Panoramic Bible Study Lesson 1 - Introduction
FOREWORD
It was in 1950 that a challenge was given to Rev. A. Donald Magaw to reopen the Port Monmouth Mission Community Church, which had been closed for about 30 years. For more than 44 years, he was the pastor of the church until God called him home in February 1994 after a long battle with cancer.
All of his life, he gave of himself and his meager finances to anyone in need. In order to support the family, he had a small print shop. When he went home to be with the Lord, he left his widow with a lot of memories, but not much else (not even enough insurance to pay for his funeral). He never sought to make money preaching or printing for the work of the Lord--in fact, he served as pastor all those years without being paid a salary, and at his print shop he printed for any Christian church for free.
Over the years, God blessed him and the church. The following notes are some guides that may be useful in understanding the Word of God.
The majority of these notes were written by the late Rev. A. Donald Magaw and have been compiled and edited by myself. These notes may be reproduced in part or in whole for the Glory of God, provided credit is given and absolutely no charge is made for their distribution and use. Please feel free to copy and distribute these notes for the glory of God. For information on receiving copies, contact the Pastor.
In His Service and Love,
Rev. Donald A. Magaw, Pastor
Port Monmouth Community Church
78 Main Street and Lydia Place
Port Monmouth, NJ 07758
Pastor Donald A. Magaw went Home to be with Jesus on January 8, 2022. He is missed but we continue to learn from him and his father and will continue the work of the church until the day we will all be reunited.
Pastor Wanda M. Wohlin
INTRODUCTION
The Bible portrays Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world; God given, 2 Tim. 3:10-17; should be treasured, Deuteronomy 11:1-9; Josh. 1:8,9: should be kept, Psalm 119:9-18; a lamp, Psalm 119:105-117; food, Isaiah 55:1-11; Matthew 4:4; fulfilled, Luke 24:36-45; complete, Revelation 22:8-21.
Behind and beneath the Bible, above and beyond the Bible, is the God of the Bible. The Bible is God’s written revelation of His will to men. Its central theme is salvation through Jesus Christ. The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew (a few short passages in Aramaic). About 100 years before the Christian era the entire Old Testament was translated into Greek. The New Testament was written in the Greek languages. The word Bible comes from the Greek word 'biblios.' The word testament means covenant or agreement. The Old Testament is the covenant God made with man about his salvation before Christ came. The New Testament is the agreement God made with man about his salvation after Christ came to earth.
In the Old Testament we find the covenant of law. In the New Testament we find the covenant of grace, which came through Jesus Christ. One led into the other (Galatians 3:17-25). The Old commences what the New completes. The Old Testament gathers around Sinai, the New Testament around Calvary. The Old is associated with Moses, The New with Christ (John 1:17).
The New Testament was written to reveal to us the character and teachings of Jesus Christ, the mediator of the New Covenant, by at least 8 men; 4 of whom, Matthew, John, Peter and Paul, were apostles; 2, Mark and Luke, were companions of the apostles; and 2, James and Jude, were brothers of Jesus. The books were written at various times during the second half of the century.
The Old Testament begins with God (Genesis 1:1). The New Testament begins with Christ (Matthew 1:1). From Adam to Abraham we have the history of the human race. From Abraham to Christ we have the history of the chosen race. From Christ on, we have the history of the church. The Old Testament is the foundation; the New Testament is the superstructure. A foundation is of no value unless a building is built upon it. A building is impossible unless there is a foundation. So the Old and the New Testament are essential to one another.
The Bible is one book, one history, and one story, His-story. Behind 10,000 events stands God, the builder of history, the maker of the ages. Eternity bounds the one side, eternity bounds the other side, and time is in between--Genesis, origins, Revelation, endings, and all the way between is God working things out. You can go down to the minutest detail everywhere and see there is one great purpose moving through the ages, the eternal design of the Almighty God to redeem a wrecked and ruined world.
The Bible is one book and you cannot take it in texts and expect to comprehend the magnificence of divine revelation. You must see it in its completeness. God has taken pains to give a progressive revelation and we should take pains to read it from beginning to end. Don’t suppose reading little scraps can ever be compensation for doing deep and consecutive work on the Bible itself. We must get back to the Book and then we will not tolerate such work. No part of any book of the Bible will give you the whole message of the book. Remember, the chapter divisions, and verse notations are “man-made,” to be used for reference only. Quite often, thoughts carry from one chapter to another.
The Word of God is alive and every part is necessary to perfection of the whole. The Bible is a whole and cannot be tampered with. To add anything to it or take anything away from it would mar its absolute perfection (Revelation 22:18,19). The canon of Scripture is closed. Other works throw valuable light upon it, but this stands unique, alone, and complete, and these parts all partake of the perfection of the whole.
MORE INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE BIBLE
The Biblical story is about God, man, sin, redemption, justification, sanctification. In two words, grace and glory. In one word--Jesus. Christ quotes from 22 Old Testament books: (Matthew 19; Mark 15; Luke 25; John 11; Hebrews, 85 (quotations and allusions); Revelation, 245.) Christ quoted the very passages most avoided by Bible critics--the flood, Lot, manna, brazen serpent, Jonah.
Number of verses: 31,102; number of words: 775,693; middle chapter Psalm 117; longest chapter, Psalm 119; shortest chapter, Psalm 117. It is a curious fact that Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet except j. Middle verse, Psalm 103:12; Longest verse, Esther 8:9; Shortest verse, John 11:35; Longest book in the Old Testament, Psalms; Longest book in the New Testament, Luke.
CHRIST, THE LIVING WORD
The Old Testament is an account of a nation. (The Hebrew nation) The New Testament is an account of a Man. (The Son of Man). The nation was founded and nurtured of God in order to bring the Man into the world. (Genesis 12:1-3).
God Himself became a man so that we might know what to think about when we think of God. (John 1:14; 14:9). His appearance on the earth is the central event of all history. The Old Testament sets the stage for it. The New Testament describes it.
As a man Christ lived the most perfect life ever known. He was kind, tender, gentle, patient, and sympathetic. He loved people. He worked marvelous miracles to feed the hungry. Multitudes, weary, pain-ridden and heartsick, came to Him, and He gave them rest (Matthew 11:28-30). It is said that if all the deeds of human kindness that He did were written, the world would not contain the books. (John 21:25).
He died, --to take away the sin of the world, and to become the Savior of men. Then: He rose from the dead. He is alive today. He is not merely a historical character, but a living Person,--the most important fact of history, and the most vital force in the world today. And He promised eternal life to all who come to Him.
The whole Bible is built around the story of Christ and His promise of everlasting life to men. It was written only that we might believe and understand, know and love and follow HIM.
