The Bridge to Eternal Life

The Bridge to Eternal Life

A Summary of the Bible's Message

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;

And the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

(Isaiah 53:6, written 700 B.C.)

A. MAN’S PROBLEM “… each of us has turned to his own way…” (Isaiah 53:6a)

1. GOD & MAN: TOGETHER   In the beginning, everything was perfect. God created the first man and woman with certain characteristics which set them apart from the animal world. For example, God breathed into man an eternal spirit, a creative mind, heart-felt emotions and a free will. These characteristics made it possible for God and man to enjoy communication and fellowship with each other. In the beginning, God and man were close friends.

“God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…" So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26,27)

God gave to man the responsibility and privilege to choose whether or not he would honor, love and obey his Creator-Owner. God (who didn’t create man to be a robot) commanded,

"You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:16,17)

2. GOD & MAN: SEPARATED Adam and Eve chose to listen to Satan and to disobey God. They followed their own way instead of God’s way. The Bible calls this sin. God is holy and cannot ignore sin. When Adam and Eve sinned against God, they died spiritually. Their sin separated them from God. After man disobeyed God, the Bible says:

“the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid…"” (Gen. 3:8-10)

“…Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)

The close relationship between man and God was broken. Sin created a great divide between man and God. Do you understand why? Many people recognize that there is some kind of a gap, but don’t understand the seriousness of it. Many try to bridge this gap by doing (or by not doing) certain things. But what does God’s Book say?

How can this gap between man and God be bridged?