews and that the Messiah of Jewish prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus. In developing the theme of the Kingship of Jesus Christ, Matthew first wrote of the Person of the King, and finally the rejection of the King in His crucifixion.
The Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Mark portrayed Jesus Christ as the Servant of God. John Mark wrote it in Rome and his writing was directed to the Roman mind. To the Romans the great things of life were action, service and efficiency. Mark seized this opportunity to picture Jesus Christ as the mighty wonder-working Servant of God. Mark was characteristically a Gospel of deeds rather than of discourses.
The Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke portrayed Jesus Christ as the Son of Man. The key passage is in Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke viewed Jesus as the Saviour of every race. He traced the genealogy of Christ back to Adam to show that He belonged to humanity and is 100% man when He came to this world to save sinners.
The Gospel of John
The Gospel of John portrayed Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Thus, John traced Christ’s genealogy not from Adam, but back to God in eternity. The Gospel of John is the Gospel of Christ’s deity. To prove his case, John pointed out these witnesses concerning Christ: God the Father, Christ Himself, and His miracles, John the Baptist, the Old Testament Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit.
The Acts of the Apostles
A record of the history of the Church. The organization of the book is largely biographical focusing on personalities such as Peter, Stephen, Philip, Barnabas and Paul. Acts is a sequel to Luke.
Romans
The theme of the book is the revelation of the righteousness of God to man, and its application to his spiritual need. The Epistle can be summarized in 6 great words; condemnation, justification, sanctification, glorification, restoration, and consecration.
First and Second Corinthians
The first Epistle was mainly to correct the faults of the Corinthians Church such as party spirit, immorality, abuse of the Lord’s Supper and misuse of spiritual gifts. The second Epistle was written in which Paul defended and expounded his ministry due to opposition in the Church which challenged his apostolic authority. Paul’s ministry would vindicate his apostleship.
Galatians
This Epistle is called the great “Magna Charta of Christian Liberty”. Paul championed the cause of spiritual liberty in Christ for those who are justified by faith in Him alone. The Galatians were swept away from the true Gospel by false teachers who taught justification by obedience to the laws.
Ephesians
This Epistle is pre-eminently the Church Epistle. The first 3 chapters are doctrinal, and deal with the divine creation of the Church. The last three chapters are practical, and deal with the human conduct of the Church.
Philippians
This Epistle is pre-eminently the love letter of all Paul’s Epistles; full of tenderness and expression of affection. The predominant note of the letter is joy, rejoicing, and gladness.
Colossians
The basic purpose of the Epistle is to combat heresies by proclaiming Christ’s deity and pre-eminence in all things.
First and Second Thessalonians
The main doctrinal theme of both these Epistles is the second advent of Jesus Christ. Paul also corrected some misunderstandings the Church had such as “the day of the Lord is at hand”. This doctrine is the hope to sustain the Thessalonians under persecution.
First and Second Timothy
These are Pastoral Epistles because their contents consist of advice regarding administration of the local Church. The growth of heresy and opposition to the truth are apparent and the ministers of God must guard the truth of God’s Word. The second Epistle to Timothy was the last letter we have from Paul.
Titus
This is also a Pastoral Epistle which consists of personal instructions to Titus. Qualifications of Church leaders are clearly stated.
Philemon
This is a personal letter from Paul to Philemon to plead for a kindly reception of the returning prodigal Onesimus, a runaway slave who had repented. The letter contained all the elements of forgiveness and elevation to a new relationship,
Hebrews
The only anonymous Epistle of the New Testament but its thoughts and arguments are clearly Pauline. The theme of the Epistle is built around the word “better” to show how God’s revelation in Christ is superior to the Law via the Levitical priesthood.
James
The Epistle bears a striking similarity to the teachings of Jesus Christ, particularly to the Sermon on the Mount. It is a treatise on practical Christianity. James is not as anxious about doctrine as he is about duty.
First Peter
Peter wrote the Epistle to encourage the sojourners of the dispersion going through fiery trials of the sufficiency of God’s grace for them.
Second Peter and Jude
Both these Epistles were written with the same purpose of warning against false teachers. Peter’s key words were “knowledge” and “remembrance”. For Jude, he urged his readers to “earnestly contend for the faith”.
Three Epistles of John
The first Epistle majors on the fundamental terms as “truth”, “death”, “life”, “knowledge”, “love”, “light” to warn against false Gnosticism teaching. The theme is the Christian’s fellowship with God through Christ. The second Epistle is directed to “the elect lady and her children” and urges Christian fellowship in brotherly love. The third Epistle is addressed to Gaius dealing with entertainment of missionary brethren.
Revelation
The key to the book is in Rev 1:19 which tells us Revelation has 3 portions; namely, chapter 1 of the things which had been seen; chapters 2 and 3 of the things which are (i.e. the 7 Churches that existed in Asia Minor then); and chapters 4 to 22 of the things which shall be hereafter.
Elder John Leong