Walls and Bridges – by Greg Albrecht
Think with me for a moment about the contrast between a wall and a bridge. Walls exclude and reject while bridges invite and include. Walls are built to limit access – to prohibit adversaries or threats from what is deemed to be worthy of protecting and securing.
Bridges are constructed because of a need and/or a desire to increase traffic from one side to another – bridges are built because of inhospitable, formidable obstacles, a valley or a body of water that inhibits or prevents safe crossings.
Both walls and bridges have their role in our world, but a bridge is by far and away a better illustration of the relationship to which God invites the entire world than a wall. Jesus came to tear down barriers and hostilities (Ephesians 2:14-15) and build a bridge.
Jesus is the carpenter who used two pieces of wood to build a bridge that spans the distance from here and now to eternity. Jesus is the Master Bridge Builder because Jesus alone could build a bridge from death to life with only two pieces of wood! Jesus is the Bridge who enables us to “cross over.”
“Very truly, I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).
Jesus promises those who hear his word – meaning his invitation to follow, trust and yield to him – those who believe God the Father sent Jesus, and that Jesus is indeed God in the flesh, 1) have eternal life, 2) will not be condemned, for 3) they have crossed over from the dimension of death into life.
- Eternal life in John 5:24 means having eternal life within oneself now. Jesus says one who hears and believes him “has” eternal life now, in the present – he does not say that one “will not have” eternal life until some future time. Eternal life is both/and – eternal life is not only then, it is also now. Eternal life is now and then.
- Will not be judged means that a favorable judgment has already taken place – names have already been written in “the book of life belonging to the Lamb” (Revelation 13:8 – see also 3:5; 20:12; 21:27). Because of the Lamb, the Light of the world, the Bread of life, no negative or lasting or punitive judgment can ever take place against those in the book of life – they will not be condemned. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… (Romans 8:1-2).
- Crossing over means passing over, going from one place to another… so that in its spiritual sense cross over is being transformed from one state of existence and being to another. In Christ, we cross over from one time continuum to another.
The kingdom of God is both present, now… and it is future, in its fullness. Crossing over means living the life of the age to come now, even while still in our sinful and mortal bodies, while awaiting the glorious return of our Savior, the “then” when our then deceased bodies will be resurrected and our salvation confirmed and proclaimed and celebrated – a salvation already given and embraced.
When we cross over from death to life we die spiritually, now, and of course we will die at some point physically. When we cross over from death to life we receive eternal life now, because
we are now resurrected with our Lord, and our mortal bodies then, after their physical death, will be raised from the dead, as Jesus was, and made immortal, as his body was and is.
This new reality of the life of the age to come – this new dimension of eternal life – is a result of crossing over from death to life.
There is no toll booth on Jesus’ bridge. Crossing over is not a trip across the bridge granted because of deeds done or services rendered. Crossing over is not deserved or earned.
Crossing over in and through and because of Jesus is not a transaction – it is a transformation by grace. Crossing over is life in the Son, life in and through the risen Lord, so that we are now united in and with him.
Crossing over is crossing the bridge of Jesus, a bridge that he constructed, as a carpenter, from two pieces of wood, from a world of time and space that confines and limits, a world ruled over by laws that restrict and regulate, into a world of eternity ruled over by the love and grace of God.
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:11-12).
You either have the Son or you do not. Jesus is either your bridge upon which and in whom you cross over, and you embrace the grace of God and yield to him, or you trust and believe in your own righteousness and your own abilities to perform rules that might earn you God’s favor and thereby trust in the bridge that someone else builds and maintains.
You probably already know that crossing over the bridge constructed by Jesus – the bridge that is all that Jesus is – is not an easy decision. It is much easier to build walls and live in “safe” places where we are assured by authorities that they will take care of our every need. It’s been said that no one would have ever crossed the ocean if they could have gotten off the ship during the storm.
The decision to trust God and follow Jesus and live by the grace of God rather than attempting to earn merits from God on the basis of our performance is a frightening and unnerving proposition. Rules and laws that define and confine us offer us a sense of security and comfort, whereas freedom in Christ, living by the grace of God, can seem unsettling. But Jesus is more than a bunch of rules we follow, words we study, songs we sing, ceremonies we observe and rituals we perform.
While we still live in a physical world of time and space, a world where law defines our existence, Jesus is our bridge in whom we pass over – we cross over. Even while we are still in this mortal body when we cross over, we are given and we possess eternal life, by the grace of God. We either embrace the grace of God or we cling to our abilities to earn a reward from God.
Crossing over the bridge of Jesus is both an act, a one-time event when we determine to follow Jesus, and it is an ongoing process, wherein we daily pick up our cross and, following Jesus, cross over.
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. But now apart from law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. – Romans 3:20-22
“The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is a fantasy novel by C.S. Lewis, for children, young and old. It is the third novel in the seven-novel series of “The Chronicles of Narnia.” You may remember that Lewis introduces Narnia in the first of the Narnia series, “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe,” as a fantasy world created for all seven novels.
In “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” several children magically travel to Narnia, where they begin a journey on a ship named Dawn Treader. Again, as you may recall, C.S. Lewis depicts Aslan the lion as Jesus. The children meet Aslan/Jesus on their journey. They first of all discover a Lamb, who transforms into a Lion (evocative of the Lion and Lamb of the fifth chapter of Revelation). Lucy, one of the children asks Aslan about how they will be able to travel to his country.
“‘Oh Aslan,’ said Lucy. ‘Will you tell us how to get into your country from our world?’ ‘I shall be telling you all the time,’ said Aslan. ‘But I will not tell you how long or how short the way will be, only that it lies over a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder.’”
We cross over from death to life when we believe in Jesus and embrace the grace of God, being united with Christ in both his death and his resurrection. When we are united in and with Jesus Christ, he is inside of us. He is one with us. He lives his risen life in us. He goes on before us. He walks with us. He never leaves or forsakes us.
As we cross over in Christ and because of Christ, remember: the path that lies ahead of us and the past that lies behind us are not worthy to be compared with the glory of He who lives within us.
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Greg Albrecht
Friend and Partner Letter from July 2019
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