The Bridge Of Reconciliation Series

One of the 7 wonders of the natural world is the famous Natural Bridge of

Virginia. Tons of solid rock form a bridge over a creek 215 feet below. This

massive masterpiece of God's bridge-building skill has caused many to stand in

awe and recognize that, not only the heavens, but the earth as well, declares the

glory of God. Fifty feet thick, 100 feet wide, and 190 feet long, this bridge of

nature was called by John Marshall, "God's greatest miracle in stone." French

engineers visited the bridge during the Revolutionary War, and they called it

the work of the Creator. One said, "It is the most wonderful thing I have ever

seen. When you see it you seem to hear the angels sing." I've only seen it in

pictures, but a woman who had seen it told me that it made her feel near

heaven.

We want to consider in this message one of God's bridges that can not only

make us feel near heaven, but can actually lead us to heaven. It is a bridge so

magnificently marvelous that it cannot be ranked as one of the 7 wonders of the

world, or even of the universe, for there are not 6 more of anything that can fit

into its category. It is so infinitely superior to all of God's other works that it

must stand alone as the Wonder Of Wonders.

There is a bridge that spans all space,

Unseen by our eyes.

A bridge that leads from everywhere

To God's throne in the skies.

This bridge of bridges, though unseen, is the very essence of reality for the

Christian. It is symbolized by the cross, and can be called the bridge of

reconciliation. Man spends a great deal to build bridges in order to save time.

The Lackawana Railroad Co. built a 12 million dollar bridge to save 20

minutes between New York and Buffalo. God's bridge of reconciliation,

however, was so costly that astronomical figures could not measure it. It was

an infinite cost, for its purpose was not just to save time, but to save eternity for

those travelling through this world to the next.

We could never have guessed what price God would pay to build such a

bridge had He not revealed it. Even then it seems unbelievable, for the cost was

the cross of His Son. It seems a strange way to build a bridge, but it was the

only way to build the bridge of reconciliation. This bridge would enable sinful

man to approach God without fear and trembling, but in faith and trust.

A young actress in Hollywood approached a pastor and said, "Pastor, I've

heard you say again and again that Jesus died, and that because He died, our

sins are forgiven. What I don't get is what's the connection?" Her confusion is

typical of man's understanding of the Gospel in the modern day. When the

modern biblically illiterate American sees a sign saying "Jesus saves," he may

very well think it is an ad by the banks to get people to open more savings

accounts. Masses of people do not understand even the basic principles of

Christianity. In part it is due to the fact that Christians themselves are not able

to explain clearly what Scripture teaches.

Our aim in this message is to make the doctrine of reconciliation clear

enough for the sinner to experience, and simple enough for the saint to explain.

The whole Gospel is wrapped up in this word reconciliation. The ability to

explain it will be a great asset in making us useful servants in the ministry of

reconciliation. The word means to unite; to bring back to harmony, and to

cause to be friendly again those who have fallen out. Reconciliation is what

happens when a husband and wife have been fighting, and something causes

them to cease the strife, and become friends again. This is known as kissing

and making up. Whatever causes them to do so is a bridge of reconciliation. It

opened the way for them to approach each other across the chasm they had

dug between them. The bridge of reconciliation unites them again by spanning

that chasm, and making it of no effect in separating them.

Such a bridge is usually built by one or the other of the parties involved

humbling themselves before the other in either admitting their guilt, or in being

willing to forgive. Often it is even the innocent party in the quarrel who takes

the initiative, and builds the bridge, and asks the guilty one to cross over and

live in peace, rather than pieces. It is often the most innocent who builds the

bridge.

This was the case in the strife which separated God and man. Sin had

gouged out a chasm between God and man infinitely greater than the Grand