Not to bore you with a lot of history (heaven forbid), but humanity split with its Creator a long time ago.  The breakup came over the issue of sin.  The Creator called for its avoidance by the total abstinence method.  The created disagreed, preferring to explore the wonders of depravity, plumb the depths of misery and experience the thrills & chills of death and disaster.  There you have it—irreconcilable differences.

For those of you playing the home version of the game, sin is lawlessness.   It’s not only single acts or even patterns of disobedience; it’s the desire and determination to live as if there were no law at all. If there is no law, there is no lawgiver, no one to hold anybody accountable and no basis for doing so. If there is no law, there is no law-breaking. Under this system there are no guardrails.  It is literally anything goes.

Sin by the way, comes in two flavors—doing the evil the Creator proscribes (sins of “commission”) and failing to do the good that He commands (sins of “omission”). Some people may get fairly good at limiting one or the other, but seldom both.  It doesn’t matter much, however, because God considers all three potential trip hazards—a person’s actions, words and even thoughts.  No fallible human being is going to score 100% across every area.  Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional.

But it’s actually worse than that—a whole lot worse.  Law-keeping is strictly pass/fail, no grading on the curve.  You either keep the law perfectly, every moment of every day, or you are a law-breaker, an outlaw.  Now you know why everybody is so eager to pretend that there is no Creator.  To believe otherwise is, is…well it’s downright scary.

Think of the load you’re hauling, the total tonnage of countless transgressions and failures to love each day…multiplied by the number of your days.  Even if you slam on the brakes right now and stand on the pedal, nothing will slow you down. Here comes the cliff and there’s no friction.  My friend, you’re picking up speed.  Oh, and this just in: the bridge up ahead of you is out.  Beneath you, asphalt and concrete will soon become nothing but air and it’s a sheer drop to the bottom.  This chasm is too wide and too far across.  You will never make it.

Where is the Creator while this nightmarish scene unfolds?  Does He see your predicament?  Does He care what happens to you?  Is He rubbing his hands together in anticipation, throwing His head back and laughing with ghoulish glee?  Does He draw satisfaction from hearing the screams of sinners as they make their inevitable plunge?  Hardly. On the contrary, the Lord is “…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9, emphasis mine)

God loved the world so much, that He offered up His one and only Son to lay down His life, to bridge that gap for us.  Jesus Christ willingly became a man, lived a sinless life to qualify as our sin-bearer, paid the full penalty for our sin (He suffered, died and was buried), and was raised to life again by His Father.  Jesus became the bridge that spans the gulf of separation between sinners and a just and holy God.

The Father’s will was not to condemn and punish the world, but to save the world through Him (Jesus).  Nevertheless, reaction has been mixed, to say the least.

Urgent warning (from God):“You’re approaching a canyon and the bridge is out!”

Overheard:

“Canyon?  What canyon?  I don’t see any canyon.  Oh wait, there it—”

“Who are you to warn me?  I don’t take orders from you, whoever you are.”

“I’m not worried.  It’s been a smooth drive so far and besides, I’m enjoying the ride.”

“Next I suppose you’ll try to tell me that there’s only one way across…” (snickers).

“I don’t trust you. You just want to control me.”

“I don’t believe in canyons. A loving God would never have created one” (floors it).

“Bridge smidge.  I have faith that we’ll all reach the far side in safety, regardless.”

“How do I know your warning is true or that you even exist? I’ll take my chances.”

“Show me.  Unless I see it with my own eyes, I won’t buy it. Seeing is believing, pal.”

“Thank You for telling me!  How do I get off this road and take the way Jesus made?”

Notwithstanding the last response, for the vast majority, it’s rebellion.  Unbelief.  Denial. Wishful thinking.  Mocking.  Sneering. Scoffing.  Rejection, suppression and distortion of the truth.  It’s godless, heedless, reckless.

Why is it that the same people who can’t tell the difference between “invisible” and “imaginary” readily trust their own sin-sick perceptions?  Why won’t they examine the evidence?  Why do they run from honest inquiry, while growing ever more sure of themselves?  God’s word has this to say:

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind…”  (Romans 1:28)

“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools”  (Romans 1:22)

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.  The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.  They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.  Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who… call not upon the Lord.” (Psalm 14:1-4)

The message is simple:  “…your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”(Isaiah 59:2)  The danger is real.  The great divide between you threatens to become permanent.  If you do not belong to Christ, you are barreling toward eternal separation from God and the bridge is out just ahead of you.  You can do nothing to save yourself: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  (John 14:6) Jesus not only shows the way, He IS the way.

The good news is, that redemption is available [but only so long as you are alive and capable of choosing].  That choice is clear.  Come to Christ now.  Humble yourself, repent of your sins and place your trust and hope in Jesus. Confess Him as your Lord and savior. Receive Him into your heart and accept the gift of pardon He died to give you.  Then step out onto His cross.  Walk over that abyss to the opposite side and meet the Lord where He waits for you, and welcomes you home.

HOW TO BE SAVED:

• Admit to God that you are a sinner (that you have not kept His moral law to perfection; in your thoughts, words and actions you have done what His law forbids and have failed to do what His love demands).  This is seeing yourself from God’s point of view and agreeing that He is right about you.  Be as specific as you can.
• Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead.
• Sincerely repent (turn away) from your sins, asking God to forgive you and to use His power to help you resist temptation, no matter how strong the pull of sin may be, at first.
• Acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life.  Invite Him to move into your heart and take up residence there, so that He can change you from the inside out.
• Trust His promise to save you and give you a new spiritual birth and a new nature (thoughts, desires, priorities, hopes, dreams and character).

SOME KEY TRUTHS:

• “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
• “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10)
• “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23)
• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
• “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)
• “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”  (I Corinthians 15:3,4)
• “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
• “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him…”  (Revelation 3:20)
• “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  (Romans 10:13)
• “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”  (Romans 10:9)
• “Verily, verily, I say unto you; He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life; and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”  (John 5:24)
• “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name.”  (John 20:31) 
• “These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  (I John 5:13)