Bridge 5 The Bridge to Eternity

[HKHaugan]

Having revisited the "4 Bridges to Nowhere" we have seen that nowhere is really nowhere and nowhere is a dead end, a terminal aloneness and an empty eternity. As we quoted at the end of each they were found “...too dangerous to continue on so we make a u-turn called repentance and on the other side of that repentant exchange for forgiveness lies the vision of a new bridge, Bridge 5, the Bridge to Eternity.”

We know that Bridge 5 is the Lord Jesus Himself. This is not a bridge that depends on me but one that depends on Him, completely on Him. He is the 'Bridge Over Troubled Waters,' that Scripture shows, “Come unto me all who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest (Mt.11:28).”

Let's review what we depend on in the secular world:
First, it's what other people think about who we are, how we are identified. Our identity is always in question wherever we go. We are slaves to the attitude and opinion of others. Now that's slavery of the worst kind.
Second, it's about performance in every next moment. Whether it is acceptance, acquisition or associations, every activity demands performance which is dependent on the first thing, what others think. Every group we choose to belong to, every person we meet, every job we have, someone is evaluating our performance. The moment is always under scrutiny. Do we measure up?
Third, it's about ongoing security. Can we ever be sure that the values we choose, the persons we follow, the organizations we join, become part of s system that will guarantee lasting security?
Fourth, it's about the affection we have not only for what we are doing but developing the kind of personality that makes me feel good, the people around me feeling good about me and loving the process I have developed to do all that. It's about the kind of inner satisfaction that makes me say to myself, “I feel like I'm a OK. I may make a few mistakes here and there but basically I'm a good person. I've got lots of friends so why do I feel so alone?”

What is missing in the 4 bridge trust cycle is the same truth that can be applied to all physical existence. 100% of everything we do is directed 100% by what we can't see. Every thought, every choice, every decision, every strategy is part of a process that is totally invisible. It all takes place in the mind and heart. Furthermore that process is based on a belief that there is worth, value and satisfaction at the end of the process. The process involves trust in the belief and the willingness, the faith, to obtain its hoped for results. Nothing takes place outside of this invisible process. This invisible dimension in which we spend all our time is spiritual, personal and relational demanding some kind of external help. Have we ever really considered that from the time we are born we are invisibly dependent on the invisible qualities of those who raise us, live with us, educate us, employ us, relate with us, grow with us and will eventually be at our physical burial?

From birth to death we may have physical bodies existing in a material universe but it is the invisible dimension, the spiritual that governs us. When I say spiritual I mean the fact of belief in a way to live and what to do with what we are and have. Who and what we trust inside and then have faith in to act, to move about, to risk, take chances is the spiritual nature we have. This leads us to the bottom line question. If everything is ultimately in the invisible who do we trust to negotiate its depth? This is especially important when it comes to deciding what is good, better and best as opposed to what is bad, worse and worst, you know, good and evil? That bottom line is spiritual discernment, spiritual assurance, spiritual judgment and spiritual decision. Can we trust, believe and have faith in our imperfect selves to walk confidently in the invisible? We need a two way bridge from the visible to the invisible and back to the visible.

When it comes to the '4 bridges' they only hold one way traffic. There's no u-turn in nowhere. The 4 bridge mentality is all about me without God: manufactured identity (1st) in every next moment (2nd) continually sought (3rd) in misplaced affection (4th). Do they work? Yes, for awhile, but every biological life comes to an end and the unseen 'I am' in each person continues. What then? Like all the bridges in the seen world we eventually come to an end. There is the unseen eternity awaiting. There is a judgment not of the body but of the person that was in the body. If what makes up that person is wrapped up only in the means of making it through biological existence then what do we do in eternity? This calls for another bridge that is the unseen bridge to our eternal existence. This why Jesus came into the flesh to be a visible image of an invisible reality to save us from ourselves.

The ultimate reality is a personal, living, spiritual bridge named Jesus, the two way Bridge between the Father and us, between the present and eternity, now and forever, which has always been and always will be the spiritual present in His Presence. His humanity is the exact image of the eternal mind, heart and Spirit of God. He brings perfected the pylons of character, attitude, moral judgment, ethical choice, active decisions that involve others, all set in spiritual reality. His pure spiritual reality is relational interchange on every level. The Scripture is the photographic album of Jesus, the Living Bridge.

The thing about Jesus is that the moment we take Him seriously, accept His invitation to relate to Him, accept His leadership and embrace His Word, he does an astounding thing. Instead of us having to wait until we die to experience it, He brings eternity into our heart in the moment we believe Him, He takes our self-centeredness and converts it into consciousness of God and others to the degree that they are our first consideration. We see them and the world in a new context, a spiritual context. We see our purpose is to be a reflection of the Creator right where we are.

If and when we follow Him that reflection develops and grows in our daily environment. That is the work of the Holy Spirit who Jesus brings to shine through us and lighten a sin-darkened world. Thus everything seen is a symbol of an unseen reality that includes both good and evil and clearly discernible through Him. The realization comes alive that since God is the Creator of everything and God is Spirit then everything was conceived in the mind of God which makes everything spiritually significant. This means that everything has a spiritual resolution and future. Creation is leading to something greater and He has chosen us to be part of it.

And, one more thing of considerable importance. All that we once thought vital to living is now a secondary concern, secondary to what the Lord has planned for us That is, to be a spiritual, personal and relational family in His eternity. We can only conclude that we are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience He will complete in His eternal reality that is taking place in every next moment.

Now we have something to celebrate as we think of the time, place and reason for the coming of Jesus into this world.
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:1-10).”