HISTORY OF REDEMPTION: NEW TESTAMENT
MTG # / DATE / TOPIC / REQUIRED READINGS / RECOMMENDED READINGS
Meeting 1 / Sept 9 / ACT IV: REDEMPTION ACCOMPLISHED
Scene 1 (Part 1): The King Has Come
Kingdom Themes Fulfilled / John 1:1-18
Matt 1
Luke 1:26-80 / Yarbrough
(All – 32 pgs)
Meeting 2 / Sept 16 / ACT IV: REDEMPTION ACCOMPLISHED
Scene 1 (Part 2): The King Has Come
Kingdom Titles Embodied / John 1:29-51
Mark 1:1-11
Luke 2:1-38 / Wright (ch. 1)
Meeting 3 / Sept 23 / ACT IV: REDEMPTION ACCOMPLISHED
Scene 2: The Kingdom Inaugurated
Proclamation and Demonstration of the Kingdom / Luke 4:16-21
Mark 4-5 / Wright (ch. 2)
Meeting 4 / Sept 30 / ACT IV: REDEMPTION ACCOMPLISHED
Scene 3: The King’s Cross
The Crucifixion / Mark 14-15 / Wright (ch. 3)
Meeting 5 / Oct 7 / ACT IV: REDEMPTION ACCOMPLISHED
Scene 4: The King Lives
The Resurrection / John 20
Matt 27:62-28:15
1 Cor. 15:1-23 / Wright (ch. 4)
Meeting 6 / Oct 14 / ACT V: REDEMPTION APPLIED
Scene 1: The King Reigns
The Ascension and Sending of the Spirit / Acts 1:1-11
Acts 2
Eph 1:15-23
Eph 4:1-10 / Wright (ch. 5)
Meeting 7 / Oct 21 / ACT V: REDEMPTION APPLIED
Scene 2: The Kingdom Expands
The Gospel Spreads to the Gentiles / Acts 9:1-19
Acts 10
Acts 19:1-10 / Wright (ch. 7)
Meeting 8 / Oct 28 / ACT V: REDEMPTION APPLIED
Scene 3: Living in the Kingdom
Thy Kingdom Come… / Rom. 6:1-11
2 Cor. 5:11-21
Rom. 13:8-14 / Wright (chs. 8-9)
Meeting 9 / Nov 4 / ACT VI: REDEMPTION CONSUMMATED
Scene 1: The Return of the King
Resurrection and Judgment / Rev. 20
2 Th. 2:1-12
1 Th. 4:13-18
Matt 25:31-46 / Wright (chs. 10, 11)
Meeting 10 / Nov 11 / ACT VI: REDEMPTION CONSUMMATED
Scene 2: The Eternal Kingdom
The New Heavens and the New Earth / Rev. 21-22:5
Is. 65:17-25
Rom. 8:18-25
2 Pet. 3:1-13 / Wright (chs. 6, 12)
· Meeting Time and Location
The class will meet on Tuesday nights, from 7:30-9:00 PM in Alexander Hall.
· Recommended and Required Reading:
The recommended reading will reinforce some of the key emphases of the class and provide further historical and cultural background for the New Testament itself. The Yarborough text offers an overview of the books of the New Testament and includes some helpful insight into the 1st century context in which the NT was written. The Wright text is a collection of sermons: the initial sermons trace the essential themes of six New Testament books, and the latter sermons explore six key New Testament themes. Though Wright’s explanations of Christ’s atonement and God’s justice are not always fully satisfactory, he does an especially good job of helping us to understand the New Testament theme of “The Kingdom of God.” His reflections are thoughtful, fresh, and applicable at both an intellectual and devotional level.
For students taking the class for LITE credit, there will also be a few required selections from the New Testament, which will directly relate to our topic for discussion and foster familiarity with key passages of Scripture. Your class experience will be greatly enhanced by reading these Scripture passages prior to each week’s session.
· Recommended Texts:
o Robert W. Yarbrough, The Kregel Pictorial Guide to the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2010).
http://store.kregel.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=2070
o N.T. Wright, Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014).
http://www.amazon.com/Following-Jesus-Biblical-Reflections-Discipleship/dp/0802871208/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1406689946&sr=8-8&keywords=nt+wright
· Required Primary Source Readings (for LITE credit)
See table above. (Subject to modification up to 1st Class Date, Sept. 9).
SUBJECT MATTER FOR THE COURSE:
1) A general overview of the New Testament.
2) A particular focus on the Biblical drama of redemption and the redemptive-historical scenes that drive the plan of salvation forward.
3) A consistent relation of the New Testament story to its fulfillment and future hope in Christ and its application for the present day.
*The purpose of this class is not to tell the whole story of the New Testament. There is a well-known book that already does that…Rather, our goal is to trace the plotline, to highlight key scenes, and to recognize the underlying story of redemption that runs throughout God’s revelation. In other words, we hope to drive in the fence posts so that we will have a clear line along which to lay the fence throughout future biblical study.
GOALS OF THE COURSE:
1) To gain a basic familiarity with the New Testament.
2) To gain an integrated understanding of the unfolding storyline of the New Testament.
3) To begin to develop redemptive-historical thinking in all areas of life (in other words, to grasp the big-picture story that God is authoring in our world and to recognize our place within it)
4) To grow in an understanding of the central focus of redemptive-history, that is the gospel.It is our desire that you will grow in your understanding of it, love for it, and commitment to it in your life and ministry.
5) To develop doctrinally sound teachers and leaders within the church who can both entrust what they have learned to others and steer the church according to the revealed word of God.
COMMITMENT LEVEL REQUIRED:
This is not a casual commitment. While the workload is not heavy, we do expect you to come to class ready to participate. Below, you will find the basic expectations:
*Attendance: Once/weekmeeting lasting no more than 90 minutes.If you end uphaving to miss asession, of course, that is understandable. Nonetheless, the commitment to attendance should not be taken casually, for this is neither good for you nor for the rest of the class. For those taking the course for LITE credit, attendance at 7 out of the 10 classes is required.
*Assignments: The recommended reading is optional but beneficial. For those taking the course for LITE credit, the New Testament Scripture readings are required on an honor system basis.
WHY STUDY THE NEW TESTAMENT?
1. The New Testament Fulfills What the Old Testament Promises
The God who reveals himself to us in the Bible is not a God who merely makes promises. He keeps them. The point of the New Testament is to crystalize in our hearts and minds that the God who made promises to his people throughout the millennia before Christ has kept those promises in Christ. God’s promises to provide a Prophet greater than Moses (Deut. 18:15), a King in the line of David (2 Sam 7:13-14), a Servant to atone for sin (Isa 53:4-6), and a Savior to deliver God’s people (Isa 25:1-12), are all brought to glorious fruition in Jesus Christ. The kingdom that is patterned and promised in the Old Testament - God’s people, living in God’s place, under God’s rule – becomes reality in the New. The New Testament leaves no doubt that God is the great “I AM,” who is faithful to do what he says. We can trust Him.
Studying the New Testament in light of the Old Testament is then far from an academic study. Properly read, the New Testament should constantly prompt us to ask, “Will I trust Him? Will I follow Him? Will I believe the promise keeping God?”
2. The New Testament Reveals What It Means to Live As God’s Redeemed People
The goal of God’s redemptive work throughout history is to restore his creation from the effects of sin upon it. In his obedient life, sacrificial death, and life-giving resurrection, Jesus has accomplished all that is necessary for our salvation and the restoration of his creation. He has triumphed over our sin and inaugurated a new era of salvation and recovery. And yet while that redemption has already come, it has yet to come in its fullness in our lives and in the world. Though we are positionally holy in Christ, we await the day when we will be fully, finally, and personally holy like Christ. Though Jesus’ resurrection is the firstfruits of restoration of a world under the curse and judgment of sin, we await the day of the harvest when Jesus will make all things new. Ours is the age of the already/not yet, when God’s kingdom and redemption has already broken into the world but has yet to be revealed in all of its fullness and glory. D-Day has occurred but V-Day is still to come. During this age, God continues his mission of gathering to himself people of every tribe, nation, and tongue.
How we are to live in this age as the redeemed people of God is much of the focus of the New Testament. We study the New Testament then to discover how God would have us live between Christ’s advents and participate with Him as witnesses to and agents of His redemptive mission in the world.
3. The New Testament Resets Our Hope
“Now these three remain,” says Paul, “faith, hope, and love” (1 Cor. 13:13). Faith is the means through which we appropriate the salvation accomplished for us in Christ. Love is the outward expression of that faith, which marks the life of God’s people. And hope is the confident expectation that God’s future kingdom will come. Hope is a settled conviction about the future that gives meaning and shape to life in the present. If you work in your job in the hope of one day living on the beach in retirement, that hope will shape your life directing your priorities, time, and energies. Your life takes on a new look because of your hope for what the future will bring. The same pattern is true on a larger scale for the Christian.
The New Testament forces us to ask ourselves the question “What is my ultimate hope? What is the future reality that is shaping how I live my life here and now?” Studying the New Testament helps us then to reset our ultimate hope on the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ. No elected party, no economic scheme, no job promotion, no successful relationship, no retirement on the beach can bring about the great reality for which we hope and wait: the whole world being put right, when God’s kingdom will finally come on earth as it is in heaven. This is the hope in which we can trust because this hope will not disappoint.
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