The New Testament reports the arrival of God's promised deliverer. In several Gospels, a book of early church history, many letters, and a visionary book of judgment and hope, we learn about the ministry and mission of Jesus and the lives of those who followed him. The Old Testament contained the shadows and patterns and prophecies that anticipated the Christ, and the New Testament announces that the Light of the world has come. We need to understand the story of the New Testament because it is about the one who changed the world—and who changes us. Through various genres and over the course of twenty-seven books, the New Testament points us to the living Christ who secured our atonement, builds his church, and will return in victory to make all things new.