New Testament Big Ideas

1 Thessolonians

Jesus "died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live with him" (5:10). We therefore trust that God will set the world right (4:15-18), reframing our lives theologically.

Galatians

We are rectified (set right) by Christ's faithfulness that rescues the cosmos from the anti-God forces of Sin and Death and brings a new creation that relativizes all social identities and frees us to live into the life of the Spirit.

1 Corinthians

Jesus' resurrection turns the wisdom of the world upside down, motivates his followers toward unity, and reveals that the God of love will be "all in all."

2 Corinthians

Because Jesus entered our condition to reconcile the cosmos to God (2 Cor 5:21), suffering and poverty are considered marks of God's Kingdom.

Romans

God is faithful to Abraham by creating a New Humanity that signals the future liberation of creation from bondage

Philemon

Because of the gospel, Paul reclaims Onesimus' humanity, calls for reconciliation, and inverts the social hierarchy.

Phillipians

In Jesus, God emptied Himself to take on the form of a slave. This results in the formation of a community that is a colony of heaven on earth, focused on all that is true, honorable, just, and excellent.

Colossians

No part of human existence remains untouched by the loving rule of the risen Jesus, because Christ is all and in all. He has reconciled all things to himself, and hidden us in himself.

Ephesians

Because Jesus is the fullness of him who fills all in all, now raised above every rule, authority, and power, he puts to death hostility and makes one new humanity out of two.

James

True religion is to follow Jesus' interpretation of Torah: We are to love our neighbor by caring for the orphan and the widow, and to be unstained by the cosmos.

Gospel of Mark

Setting a quick pace, the Messiah Jesus keeps his identity a secret, casts out demons, heals many, and announces the good news of the Kingdom

Gospel of Matthew

Jesus is the New Moses who fulfills the Law. He is the culmination of Israel's history and dies as the King of the Jews.

Gospel of Luke

Jesus proclaims good news to the poor and spends time with outcasts and sinners. He tells stories about the Kingdom of God where lost things are found and confronts the powers of darkness in his death.

Gospel of John

In this way God loved the world, that he became the truly human one in order to bring the eternal life of knowing the father to us and teach us how to truly love.

Acts

The life of Jesus is acted out in the life of his community, performed through the wonders of the Holy Spirit, redistributed of property, and forgiving enemies.

Hebrews

Jesus is the exact representation of God's essence and worthy of total trust. The entirety of the Scriptures are expositions of this reality, including Moses and Melchizedek.

Revelation

Jesus is unveiled to be the slain lamb who has authority over history, and every human kingdom is unmasked for its corruption. We are called to be conquerors through non-violent love, as we await the ultimate New Creation.