I love bridges
Bridges have always called to me. Always. From as early as I can remember traveling with my family as a child, I always noticed bridges.
My husband and I have traveled to hundreds of places over the years with his work. And I have taken 1000s of pictures of our adventures. Many of them are photos of bridges.
Several years ago, I had a brief discussion with a childhood friend about our mutual love of bridges. We grew up near the Mississippi River and of course were exposed to the bridges that cross that mighty river. She too loves bridges and had some insight about why we feel the way we do. That discussion stirred something deep inside of me.
“Bridges represent connection, integrity, and the ability to link things together that would otherwise remain separate and divided”…Bobbie Skipper Dunning
Connection
Bobbie is correct. A bridge represents connection. It links together what would otherwise remain separate and divided…..like us and God.
God’s creation, the earth and all that is upon it was a perfect creation. But the sin of man, separated us from God’s perfect Holiness. At the very core of our Christian beliefs stands the simple idea that God and man need to be reconciled.
There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5
The Greek word for “Mediator” literally means “go-between” or “reconciler”. Is that not exactly what a bridge is? It is a go-between two things that are separate from each other. It connects the two things. Us and God. The bible says that Jesus is that Mediator. He is the bridge between our sinful selves and the Holy God. Jesus restores our access to God so that we can fully walk in communion with Him. He is our bridge to our Heavenly Father.
The perfectly secular Collins Dictionary says that “Something that bridges the gap between two very different things has some of the qualities of each of these things.” How fitting! Our Jesus, that bridges the gap between us and God is exactly that. He is fully man, and fully God.
And the Good News
And the Good News is that Jesus connects us, over, and through whatever separates us from God. There is nothing so deep or so wide that he can not bridge. He is the “go-between” that protects us from the suffocating, raging waters that threaten to drown us. The cross is the bridge that keeps us from the rocks and crevices of life that we can not cross on our own. Christ Jesus bridges the gap between us and God over the deepest ravines of despair and depression.
There is no trouble, no problem, no sin that Jesus’s sacrifice does not cover. No matter where you are, or how far you are from where you need to be, Jesus can reconnect you to God.
The sacrifice of the cross is the bridge that reconciled us to our heavenly Father.
Heavenly Father, I thank you and praise you for your gift of Jesus. Lord I thank you that you desire to be reconciled to us. Help me to always remember that there is no problem so big that I can not get to you. Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice. In your precious, Holy Name I pray.
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