The New Testament actually means ‘The New Covenant’. A ‘covenant’ was an agreement between two parties. In the original language (Greek) the meaning of a Testament is similar to a ‘will’ effective upon death. The Testament was effective upon the death of Jesus Christ and was sealed by his blood (Lk 22:20; 1Cor 11:25; Heb 8:7-13).

The New Testament is comprised of twenty-seven different books. It was written from about A.D. 45-70 in the most common language of the day a Koine Greek. This language was basically the world-wide international language. Each of the books of the New Testament were originally distributed separately and were later brought together in a logical order. They can be classed as : Historical Books, Pauline Epistles and non-Pauline Epistles/Revelation.

The Historical Books make up 60% of the New Testament. They are placed at the beginning of it to provide a backdrop (from the Old Testament) and an introduction to the Epistles and the rest of the New Testament.

The Gospel means 'glad tidings' or 'good news' about Jesus Christ. They were not the first or only books to be written about Jesus (see Luke 1:1), but they were recognised by the early church as inspired by God and thus become a part of the canon. By the second century, these four records had been given a distinguishing: "According to" followed by the author’s name, in order to separate them from spurious works.

The Gospels are like and were like no other biographical books. They all virtually leave out the first thirty years of Christ's life, and highlight the last week. In all, only about fifty days of Jesus' ministry are dealt with in all the gospels.

But why four gospels? Some have suggested that four is significant because of its Biblical importance and relationship to the 'earth' (NB "four" often speaks numerically in the Bible of the world or earth- four winds, four seasons, four corners, four points on a compass, the Lord described four types of soil in the parable of the sower). It could be that the Holy Spirit has given us four accounts of the life of Christ to emphasize that the heavenly has become earthly.

It is apparent though that each gospel emphasizes something different (NB Ezek 1:10; Rev 4:6-8):

- portrays Christ as the Lion (strength, authority)

- Christ as King of a Kingdom (frequent referrals to 'the kingdom of Heaven')

- portrays Christ as the Bull (service, power)

- Christ as the servant.

- portrays Christ as the Man (wisdom, character)

- portrays Christ as the Eagle (deity, person)

- Christ as God.

As Christianity spread, so did the oral (spoken) account of Christ's life. But as it reached beyond Israel, this became inadequate and more dependence was put upon the written word.

This book is divided into two obvious sections, tracing the lives of firstly Peter, then Paul. Originally it was the second volume to the gospel of Luke which was written to show that Christianity posed no political threat to Rome. It can be rightly called the Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Church.

At last people were able to enjoy all the pleasures of sin such as immorality, greed, gluttony and addictive habits - all with supposed divine approval! Such was the thinking of some of the first Christians in the early church - until one stinging, razor sharp letter after another arrived, both delivered and received with fierce fear and trembling. Paul, the apostle, had arrived so stirred and moved by the Holy Spirit that it erupted into a volcanic fury of words that at times was almost awesome in its gentleness. Epistles were unheard of as being used of God to convey a divine message until Paul started them. He wrote thirteen epistles (letters) in all. Their basic purpose was to bring teaching and correction. While they covered very practical issues they have sparked lofty theological debate down through the ages. Nine of his letters were written to churches and four to individuals. They are arranged with letters to the churches first, followed by letters to individuals in order of decreasing length.

These eight letters only make up 10% of the New Testament, yet make an awesome contribution to Christian truth and doctrine. While the Pauline epistles received the title of their audiences, these were given the title of their authors. Apart from James, most were probably written after Paul's death, and deal with the issues that Paul had prophetically feared would enter the church. These included corruption, wrong doctrine and false apostles (see Acts 20:29-30; 1Tim 4:3-4).

Revelation is the most controversial book in the New Testament, if not the entire Bible. It is known as the Apocalypse because it is a 'prophetic revelation'. Written by John near the end of the first century, it culminated the entire Bible showing that since Creation there has been One on the Throne in complete control. It reveals Christ as the Heavenly Lamb of God who finally defeats Satan and his work. It gives the awesome announcement of sure judgement declaring:

Rev 21:8 NKJV

It also pronounces the glorious reign of King Jesus with His bride in the merged New Heaven and Earth forever.

Amen.