The Miracle Bridge

I'm going to be reading one verse of scripture this afternoon found in 1st Timothy chapter 2 and verse 5

1st Timothy chapter 2 and verse 5 as you're going there church

I want to thank you all of you on behalf of my family my wife and I for the

Just the outpouring of love and appreciation last Sunday at pastors day. So God bless you. Thank you so much for

For doing that and we love you and I hope you receive that you receive it. Amen

We love you in return and we thank you for taking that time out. It really

It's always special. So I want to today

Focus just on this one verse the Bible says for there is one God and one

mediator

between God and

men

the man Christ

Jesus

The man Christ Jesus amen in Jesus someone say in Jesus name

Amen, you can be seated in the presence of God. I'm gonna hold my title just for a moment a few years ago

while on vacation in

Porto Vallarta, Praise God

We were driving through the old town and if you've ever been there in the old town

There's these cobblestone streets and it's really bumpy and as we were driving through along the way we happened to drive

Over an unusual bridge that caught my attention

This small bridge was unusual

because of its sidewalk on

one end of the bridge is

a ramp which is it's perfect for anyone who is

on a wheelchair or

has trouble walking and

It's perfect for them. It's a smooth and really nicely paved ramp

that goes all the way up to the top of the bridge but

You you better be healed by the time you get to the top of the bridge

Because in order to get down on the other side you have to walk down about 30 stairs

There's no ramp on the other side of the bridge

I'm not sure what the builders had in mind, but they certainly had a lot of faith. I think

in fact the local

It's called the miracle bridge

because

if you can't walk it basically takes a miracle to get on the other side of the bridge

And I thought to myself that'd be a perfect spot for a healing service right there, huh?

You come up in your wheelchair, but you're gonna leave walking

Not about that and in any case that miracle bridge it reminded me of the scripture that I read

today a

A mediator is a bridge. I'm gonna say bridge

A mediator is a bridge. It's something or someone that brings two points together and that's who Jesus is

He came to bridge the gap between

God and man

He came to be the real

miracle bridge because someone say amen

I want to borrow that that that that name of that bridge for the title of today's message because

when I saw that bridge that day it reminded me of what Jesus came to do that

He provides a ramp for us to get to him. He provides a way

To come to him with our problems with our sin with our dysfunctions our hangups and our issues

But he doesn't leave us that way because by the time we get to the other side we ought to be changed and different

To never be the same again

Now you cannot talk about bridges until you first talk about gaps

Gaps are separations. They are voids between two

Disconnected points

Chasms between two unreachable places

In the physical world gaps created by canyons bodies of water

Mad made spaces make it nearly impossible to reach your destination without a bridge

We need bridges often time to reach where we want to go in this world

Sometimes it's impossible to get where you want to go or you have to double or triple the time to get there

So bridges provide very necessary means of getting where we need to go

And I want to tell you today that it's the same in the spirit world

Now without a bridge there are certain gaps and gulfs that make it impossible for us to reach our spiritual destinations

And as we think about this today as we think about gaps and gulfs and wide divides that could possibly exist between

Where we are in a metaphorical sense in a spiritual sense and where we need to go

It could feel like an impossibility. It could feel like we are without hope or that will possibly never arrive where we believe we are destined to be

And today I want you to think about two very important colossal gaps to focus on today in particular

And those two would be sin and shame

These are two gaps that I want us to consider this afternoon as it relates to our own lives and as it relates to where it is that God wants us to go

How many of you want to go where God wants you to go? Amen

God has a plan for all of us but these two gaps, these two gaps are the same

God has a plan for all of us but these two gaps, these two divides, these two voids can make it virtually impossible to reach our destination in God

And so if you would allow me for a few moments I want to get into this and I know that there may be bits and parts of this message that are very simple

But I come with a simple message, a simple gospel message today for somebody who needs to get over these gulfs in your life

Sin and shame go hand in hand. In fact they are satans one to punch and they typically will appear together in concert wherever there is sin

More often than not there is shame. It accompanies it often times

What Satan loves to do is he loves to tempt us into sin and then it leaves us inevitably in a state of shame

Feeling ashamed, feeling exposed and broken, wanting to hide. This is what happens when sin enters our life or what happens when we fall

This is exactly what happened with Adam and Eve when they fell into sin in the Garden of Eden and in the aftermath

They like all of us needed a bridge to get back to where they belonged with God both physically and emotionally, every aspect of their life

But ultimately and most importantly spiritually there was a great divide that occurred, a great chasm between God and his beloved creation Adam and Eve

And ever since then sin has a way of separating us

But I want to thank God today because God did not leave us helpless because somebody give God some praise today

Amen, I said God did not leave us helpless

But why don't we deal with these two gaps today? Because I want to help somebody understand

I want to help clear the fog and give someone clarity about these gaps that can occur in our life

But let's first talk about the gap of sin. Let's talk about this gap today

And I'm just going to deal with these two, of sin and shame

But since the fall of man, man's widest gap is sin

Which entered the world when Adam disobeyed God by eating of the dream of knowledge of good and evil

And from that point on sin continued to separate us from God

It continued to divide man from his creator, God who is holy, sinless and righteous

Isaiah writes these words in Isaiah 59 and verse 2

But your iniquities have separated you from your God

And your sins have hidden his face from you

One thing you need to understand about sin today, among all the things that it does

Its primary effect in our life is that it separates us from God

It separates us from fellowship, from relationship with God

This is what sin does, it creates a void of space between us and God

It puts us on opposite ends of the spectrum

And I want you to understand today that there are no earthly bridges that can offer us a bridge

That can offer us a way of getting to God

There is no religion, there is no philosophy, there are no good deeds that you can do

That can possibly span the gap between you and God

There is nothing available to us in this world, nothing available to us within the intellect of man

Within any aspect of life that could possibly bridge that gap between us and God

That gap that's called sin

Paul illustrates this impossible separation

When he writes in Romans 3, 23

He said for all, someone say for all

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

We all have fallen short of his glory, amen

I said we all have fallen short of his glory and are left on a cliff with no way of getting to God

No way of possibly reaching him, no way of possibly earning our inheritance in heaven

No way of bridging that gap, of making up that hedge throughout the Old Testament

God, he instituted various means, various sacrificial substitutes and systems in order to atone for the sins of his people

Which I don't have the time to get into today

But you can read about it, various ways and sacraments and systems of animal sacrifice and blood atonement

To provide a temporary means of man approaching God

But it was never a permanent fix, it was never a perfect fix

It was simply a type in a shadow, it was simply a temporary measure until a more perfect sacrifice came

His name is Jesus Christ who would come to ultimately atone and reconcile the world back to God, amen

And it was only Jesus who could do this for us

No other means, no other way, I want to paint this picture for you today

Because possibly there is somebody today who thinks somewhere in the corner of your mind

That through your own inventions and through your own good words and through your own righteousness

And through your own good behavior and through your own efforts

And through the ways of man and through the philosophies of man and through science or through medicine or through psychology

Or all these things that possibly it could bridge this great dysfunction in our life

This depraved state that we are in and get us to God or get us to some kind of euphoric state

Some kind of salvation but you need to know that there is nothing, this side of eternity

There is nothing man made that could ever bridge that gap and get us from where we are to where God is

So therefore God said his only begotten Son that he might dwell among us and we will behold his very face

And he might be that heavenly bridge, amen somebody to get us to God

Can you clap your hands today and give God some praise

Paul gives us a clear picture of this miracle bridge of salvation when he writes in Romans 6 and verse 23

For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord

This is one of my favorite passages of scripture this one verse because you know you can share the whole gospel just with this one verse right here

If you are looking for a verse to share the gospel with someone I just gave you one right here

This actually explains really in one verse the whole gospel right here

For the wages of sin is death now in this verse we can break it up into two parts

And the first part is the gap the wages of sin someone say wages

Now what is a wage a wage is a payment that you earn in exchange for your work

Just like your employer pays you a wage right it's what you earn that's a wage it's a payment

And the wage or the payment the payment of sin now what is sin

Sin is any thought word or lifestyle displeasing to God

Any thought word or lifestyle that is contrary to God's nature contrary to who God is

It's contrary to what his word says and it's displeasing to him

But it's not just what you do or think because some might say well I think I've been a pretty good person most of my life

I don't think I'm a sinner well the Bible teaches us that we are all born in sin

So even from the moment that you first came into this world David wrote that he was born in sin and iniquity was I shaped

So sin is not just an action or a thought sin is a state of being

Sin is how you are born it's in your human DNA

So whether we like it or not that's what we deserve so the wages of sin are excuse me that that's the

That's that's how it is so the wages of sin he goes on to say is death amen

What is death death is eternal separation from God

So the wages the payment of sin is eternal separation from God

A life of sin could only lead you to death

Are you hearing what I'm saying today a life of sin could the wages of sin the only payment you could expect the only reward

If you want to call it that the only thing you can expect to receive living a life of sin is death

What is death eternal separation from God

This leaves us on an impossible cliff this leaves us on a cliff of eternal sorrow and hopelessness

However, I've got good news for you today the verse doesn't end there because the second part says

But the gift of God someone say but the devil thought he had me but God

God amen the devil thought it was hopeless

But God sin thought it had a grip on me but someone say but

But God had an answer hey amen

I once was lost but now I'm found I once was blind

But now I see my life was over

But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus

It seemed like all hope was lost it seemed like sin would have put us in an impossible situation

But God for God so loved the world

Hallelujah that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish

But have everlasting life

Oh praise God for that amen

The miracle bridge over the gap of sin is forgiveness someone say forgiveness

And that bridge of forgiveness was paved by the blood of Jesus and the cross that he died on for you and I

This bridge hallelujah is the only bridge it is the only way you've got to understand Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life

He says no one comes to the father except through me hallelujah there is no other way amen

Amen somebody am I preaching the truth today I said there is no other way there is no other way Jesus said I am the way

I am the bridge if you're looking for a bridge to make heaven your home look no further because the Jesus that I preach today

Is that miracle bridge to get you through those gates and to make heaven your everlasting home

Come on let's give God some praise right now hallelujah

You know I know this is really simple but sometimes we got to make it plain

We got to make it simple we got to call sin what it is

And I think one of us or all of us need to understand that this bridge of salvation is a two-way street

Come on can I talk about this a little bit now it's a two-way street everything that I'm talking about

Everything that I'm saying this bridge that I'm offering you is a two-way street in order to cross this bridge

You are gonna have to repent of your sins

Amen if you don't repent of your sin then you will stay on your side of the gap

You will stay on your side of the bridge and if you don't make heaven your home and you spend an eternity in hell

It won't be God's fault because he already drew the bridge and it's up to you to repent

Wow pastor that's kind of extreme are you saying I'm going to hell yes you're going to hell if you do not cross the bridge

That Jesus lived I know that's not popular I know we're not supposed to say that now in the year 2023

But this preacher has a responsibility to tell you that you got to repent this is what the Bible says

Acts 238 shows us how to cross that bridge the Bible says then Peter said unto them

Repent someone say repent he said repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ

For the remission of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit

If you want to cross that bridge and get over your sin then you've got to repent of your sins

Get out of that lifestyle get out of that thinking get out of that living get out of that ungodliness

Get out of that debauchery get out of that ungodly relationship get out of that my God get out of that sin

Get out of that backwards thinking and cross the bridge and God will meet you right there

Hallelujah and just like that miracle bridge that I saw in Puerto Vallarta. Amen

It's got a ramp on one side. You know how easy God is making it for you today. He built a ramp

It's so easy we make it harder than what it is all you got to do is take a step of faith and say what God has for me

Is greater than where I've been I'm tired of being stuck on this side. I want this eternal promise

And so therefore I'm willing to turn away from sin. I'm willing to put my past behind me

I'm willing to cross this bridge and accept this gift of eternal salvation so that I can spend eternity with Jesus

Across that bridge amen, and if you haven't been baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of this and then consider this your official

Invitation that God wants to save your soul, but it's a two-way someone say it's a two-way street

You got to meet them there and like that bridge I saw if you'll just walk up that ramp

You might you're gonna walk up you will walk up broken you will walk up in you will walk up with sin

You will walk up with problem by the time you get to the top. Oh

Hallelujah something's gonna happen. God's gonna change you God's gonna renew you God's gonna bless you

And you'll be able to walk on your own two feet. Amen

So this is the message of the gospel

This is the message that we need to preach this is the message that we need to live and by the way

Even after you've been baptized and born again of the water in the spirit

We fall short of the glory of God and if you have found yourself in sin

If you have if you find yourself living living living the wrong life

I can tell you today that God is just if we confess our sins first John 1 6 6

First John 1 6 said if we confess our sins God is faithful and just amen somebody to forgive us

Of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteous come on somebody give God some praise

There is hope for you today you don't have to stay on that side. You don't have to stay there

So the gap of sin there's a miracle bridge you can cross today. Amen

And then there's another gap. I told you there was two

And the next gap is the gap of shame someone say shame

Now first of all I need to say something

I need to say that not all shame is bad

You know not all shame is bad. I know that for the most part we think it's a bad thing and I'm going to get there in a moment

But I think there's sometimes we need shame because without a sense of guilt and shame

I don't think we would feel remorse for being in our sins

And feel the need to regret

Or excuse me I need to repent I think shame sometimes helps us recognize our need to change

That type of shame is a good thing and I think some people could use a lot more of it

Because some people don't have any shame

Hallelujah you liked me about five minutes ago but I don't know if you don't like me now

Some shame is good. Somebody say sometimes it's good

Sometimes it's good

A little bit of shame can help get right with God

So that's a little commercial right there

However the shame that I think I need to deal with right now is the one that even after God has forgiven you

Even after you have experienced his mercy even after he has shown you grace

Still it seems because of shame you pull away from him

Even after that

And this kind of shame is what drives people away from God

This kind of shame is what drove Adam and Eve to hide from the presence of the Lord

After they fell

They hid from God

They hid from God and they culled themselves with fig leaves that they had sowed together

Let's read in Genesis 3.8

I'll be just a few more moments but this is important I need to get through this point today

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day

Now let me just pause there if God didn't love them and if God hadn't already showed them mercy

I guarantee he wouldn't be walking in the garden looking for them in the cool of the day

If God cuts you off believe me you'll know you've been cut off

But he's coming looking for you

And the very fact that he comes looking for you is a sign that it's not over

Amen

It's a sign that his grace and his mercy is still available

Hallelujah

So he's walking in the cool of the day and you know what he's looking for?

His walking partner

He's looking for Adam

But here's what happens

It says that Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees

Someone say trees

Say it again say trees

They hid among the trees of the garden

Now the reason why I had to repeat those words is because I want to approach this from a different angle than maybe what we're used to

When we look at the story and when we study what happened at the fall and God's plan of redemption here

And what Adam and Eve did to try to substitute or cover themselves

We focus on the fig leaves and rightly so

But I'm interested not in what they covered themselves

But I'm also interested in where they hid

They hid among the trees

Now this stuck out to me

It stuck out to me for a few reasons

It stuck out to me because you got to remember

Their whole problem got started because they chose to eat from the wrong tree

Everything about their situation and the predicament that they were in

They were in that predicament because they chose it revolved around choosing to eat from the wrong tree

So think about that

Tree then the two trees that got put in the garden represents decisions

Alright it represents a choice

Someone say decisions

It represents the trees in the garden represent decisions

It's a choice and obviously they made the wrong choice

Let me tell you something

When people want to hide

They don't barricade themselves in their bedroom, lock the door, and put the sofa behind the door

When people want to hide

I'll tell you where they hide

They hide in their decisions

I'm going to help you today

The trees represent decisions

They got themselves in their predicament because they made the wrong choice

So when God came looking for them in their shame

They hid themselves back in the trees

They hid themselves in practically a forest

And they hid themselves in this place because of shame

They hid in there in their shame

And what people do today is they hide in their decisions that put more obstacles between them and God

Let me tell you something

The truth is 90% of our lives are a choice

I'm getting to the point now

First of all, I'm getting tired of hearing people's excuses for one

You better bring up the piano player, my God

I'm here to tell you that 90% is a choice

I understand you couldn't choose where you were born

I understand you couldn't choose the family you were born into

I understand you couldn't choose a lot of things, color of the skin, color of your eyes

There are certain things you just couldn't choose

I understand that you might have been a victim

There might have been certain things that you had no control over

But after that, most of your life is the result of the choices that you make

So don't tell me that it's this or that that it's out of your control

If you want to be here at church, then it's your choice to be here

Your choice to be here

Uh oh, I might want to cut the livestream, brother

Someone say he's a choice

We don't like hearing that it's a choice

I'll tell you why we don't like hearing that it's a choice

Because once we hear that it's actually a choice, then it puts the responsibility on us

We can't blame people for where we're at

We can't say, well I'm just here because what?

Because you made a choice

And what I've come to understand is that the root cause of these kinds of decisions

That put more obstacles between them and God at the root of it is shame

At the root of it is somebody who doesn't feel like they're worthy

At the root of it is somebody who doesn't feel like they belong

And what they do is they make it harder and harder for God to touch them

They make it harder and harder to be committed

Make it harder and harder to find the healing that they need

Hear me today, the growth that they need

They make it harder and harder to grow spiritually

To grow emotionally, to be the person, to be the man or the woman of God

That God has called them to be and they hide among the trees

And there are people today under the sound of my voice

There are people today in this world, Christians and saints

That are hiding among the trees and I'm looking for them

And God is looking for them, come on up here and I'm serious this time

And we're looking for them

They're in the forest, they're in the trees

I want to ask what trees have you been hiding in?

What trees have you been hiding in?

Oh God, hallelujah Jesus

The reason they hide behind those decisions

I think in many cases it's shame

You don't think you're worthy

You don't think, oh God

You don't think that God wants you

You don't think that your presence matters

You don't think the church needs you

You don't think your love does

You don't think that you matter

Like Adam and Eve, you hide among the trees

A million excuses among the wrong people

Among the wrong places

We're going to tell you today

God loves you so much, you know what he does?

He walks towards the trees

And then he extends a bridge

And said, I know you think I forgot about you

I know you think, Jesus, that there was no coming back

I know you think that you messed up too bad this time

I know you think that you're not loved

I know you think that it's over

But Adam and Eve, I need you to know that I have provided a bridge

And by the way, this bridge is also a tree

It's a wooden bridge

It's Calvary's tree

Oh my Lord

My God

You can get out of the woods of shame

If you simply walk on the wood of that cross

And say, oh my God

The bridge has already been drawn

All I've got to do is step out in faith

Peter summed it up this way

He said, he himself, as I close, he himself bore

Our sins and his own body on a tree

That we, having died to sin, might live for righteousness

By whose stripes you were healed

I invite you to stand with me today, church

Hallelujah, God

I stand before you today

I stand before you as

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

If you can just imagine, I stand before you as someone who is offering a bridge

This is your ticket back

To get back to where you belong and God

To, hmm, Jesus

To be saved from your sins

I'm going to invite you right there where you are

If you would just close your eyes

I'd just feel the presence of God in this place

I feel in my heart right now

I feel in my spirit that God is dealing with somebody today

God's dealing with somebody right now

Someone is right on the edge

You're on the edge of the cliff

You're on the edge of the gap

I want you to imagine right now that there is a bridge

And that bridge is the cross

And that's what I've come to preach today

I've come to preach about that cross

That living bridge

That if you want what I'm offering you today

Which is eternal life

Then consider this an open door

Consider this your invitation

Oh, hallelujah

I wonder if we can just worship the Lord for a moment

I feel there is somebody right now that's right there

Hallelujah, Jesus

God loves you today

And God doesn't want you to be damned

God doesn't want you to miss out on this eternal opportunity

This great reward that we have

You see the Lord put this message on my heart this week

Because God loves somebody today

God wants somebody today

God's trying to reach somebody

God wants you to know that he's got a plan for you

That he wants to save you from your sins

All you've got to do is repent

All you've got to do is repent to them

And invite the praise to him if you can come on up

And then I want to just open this altar up this afternoon

Because if there is somebody today that you need to walk across that bridge

And get over your sin

Or get over your shame

You need to take this invitation seriously today

You need to take this invitation seriously

You need to take this invitation like your life, like your future

Depends on it

So I'm going to pray for you right now

Father in the name of Jesus

God, I come before you at this very hour

Lord, I thank you Lord for what you've done

God, I thank you for your word

I thank you, God

For the bridge that you came to this earth to draw

When we couldn't get to you, Lord, you came to us

And God, today you sent me here

You brought me to this place, God

To preach this simple message to somebody

God, because you know that someone's life

Someone's destiny, someone's soul

Is hanging in the balance, God

And I pray right now, God

In the name of Jesus that you would stir their hearts, Lord