Introduction
This morning we want to look at a subject I have titled “The Bridge to God.”
During this study we want to focus in on three key areas:
- Why is there a Bridge needed?
- What is the Bridge?
- What lies either side of the Bridge?
To fully appreciate these three points, we need to take a “Road Trip” in time. In fact, we need to go way back to the very beginning.
Like with most questions in life or the study of anything, it is critical to understand how something began, because that provides the context for the here and now.
Why Is There a Bridge Needed?
Let’s turn our Bibles way, way back to Genesis 1.
What we find here is one of the most incredible accounts in all the Bible. God has spelled out very clearly how the Earth and all creation came to be.
The world God created was in perfect balance and harmony.
When we think about the world today, we see that man has to work hard just to produce food and survive. We wait for rain, deal with droughts, weeds, pests and all the other problems associated with farming.
Now try to imagine the Earth God made.
There was no need to plant anything or manage weeds or wait on rain. God provisioned everything.
I am not sure we can really understand that concept in our modern world.
Think on it further:
- No sunburn.
- The perfect temperature with no high or low extremes.
- No windstorms.
- No deserts.
- No death, disease or cancer.
- Absolutely no sin.
- No pollution.
- No Hay fever.
I’m sure we could come up with a very long list of how perfect the Earth was.
This sounds like what we would call “Utopia”, but this wasn’t some imaginary world. God actually created a place of delight. Eden means delight.
Adam was placed in this perfect environment with incredible provision from God. He had a job to do, too. God told him to dress and keep the garden.
There is a wonderful principle here: God very clearly made man to work and that it was good for him. Even in a perfect world, Adam had work to do — to care for it, to love it, to keep it beautiful and in order.
Everything was provided for Adam and Eve, including the Tree of Life.
Hopefully, by now, you can start to imagine what it was like at the beginning of time:
- A perfect world.
- Harmony between man, animal and creation.
- The first marriage between Adam and Eve.
- They only knew good.
- They had direct fellowship with God Almighty. Wow!
The One Command
HOWEVER, there was one small request God gave Adam.
Considering the abundance of provision and the incredible beauty of the world around him, it should have been a walk in the park.
God gave Adam a simple test:
Can you trust and obey me?
Do you love me enough to do as I ask?
Adam had a clear choice. God commanded him not to eat of the tree, and He also gave him the consequence if he chose to disobey: death.
Adam had only ever known good. He had every reason to obey God.
But Adam and Eve chose to disobey.
Sin Enters the World
Genesis 3 shows us the devastating result.
Satan deceived Eve, using a little truth and a lot of lies. Eve began to see the fruit differently. She saw that it was desirable and that it could make one wise.
She took and ate, and gave to Adam, and he did eat.
Their eyes were opened. They knew they were naked. They hid themselves from God.
Something had definitely changed.
Adam and Eve did not take accountability for their sin. Instead, they blamed the woman, the serpent, and ultimately Adam even blamed God when he said:
“The woman whom thou gavest me to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”
This is a familiar tune we hear today — it’s not my fault because of…
The fellowship Adam and Eve had enjoyed with God was broken.
They were removed from the Garden, and the consequences of sin entered the world. Eve would bear children in sorrow, Adam would work by the sweat of his face, and the ground itself would be cursed.
So, why is a Bridge to God needed?
God has shown us through Genesis very succinctly that the gap, for which a bridge is needed, is our SIN.
God is holy and perfect, and the chasm began the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed.
What Is the Bridge?
Now that we understand there is a gap between God and man, we can turn our attention to understanding if there is a Bridge to God — and if so, what is it?
Let’s make our way to Romans 3:10.
It is quite plain that there is none righteous.
Romans 3:23 makes it even clearer:
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
We cannot attain God’s glory ourselves. We cannot bridge the gap.
What we have a tendency to do is compare ourselves with other people and say, well, I don’t do what they do.
I mean, I’ve never murdered anyone or robbed a bank.
But the standard is God Himself.
When we compare ourselves to His holiness, we quickly realise that we come short. We are sinners, just like Adam and Eve were.
The Wages of Sin and the Gift of God
Romans 6:23 reminds us that the payment for sin is death.
BUT it’s not all bad news.
The second half of that verse tells us there is a gift from God — eternal life through His Son Jesus.
There is hope.
Romans 5:8 then shows us something even more incredible.
Despite our awful sin, pride, selfishness and ungodly ways, God demonstrated His love toward us. Whilst we were still in our sinful state, Christ died for us.
Do you see that God does not leave us to live in our sinful state?
There is a way, a bridge to Him that we don’t deserve.
We can never truly understand His love to us, but here it is in black and white:
Whilst we are still in our rotten sinful state, Christ died for us.
The Gift Must Be Received
Remember, God said there was a gift.
Now, like any good gift, it is only yours if you take it.
You can reject a gift someone gives you and therefore it is not your gift.
So, how can I obtain this gift?
Romans 10:9–13 gives us the answer. We are told to confess and acknowledge the Lord Jesus and believe that God raised Him from the dead.
It really is simple.
When we truly believe in the Lord Jesus and who He is, we acknowledge that we are sinners who are worthy of death and separation from God, and we turn from our sin and trust Christ.
Good Works Cannot Bridge the Gap
Now let’s look at what Jesus Himself had to say in Matthew 7:21–23.
Here we see people who speak of Christ but have never truly come to know Him.
They point to what they have done:
- They have prophesied in His name.
- They have cast out devils in His name.
- They have done many wonderful works in His name.
Notice how these lost souls are listing what they did.
They are trying to justify their entry into Heaven based upon what they perceive to be worthy or righteous.
But they completely miss the point of WHAT CHRIST DID ON CALVARY.
It has no bearing what they did or their efforts.
How does Christ respond?
“I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
This should be a very sobering wake-up call to everyone who has yet to make a decision for Christ.
If these people were good enough to enter Heaven based upon what they had done, then what was the point in Christ dying?
Remember what we learnt in Romans:
- Romans 3:10 – None righteous, no, not one.
- Romans 3:23 – All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
- Romans 6:23 – The penalty of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.
- Romans 5:8 – Whilst we were still in our sinful state, Christ died for us.
- Romans 10:9–13 – Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus and be saved.
Where in these passages is there an exception for anything mankind can conjure up as acceptable?
It doesn’t exist.
Christ paid it all.
There had to be a holy, perfect payment worthy for our sin. Only God could do that for us through His holy, perfect Son.
Again, it could not be simpler for us.
Take the gift — believe and receive Christ.
The Bridge to God is Jesus Christ.
What Lies Either Side of the Bridge?
Now let’s turn our attention to what God tells us lies either side of the Bridge to God, which, as we have just covered, is Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ Paid the Price
Luke 23 takes us to the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.
Pilate and Herod found no fault with Him, yet Jesus was still beaten, mocked, whipped and ultimately crucified.
Pilate even offered to release Jesus, but the people chose Barabbas instead — a guilty man and a murderer — rather than the innocent Jesus.
So Pilate relented and ordered Jesus’ execution.
And how does Jesus respond?
As He hangs on the cross, He asks His Father to forgive them.
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
Can you imagine if it were you or I on that cross with our pride and sin?
We would want to show them what for.
We might ask the Father to send twelve legions of angels and wipe them out.
But Jesus didn’t do that.
His love for us was greater.
It is Jesus’ incredible love and obedience to His Father which allowed Jesus to become the Bridge to God.
Only He could pay the price for us.
The Two Malefactors
There were two malefactors hanging alongside Jesus.
One mocked Him:
“If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.”
But the other responded very differently.
He acknowledged his own guilt:
“And we indeed justly.”
He recognised that he was receiving what he deserved.
He also recognised Jesus’ innocence and asked Him to remember him when He came into His kingdom.
In this moment, this malefactor put his faith in Jesus Christ.
WOW.
Jesus responded with some of the most beautiful and compassionate words you ever want to hear:
“To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
This man’s simple acknowledgement of his sin and faith in Jesus saved his soul mere moments before he breathed his last breath.
Heaven or Hell?
What is Paradise that Jesus spoke of?
This is what lies on the other side of the Bridge to God.
Heaven — where there is no sin, only joy, happiness and eternity with God and Jesus and all the heavenly host.
But what is on this side of the Bridge?
I’ve heard people say, I don’t want Jesus, mate, she’ll be right, or me and my mates, we’ll have a party in hell!
But hell is no party.
It’s a horror.
Luke 16:19–31 gives us a sharp contrast between two individuals who made alternative choices in life.
Lazarus dies and is carried away by angels.
The rich man dies and opens his eyes in hell, in torments.
This was no party with the mates.
The rich man was in torment and desperately wanted his family to avoid the same place. He understood the reality of where he was.
Jesus is reminding us that the decisions we make now, whilst on earth, decide our eternal fate.
There are only two outcomes:
Heaven or Hell.
There is no other option.
Don’t Wait Until the End of Life
The message then turns to the danger of delaying a decision about Christ.
The example is given of Vincent, a friend in Singapore who has heard the good news of Jesus and is persuaded by it, but wants to wait until “EOL” — end of life.
The idea is that he wants the other side of the Bridge to God, but not yet.
But how do we know when the end of life will be?
Proverbs 27:1 says:
“Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”
Luke 12:20 gives another sobering warning:
“But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.”
You don’t have to be rich to have the attitude of me, me, me.
We all die.
What Choice Will You Make?
As we take some moments to recap, let us not be hasty and miss the magnitude and momentous decision that awaits us all.
We have seen the perfection of what God made.
God created everything man would need. He gave Adam and Eve abundant provision and only one small but important request.
They had a choice.
We saw the malefactors on the cross alongside Jesus.
They also had a choice to make.
One chose poorly and mocked Christ. The other acknowledged his sin and put his faith in Jesus.
We lastly saw the rich man and Lazarus.
Both men made choices in life, and those choices had eternal consequences.
This freewill choice we also have today.
The Bridge to God is clear. It is His Son, Jesus Christ.
Just like in the Garden, God now says to us:
Believe in My Son Jesus, whom I sent to pay the debt of your sin.
Simply receive the free gift, acknowledge your sin, repent — turn away — and ask Jesus to save you.
Having a genuine heart, being sorry for your sin and asking Jesus to save you is so simple.
Yet people find it so hard to make that choice.
It’s pride that stops people from saying yes.
When you know the reality of what is to come, that free gift, you will want to take it now.
God said to Adam and Eve, just don’t eat from that one tree.
Now God says, just believe in My Son, receive Him and be saved.
What Choice Will You Make?
Remember the three examples we’ve looked at and consider how their choices turned out for them.
There is no going back to change your mind once you depart this earth.
If your heart is beating a little faster, is it because you know which outcome awaits you?
Then you need to settle it today.
Come see me and we can settle the account today.
Luke 15:7 reminds us:
“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.”
Let all heaven rejoice over your decision to receive Jesus today.