When we read the Bible, we may tend to treat it as a collection of short stories. This makes it difficult to see and read the Bible as a unified whole, which means that we naturally will have a hard time understanding it. However, God is not the author of confusion, and He provides us with guidance on how to read His Word in such a way that it all points toward one theme: Christ.
In Luke 24:13-27, we are introduced to two of Jesus’ disciples who had apparently missed the point of Jesus’ death on the cross. Why? Because they had apparently missed the point of the Scriptures. It took Jesus’ direct explanation to them of the Scriptures for them to be able to understand how all the Scriptures pointed toward Jesus through prophecy and expression of need for a Savior. These truths ought not to be mysteries to us, for Jesus rebuked these disciples for their lack of discernment concerning the Scriptures: “Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Luke 24:25). Jesus then continued by showing the disciples the proper way to read the Old Testament: “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). We must read the Bible as a unified book with the common message of Christ and his redemptive plan and kingdom, or we will miss the ultimate point of the entire Bible. In John Chapter 5, Jesus speaks to a group of Jews who have probably been exposed to the Scriptures their whole lives but who have completely missed the fact that they point to Jesus. Jesus warned them, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). These Jews needed to realize what actually made the Scriptures important: the fact that they were a signpost that led to Jesus, the bringer of eternal life. The apostle Peter also used this approach when preaching the gospel to another crowd of Jews (Acts 2:14-36): He went through the Old Testament Scriptures and explained their connection to Jesus, resulting in the salvation of many Jews. We must realize that the Scriptures are intended to direct us to Christ, or we too will miss the point of the Bible.
The Bible is divided into 66 books written by a variety of different authors and in a variety of different genres and styles, but each book and section of the Bible gives us another piece of the Bible's story. In the Old Testament, the Pentateuch tells the story of the formation of the Nation of Israel and God's Law, the Historical Books tell the story of how Israel repeatedly failed to keep God's Law, the Wisdom Literature displays our longing for a Savior who can bring us unity with God, the Prophetic Books prophesy the coming of a Savior who will take away our sins and make us right with God. In the New Testament, the Gospels tell the story of Jesus, the promised Savior who died for our sins; the books of Acts shows how Jesus' followers took the message of Jesus Christ to the world; the Epistles give practical instruction detailing how believers in Jesus are to live, act, and share His good news; and, finally, the book of Revelation gives a long prophecy of how those who are redeemed by Jesus' blood will one day be rescued from this imperfect world and live forever with Him in His glorious new Creation.
Despite their distinctions, all 66 books of the Bible harmonize with one another and all work together to point us toward God. See the chart linked below to see and understand the Bible's organization in greater detail:
The Old and New Testaments of the Bible may seem disconnected or independent of one another, but, in reality, they go hand in hand, working together to tell God’s redemptive story of which each of us is knowingly or unknowingly a part. In order to understand how these two parts of the Bible fit together, a reader must take note of some important facts.
First, it must be noted that the Old and New Testaments contain many similarities. Both sections of the Bible speak of Jesus Christ, whether through prophecy, eyewitness accounts, or epistles. Both sections express humanity’s glaring need for a Savior who can deal with their greatest problem: sin. Both sections also contain a variety of genres of writing, written by multiple authors over an extended period of time. Finally, both sections claim to contain God’s Words. These are only a few of the ways in which the Old and New Testaments are alike.
Second, it must be noted that the Old and New Testaments, in addition to being somewhat similar, are also different in many ways. The Old Testament contains mainly books of history, prophecy, and poetry, while the New Testament contains mainly epistles, only a few books of history, and only one book specifically devoted to prophecy (the book of Revelation). The Old Testament tells the story of a people under law (the nation of Israel), while the New Testament tells the story of a people under grace (believers in Jesus Christ who are both Jewish and Gentile). The Old Testament tells the story of all of the old Biblical covenants made before the coming of Jesus Christ, and the New Testament tells the story of the New Covenant in Jesus Christ.
Finally, both the Old and New Testaments, with their similarities and differences, both relate to the Bible’s storyline and central theme. As prequel and sequel, the Old Testament demonstrates humanity’s greatest problem of sin, and the New Testament demonstrates the solution to this problem in the death of Jesus Christ as payment for our sins. The Old Testament contains God’s promises of a Savior, while the New Testament details God’s fulfillment of those promises in Jesus Christ. Both sections of the Bible tell different parts of the same story, but both focus on the story’s central theme: God’s salvation for His people, brought by Jesus Christ.
When a diligent reader takes the time to understand how the Old and New Testaments relate to one another and how their similarities and differences work together to tell the same story, they will be able to see and understand the point of the Bible: God’s plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.
While the Bible’s five specific covenants may appear to be a collection of disconnected promises made to unrelated people at random times, they are in fact interconnected links in the chain of God’s plan for humanity. The Noahic Covenant was God's promise to preserve the earth (Genesis 9:8-17), the Abrahamic Covenant was God's promise to bless preserved humanity through the line of Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), the Mosaic Covenant was designed to show people their sinfulness and need for a Savior by establishing a standard of righteousness impossible to attain (Exodus 19:3-6), the Davidic Covenant was God's promise to bring the blessings promised to Abraham (including salvation from sin) through a kingly descendant of David, who himself was one of Abraham’s descendants (2 Samuel 7:8-16), and the New Covenant provides a way of salvation for all people through Jesus, the promised king and longed-for Savior (Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36, Luke 22:20). Each covenant builds on the previous one, revealing more details about God’s plan of salvation for humanity. With each succeeding promise, His plan becomes clearer, until it is finally fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Therefore, these covenants, rather than being unrelated and isolated, actually mark the unfolding of God’s awe-striking plan.