The Bridge To Life

Now, that’s not really very good news, is it? And I’m guessing none of you got up to come to church here today thinking, “Man, I’m hoping the pastor tells me I’m going to hell!”

That’s not what I get up hoping to tell people, that’s for sure.

But I want you to hang on, because that’s not the rest of the story, okay?

Let’s take a look now at the right side of the diagram.

This verse tells us that God wants to give us a free gift.

Now let’s talk about that for a moment.

A gift isn’t like a wage, is it?

How many of you here have received a gift, but before you got it, you had to sheetrock the basement?

And hopefully, none of you parents make your kids earn their gifts. Why? Because gifts can’t be earned. Gifts are given.

This particular free gift is from God, not a wage we earn from our sins. You see the contrast?

So God has a free gift for us, and that is…

Eternal life. The assurance that when we leave this earth, we have heaven.

That’s what God wants each of us to have.

So we have this little dilemma: Here’s what God wants, but here’s what we’re facing on our own.

So the question becomes, “How do we get from here to there?

The answer is…

The cross.

Jesus came to earth to die on the cross for your sins and mine.

He came to die so that you and I wouldn’t have to pay the penalty for our own sins. He paid the penalty for us.

He was the perfect, sinless Son of God, who laid down His life just so you and I could be forgiven of our sins and have a home in heaven.

So now we have a bridge between us and God.

But just having a bridge isn’t enough for us to say we’re going to heaven.

We have to cross the bridge. Just getting to a bridge doesn’t mean you’ve crossed it, does it?

This verse say that this free gift from God is obtained…

Through Jesus.

What does that mean?

It means that we can only access the eternal life God wants to give us by going through Jesus.

Jesus said –

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Now, either Jesus is right about that or He’s wrong. And if He’s wrong, He’s either insane or He’s a liar.

But I don’t think He’s lying or insane.

What does it mean to “go through” Jesus?

It means to put your faith in Him as your only hope for forgiveness of your sins and a home in heaven.

You can’t get there by being a nice person. You can’t get there by being reading your Bible, praying, or being baptized – as an infant, a child, or as an adult.

You can’t get there by joining a church or even going every week. So you can relax about wondering if I was going to say you needed to be a Wesleyan in order to get to heaven.

You’ll never hear that here. There are a number of great churches in the area, and I’m friends with those pastors. We join together on occasion to hold events where people can hear about Jesus, and none of us is worried about where people might go to church when it’s over.

You can’t get there by doing anything on your own, no matter how good or religious it is.

We can only get their by taking the gift Jesus paid for on the cross.