A Journey Through the New Testament

The New Testament is a valuable archive of spiritual journeys for the Christian community. In its pages, we discover the messianic journey of Jesus, the journeys of individual believers, and the group journeys of the original twelve disciples or apostles. In addition, the New Testament records selected journeys of specific churches and provides ample material to grasp the journey of the universal church across the ages. We even gain insights into Jesus’ current journey as Head of the Church. It concludes with a glimpse into the eternal journey God has promised for all who are faithful.

All of these journeys have three things in common. First, they all progress according to the Endless Possibilities five phase spiritual journey model. Second, the combined effect of all of these journeys is to fulfill the great petition of the Lord’s Prayer, as taught by Jesus—“your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Third, God’s salvation plan weaves its way through every spiritual journey, for “the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed” (Romans 8:19).

The four Gospels are not biographies of Jesus in the modern Western literature sense, since they do not present an exhaustive account of Jesus at every stage of his brief life.

As chronicles of Jesus’ messianic journey, however, they shine brightly! Each describes the five phases of Jesus’ messianic journey, but none are exhaustive in their analysis. Within each phase, the gospel writers emphasize unique issues and milestones. For example, Matthew highlights the prophetic significance of Jesus’ birth in describing phase 1, while John prefers to concentrate on his pre-existence. Luke emphasizes Jesus’ parables, while Mark highlights Jesus’ actions (phase 3). John alone speaks of foot washing in phase 4.

In the Gospels, Jesus hints that he has other journeys to embrace once his messianic journey is fulfilled. At the present time, the theme of Jesus’ journey is “Head of the Church” (see Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 3:6). This journey will be completed at his second coming, which in turn sets the stage for Jesus’ eternal journey as Lord over all creation (Romans 8; Hebrews 9:28; Revelation 19-22). Looking backwards in time, the New Testament also refers to Jesus’ pre-messianic journey in which he participates in creation (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15-17).

The apostle Paul notes that “everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). The lives of Old Testament heroes provided encouragement for the Christians of the first century (Hebrews 11), and continue to do so to this day. Accordingly, we study the journeys of individual believers in order to gain insight into how God interacts with people who wish to be faithful.

We may not have the same specific journey goals as someone in the Bible, but God guides us through the 5 phases of the journey with as much care and love as he showed to Abraham, Peter or Paul. The values, strategies and techniques God employs to direct and guide Biblical journeyers are no different than the ones the Lord of our journeys uses to lead us. Grasping how God guides people to fulfill his will is an integral part of growing in wisdom and spiritual maturity.

The 4 Gospels not only describe Jesus’ messianic journey, but also the group journey of his twelve disciples. Group journeys, as well as individual journeys, can be described according to the Endless Possibilities 5 phase model, and so we can apply it to the experience of the disciples as they journey with Jesus.

In the Gospels, the 12 followers of Jesus are called disciples, indicating that they are on a redemptive level spiritual journey. Redemptive level journeys involve the transformation of one’s soul in order to make it more Christ-like or godly. Following the successful completion of this group journey, the book of Acts describes their subsequent journey as apostles of the emerging church. This new mission level journey builds upon the wisdom the original disciples of Jesus gained from their prior redemptive journey. Mission level journeys have as their goal the transformation of others; in this case, evangelization (Acts 1:8) is the means of transformation and the goal is the gathering of all peoples into the Kingdom of God (salvation).

The original discipleship group served as a forerunner of the local church. The newly commissioned apostles formed groups not unlike their own as they spread the word of God. Pastors and teachers imitated Jesus’ role in the group by acting as spiritual guides.

In Acts, the spiritual journeys of specific local churches are described in varying detail. Jerusalem, Antioch and Ephesus are given a good deal of attention, but we also have accounts of the journeys of churches elsewhere (Berea, etc.).

In the epistles (letters) of the New Testament, we catch glimpses of specific churches encountering difficulties and issues during phase 3 of their corporate journeys. The advice offered by the letter writers is intended to further cooperation and unity so that the journeys can be fulfilled.

In Revelation 1-3, the journey themes of seven specific local churches are revealed. Note that each church is being prodded to greater faithfulness in fulfilling its journey themes. Each must give up whatever practices and attitudes hinder its journey.

In the Gospels, Jesus occasionally remarks about the future journey of the church as a whole (as opposed to the group journeys of a specific local church). His comments in Matthew 16:18 and John 17 should be understood in relation to this aspect of God’s plan for the church.

Paul’s analysis of the spiritual journey of the universal church is found in passages such as Ephesians 1-3 and Colossians 1-2. In Romans 9-11, he compares the church’s journey to the journey of Israel.

The extraordinary visions of Revelation 4-22 also relate to the journey of the universal church. Despite suffering persecution, the church is called to steadfast faithfulness in fulfilling its journey goals. Revelation also depicts a heavenly dimension to the church’s journey.

people have visited this page.