At the time of Christ's life on this earth, believers did not have access to the Bible in its entirety as we know it and know it today 'today. Believers in this early period only had access to the Old Testament. However, through their access to the Old Testament, believers were given a foundation for New Testament times. This foundation provided New Testament believers with the Lord's established principles of right and wrong that they were expected to follow. Additionally, the Old Testament is full of stories of people whose lives illustrate the future life of Christ on this earth. These images allowed the Israelite nation to begin to understand why Christ was to come as their Messiah and the work He was to accomplish on earth. Finally, there are common themes that are interwoven throughout the Old Testament. Three of these themes: transgression, redemption, and consummation emphasize the purpose of Christ's atoning death on the cross. These themes describe God's work in the lives of Old Testament believers, but they also foreshadow God's desire and plan for believers in New Testament times and beyond. The Old Testament is divided into six main sections. During each of these sections, elements of the Old Testament story foreshadow various New Testament themes and events. Some of these various accounts recorded in the Old Testament are prophetic in nature and predict specific details of various events that will come to pass in New Testament times. Each of the six main sections carries its own overarching theme that will in some way relate to the history and theology of the New Testament. The six main sections of the Old Testament are: creation (Genesis 1-11), covenant (Genesis 12-50), congregation...... middle of paper ...... Bible commentary by Old Testament. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992. Print.Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible: King James Version. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1994. Print.Scofield, CI The first Scofield Reference Bible: containing the Old and New Testaments. Authorized King James Version, with a new system of thematic references connected to all the great themes of Scripture, with annotations, revised marginal renderings, summaries, definitions and indexes, to which are added helps in difficult places, explanations of apparent discrepancies and a new paragraph system. Westwood, NJ: Barbour and Company, 1986. Print.Unger, Merrill F. Unger's New Bible Dictionary. Ed. RK Harrison, Howard F. Vos, and Cyril J. Barber. Chicago: Moody, 1988. Print. Wilkinson, Bruce and Kenneth Boa. Speak through the Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983. Print.