BRIDGES

0:00 You know, as I was preparing for this Easter message, I asked our construction crew to help me out with a little prop. Obviously, they thought my message needed some pretty big help. Is this bridge unbelievable or what? Today, we're talking about bridges, if you haven't guessed. Easter is about a bridge, and a bridge is about Easter. Bridges are everywhere. They're ubiquitous. We cross bridges instinctively, almost reflexively. There's some famous bridges around, like the Golden Gate Bridge. How many have been to the Golden Gate Bridge before? Okay. How about the Tower Bridge in London? Have you ever traveled over that? I have. You have the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

0:55 I've been there. This last bridge is the most amazing architectural statement that I've ever seen. I'm talking about the bridge over Lake Grapevine Dam. That's what I'm talking about. It's so amazing. Take your breath away. I thought about the first bridge. I've done a bunch of research on bridges. I've done a deep dive on bridges. And probably the first bridge, if you think about ancient man, there was some sort of a ditch or a cliff or whatever. And they were like, okay, we're on this side. There's some other people on the other side. Let's just, you know, knock a tree down or something. And that was probably the first bridge. Well, now we've taken that to a whole nother level, haven't we? we have over 617,000 bridges in the U.S. And 178 million of us travel over these bridges every day.

1:59 What's really frightening is I study bridges and the architecture. A lot of the bridges I read aren't in really good shape, but we still travel over them. It's like, okay, I've got faith. I'm just going to travel back and forth. And who knows, the bridges that I'm crossing each and every day and the bridges that you're crossing each and every day, they might not be that stable, but we cross them anyway. We also like to talk about bridges with idioms. We'll say things like, that's water under the bridge. Or we'll say, hey, let's bridge the gap. Or there's an issue or something. Hey, build a bridge and get over it, man. But my favorite, I mean, my favorite bridge idiom is this. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. That is absolutely brilliant. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

2:52 Well, what if he doesn't ask me to marry him? Hey, girl, you'll cross that bridge when you come to it. Man, what if we can't afford it? You'll cross that bridge when you come to it. Well, what if I don't make the team? You'll cross that bridge when you come to it. And today, as we look at Easter and the reason I bring this whole subject up, I want you to think with me as I talk for the next couple of moments about that idiom, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, because we have a bridge to cross. The cross is a bridge and we have a bridge to cross. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Three days later, he rose again. That's why we celebrate Easter.

3:47 That's why we have church on Sunday, because Sunday is the first day of the week, and that's the day of the resurrection. The resurrection validated everything. Everything. because Jesus lived perfectly, something that we can't do. He was able to die on the cross for the iniquities of the world. God transferred the sins of mankind on the shoulders of Jesus. And because he was perfect, because he lived a pristine life, three days later, he burst forth with resurrection power. That same power, if we receive Christ, is instantaneously applied to your life and mine.

4:40 We see in the Bible that Jesus had a resurrected body. Well, that body that Jesus had in the Bible is a prototype of the body that you'll have and I'll have when we get to heaven. But let's go back to the bridge just for a second. I want you to think for a second. Again, go a little bit back in time. Man had total access with God back in the day. Did you know that? I mean, it was like going back and forth. It was perfect. We're made in the image of God. We have a choice. God created us to make decisions, and man chose to rebel against God, to do his own thing his own way. And basically, we burned the bridge. When we burn the bridge, the Bible tells us that there was a gap, that there was a delta, a separation.

5:37 You could say a cliff. Man on one side, God on the other. And man realized, as man looked inside of his life, wow, I'm kind of dark. I mean, I do some good things, but I'm not that great. and man began to think about his dark desires and his behavior and then he concluded that God is holy and God is transcendent and man realized through the creation and through revelation that there was this shortfall in his life. So what did man do? I'll tell you what we did. We bought some red wings and some safety goggles. a hard hat, maybe a crane or a bulldozer, and we said, we are going to build, I'm talking about man, I'm going to build, maybe you've said this, I'm going to build, that's right, a bridge from here to there.

6:43 I'm going to build a bridge to God. Okay, really. And you look around the world, you had all these different faith systems cropping up. Religion. I was on a flight last week and a guy told me, you know, all religions are basically the same. I said, you know, I know where you're coming from. I do. But they're not. I said, I've spent decades studying the world religions. I know people that are a lot smarter than me who've studied the world religions. Christianity is not like the other world religions. Christianity is not a religion. It's not. Now pundits might call it that, but they've never really studied it. You see, religion is spelled D-O. It's a man-made system of do's and don'ts in order to try to appease God. It's a colossal construction project.

7:38 The problem is the bridge from man's side, or mankind you could say, always falls short. man saw this gap and man thought okay i'll be good well good isn't good enough i'll be philosophical i'll hum louder or follow the noble truths or i'll i'll give alms to the poor i i'm gonna go all i'm gonna go all in with all these gymnastics but there's only one problem the bible tells us, we'll fall short every single time. So religion is a man-made system of do's and don'ts in order to appease a holy God. Christianity is different. Christianity is spelled D-O-N-E. The work has been done. The price has been paid. The bridge has been built from God's side to man's side.

8:39 Christianity is unique. All the other world religions, all the other thought processes and faith systems build and build and build and build and build and build and build and build. They never get there. God solved this situation because God loves you so much. I mean, you're a sinner. I'm a sinner. Everybody's a sin-sin sinner. I'm a natural-born sinner. So are you. God saw our predicament. He solved the dilemma. God said, I'll shoulder the responsibility. I'll build the bridge from my side, the divine, to mankind. Is God awesome or what? There is nothing you can do, nothing to merit that. There is nothing I can do to merit that. Zero.

9:34 Zip. Zilch. Drop the mic. There's nothing we can do. We're hopeless and helpless but God. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. So go back to man. All right, we're trying to build, aren't we? We're cranking up those cranes, those bulldozers, got our red wings on and the safety goggles. I can build my way to God because man saw the gap, the shortfall. And the Bible tells us in Romans chapter three, verse 23, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I wish the Bible was direct.

10:24 We all have a shortfall. In other words, the bridge falls short. The bridge falls short. Lisa and I traveled to Hawaii about 20 years ago, and we stayed in this townhouse on this TPC course right on the Pacific Ocean. Beautiful. How many golfers do we have here? Just lift your hand. Men, women, yeah, a lot, a lot. It's a great game. It really is. So Lisa and I watched these golfing bros walk up to the tee box, which was on this little lava area, I mean, these bros are all jacked up with peptides and TRT, and they were trying to impress their ladies. Their ladies were in the golf cart.

11:18 You know, they're... Every single person we watched, that ball would go up in the air. It's a par three. And it would bury itself in the cliff in front of the green. Now, finally, after four or five more balls, they would hit the green, but at least now we're like dying laughing. So we thought, all right, all right. These guys have definitely misjudged the whole situation. They had no idea when they struck the ball that they were going to fall short time after time after time after time. And sure enough, they did. And that's you and me, isn't it? We don't realize our shortfall. We don't realize we don't get there doing the bridge building deal from man's side.

12:19 We just don't make it. And then to continue the story in Hawaii, Lisa and I went out when the golf course was closed and kind of traversed down the cliff and we collected like 125 golf balls. It was an adult Easter egg hunt. It was great. Thank you. We had bridge access. The bridge was burned. It was torched. You did it. I did it. there's a gap between ourselves and God. We said, hey, I'm going to build my own bridge to you, God. It falls short.

12:57 God saw the situation. He saw the dilemma. And he built the bridge, which is Jesus, from the divine to mankind. In 1936, a bridge was built in the San Gabriel Mountains, right outside of Los Angeles, California. It's called the Bridge to Nowhere. And literally, it's a bridge to nowhere. And people travel there from all over the world just to stand on the bridge to nowhere and look around. I watch a bunch of videos on YouTube of people. I'm thinking, that's interesting. Every bridge, friends, listen to me, every bridge, I don't care how sincere we are, every bridge from man's side goes nowhere. I'm not saying, because I've been talking about the world religions, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism, Judaism. I've been talking about those. We're going to talk about those in the next several weeks, so you don't want to miss some of the things we have here for you at Fellowship Church, because you need to know and see the difference. But all of those world religions, though they have some good things in them, they're basically bridges to nowhere. This bridge I'm talking about is a bridge to somewhere, and that somewhere is to someone, and that someone is you, and that someone is me.

14:35 A bridge has several aspects to it. If you look at a bridge, it's got a foundation on one side. foundation on the other side, and a bridge deck. God's bridge is the same. You've got the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Jesus, again, paying the price, the ultimate price on the cross for our sins. God arranged it. God took responsibility to do this. the other foundation is the resurrection as I've said as you know death couldn't hold Jesus down because he was the sinless singular sovereign sacrifice the Lamb of God death couldn't hold him down he rose again the bridge deck is the righteousness of Christ I want you to think about this now.

15:42 Jesus, I'll say it again, lived this perfect life. So in essence, God rolled out the specs, the plans for this whole deal in the Old Testament. And some people got it, some people missed it. Then, physically, God built this bridge and it took him 33 years. that's how old Jesus was 33 just for those of you who didn't know 33 years well how did God build it Jesus was born in a manger the word became flesh and dwelt among us then he grew up he lived this again righteous life the righteousness of Christ he died on the cross for our wrongdoings, for our sins.

16:40 Then rose again, and basically on Easter morning 2,000 years ago, there was a big honking ribbon-cutting ceremony because the bridge was open. And that's why we celebrate Easter. That's why we celebrate the resurrection. Again, all the other world religions don't even come close to this. Islam is about submission.

17:15 Buddhism is about enlightenment. Hinduism is about detachment. Mormonism is about procreation. Judaism is about obedience. Christianity is about forgiveness. It's about grace. It's God coming to us. It's not man trying to get to God. And those other religions I described to you, although they have some good elements, they're man's attempt to get to God. But at the end of the day, it's a bridge to nowhere.

17:55 You know, a bridge holds weight. Did you know that? I mean, there's a weight limit. even on the Golden Gate Bridge, even on the beautiful Lake Grapevine Dam Bridge. There's a weight limit. This has no weight limit. You might be going, well, Ed, you have no idea what I'm into. You have no idea what I did last night. You have no clue. I mean, we have prison campuses. I don't care if you're watching from a prison campus. I don't care who you are, what you are, what you've done, this bridge will absorb and take the weight of your sin and mine. The weight limit is unlimited. Unlimited. That's why the Bible says boldly in 1 Peter 3, verse 18, for Christ has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust that he might, I love this, let's say it, bring us to God.

18:56 So it's a Jesus thing, isn't it? It's a God thing. God took responsibility of this architecture of Easter to build a bridge from his side to our side. And you can think about this too, another metaphor as a giant cross, you know the cross beam being the bridge deck the cross is a bridge and you have a bridge to cross but I've got to I've got to ask you have you have you crossed the bridge I mean God has done everything he can for you and for me he's even given us the capacity for faith, for a decision for a choice have, I'm just asking, have you done that? I have, years ago when I was a young guy.

19:51 I've crossed the bridge. But I believe many here are still on the construction plan. You still have your red wings on and your safety goggles and that hard hat. You're still working that crane. It's time to park the crane, throw that stuff out, and ditch the human construction plan and walk the bridge. In a couple of moments, I'm going to give you an opportunity to walk the bridge.

20:27 I'm going to give you an opportunity to trash your human construction project and get in on God's grace plan. Because again, it's already been done. What did Jesus say when he died on the cross for our sins? it is finished. People were like, oh no, you're finished. They had no clue, many of them, it is finished. And then three days later, he rose again. So the deal's done. The bridge has been built. You either cross it or not, but you cannot have the excuse anymore. See, the excuse about, hey man, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. No, no, you don't have that excuse anymore. Because I'm presenting the greatest thing you can ever hear in your life right now. The greatest thing I can ever do for someone else is to present to them the gospel of Jesus Christ.

21:25 The greatest gift you can give someone is not a trust fund, it's not a car, it's not a house, it is to introduce them to the bridge. during our services we have scores and scores of people to pray a bridge prayer and to walk the bridge they've walked from man's side our side to God's maybe you need to walk the bridge or maybe you're saying well Ed you know I'm physically unable to do this well if you are you can walk the stage or you can walk down front or whatever. But most of us can walk the bridge. I'm going to pray a prayer right now. And this prayer just basically outlines the same prayer that I prayed and scores and scores of people have prayed throughout history about the bridge.

22:29 And I want to challenge you to pray this prayer with me. Many have prayed the prayer. If you prayed the prayer, pray for others who haven't prayed the prayer that they will make this decision. Okay? Let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, I'm just going to pray a prayer, and I'm going to lead your church in this prayer. And you just say these words to God. Because prayer is just conversation with God. It's not a bunch of fancy words. Just say, God, I admit to you that I'm a sinner. I admit to you that I've been on this construction plant trying to bridge the gap myself and I realize it's a bridge to nowhere.

23:17 So I confess my sins to you and turn from my sins. I repent and I believe God to the best of my ability that you sent Jesus Christ to pay the price, to die on the cross for my sins, to rise again. And right now, I ask you, Jesus, to come into my life, to forgive me, to cleanse me.