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God's Bridge to Mankind...
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Why Would Anyone Build A Bridge?
Have you ever considered why anyone would build a bridge in the first place? Bridges are extremely expensive to build; they're very difficult to build and maintain. The obvious reason for why anyone would want to build a bridge is that people want to span a chasm that separates them from one another.
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Mankind Has Been Trying To Build A Bridge To God
From the beginning of time, when human beings started to imagine about the presence and reality of God, it didn't take them long to figure out that if God created everything (in heaven and on earth) He was probably a lot more powerful and holier than human beings were. From that point forward men and women have been trying (in their own ways) to build a bridge to reach holy God. So faith system after faith system came into vogue...all of them trying to build a bridge to God from man's side of the chasm.
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Contrasting World Religions With Biblical Christianity
Study any major religion you want. The construction process to span the chasm of separation between mankind and God all starts on the human side! Human beings say, "All right, we're going to fly a little straighter; live a litte more nobly; become a little more religious (whatever that means); we're going to pray a certain number of prayers; we're going to do a certain number of charitable deeds; we're going to render a certain amount of service." The whole idea is: through a massive human construction effort, maybe through the course of a lifetime, human beings could hopefully span the great chasm that separates them from holy God. The problem here is that there's no actual proof or sense of peace that you're going to get the construction done before you die--but you had better try!
Now, contrast that with biblical Christianity. Get a Bible; read the Bible. It says something absolutely exciting, different, and remarkable. "You are saved by GRACE through FAITH, it is not of works; it is the gift of God, so that no one could boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9). In other words, the Bible is saying that God saw, from His side, the great chasm that separated Himself from mankind--He saw the distance for what it really was--a much bigger gap than is even in the human mind.
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God knew that no amount of human "construction," no amount of bridge work starting from the human side would ever be enough to bridge the chasm. So God took responsibility on Himself; He laid the foundation; He built the bridge that successfully spanned the chasm all the way over to the human side. His bridge was built by the motivation of His great love for each of us. "For God so LOVED the world He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life"3:16) and, "But God demonstrates His own LOVE for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
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Some Things To Consider
You might think of the crossbar of the cross of Calvary as being the bridge deck that spans the chasm of sin--from God's side all the way over to the human side. You see, once human beings discovered that God had spanned the chasm, God has made it possible for us to walk across a bridge built by God's hands, purchased by His Son's life!
Understanding that God has built a bridge to you and me--presents us with a decision. Will I abandon my human construction project of trying to build my own bridge? And, by faith, will I choose to walk across the bridge that God built for me? How? I simply pray & trust His Son, Jesus, as my personal Forgiver and Leader? It is the most important decision any human being will ever make! Baptism |
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