The Bridge

In the introduction of Reverend Donald F. Ginkel’s Bible study book, I Have Good News for You, he starts off with the following...

On a dark night on a road from Jackson to Vicksburg, MS, heavy rains washed a bridge away. When a truck driver saw the taillights of the car ahead of him disappear, he knew something was wrong. Suddenly his own truck sailed through the black void where a bridge once stood, and he crashed into the river below. He made it out of the cab, swam to shore, and sat there in the darkness. Car after car zoomed into the gap and crashed into the swirling water below. Sixteen people died that night. Each of them had faith in a bridge that was no longer there.

Spiritually, there are millions of people today who have faith in a bridge that isn’t there. So many people believe that by their good works, their character, their church membership, their morality, they will somehow cross the river of death to heaven. But the bridge is out! From Genesis to Revelation the message is the same. It is that God’s Son, Jesus, has come, and He is the sure and only Bridge to heaven.

The perfect relationship between God and man was washed away when mankind fell into sin, leaving a seemingly unbridgeable chasm. There had to be a way to bridge the gap to save mankind from eternal separation from God. Thankfully, God provided the Messiah, Y’shua, as that bridge. Acts 4:12 teaches that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved”. Jesus himself said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. That “no one” includes both Jews and Gentiles.

Though Deuteronomy 7:6 states that the Jews are God’s chosen people, that does not mean that all Jews are saved automatically. For anyone to be saved, they must come to God the Father through faith in the Messiah. Romans teaches that all have sinned against God, are under the consequences of sin, and that “the wages of sin is death”. We are all in need of a bridge to salvation from our sin; we are all in need of a Savior. Fortunately, Jesus came to seek and to save the lost!

Romans 10:12 shares that in Christ, there is “no distinction” between Jew and Gentile. Yes, the Jews are God’s chosen people, and through them came the Jewish Messiah to bless all the nations of the earth. But it is only through Jesus Christ, the Bridge to everlasting life, that Jews—or anyone else—can find God’s forgiveness.

It is all too easy to forget that the clock is ticking for those unaware that the bridge is out. It is all too easy to turn a blind eye to the fact that the bridge is out if it is not a road upon which we travel. We must be more aware and strive to reach out to those around us who are lost and dying without knowing Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Our task is to tell others that the Bridge to heaven is securely in place for all who believe!

Kristi Roegner is an Apple of His Eye Bible Teacher to Israel

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