The students will be able to explain that the New Testament was written so all could know that Jesus is God's Son and that by believing in Him we can have eternal life.
Introduction: Insert pictures of Jesus' life on earth (such as His birth, death, healings, with the children) into a plastic picture cube. Use this to open your class session. Let the children pick out the important figure in each picture. Then explain that Jesus is the most important person in the New Testament part of our Bible. All the pictures they looked at were told about in the New Testament.
Climax: Through studying the New Testament, we can know Jesus and God's plan for the way to receive eternal life.
Conclusion: The New Testament is the complete revelation of God's plan for mankind's eternal salvation through His Son, Jesus.
Response: The students will be able to explain that the New Testament shows us how to receive salvation and live a Christian life that will qualify us for Heaven.
The names "Old" and "New Testament" first appeared around the close of the second century. They were thus named to classify the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. There are twenty-seven books in the New Testament and it is believed that all were written in the first century. Of course they were individual articles or letters when first written. The combined group, which we know as the New Testament, made its appearance in the second century. The first four books of the New Testament are called the Gospels, but are actually four records of one Gospel. The fifth book, the Acts of the Apostles, gives a short account of the spread of the Gospel from Jerusalem to Rome. Of the next twenty-one, thirteen bear the name of Paul, one the name of James, two have Peter's name, and one the name of Jude. Of the other four, three are considered to be John's writings and many scholars believe that Paul also wrote the Book of Hebrews. The Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation which is primarily a book of prophecy.
While some may wonder if there were other inspired writings, the child of God does not need to worry that anything has been lost that would be necessary to take us on our journey from earth to Heaven. We have a very well-documented account of the plan of redemption and need only to follow the instructions that are in the Word to have a truly satisfying life here below and a knowledge that the Lord will take us Home to be with Him.
Use the same idea as was related in lesson 36b for the OT poster. This time prepare a large poster with the letters NT (see Patterns). Ask the children to suggest stories and events from the New Testament that can be written into these larger letters. (If they happen to mention something from the Old Testament, try to suggest a New Testament happening that might be similar. You don't want to scare them off from participating.) Fill the poster with New Testament details. Present to the children the fact that the New Testament is filled with the wonderful story of Jesus and His love. You can then put the poster on display or have a drawing to see which child gets to keep the poster.
Challenge the children to learn some facts that are found in the New Testament. Have them take turns spinning and answering questions suggested by the game wheel (see Patterns). Allow them to ask their teachers to help, but the teachers must refer to their Bibles when helping. The six categories are, Name, Book, Verse, Meaning, Before/After, Story. Ask such questions as, "What was the name of Jesus' mother?" "What is the last book of the Bible?" "What is today's memory verse?" "What is the meaning of prayer?" "The four books before Acts are called the Gospels. Name them." "What story does a star remind you of?" Remember that the New Testament is the story of Jesus, so include Him in most of your questions.
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