The Chasm That Humans Can't Bridge

Here is a wonderful depiction, written by Ray Pritchard, of how sin keeps a non-believer from connecting with God:

     "We were made to know God and we want to know Him, but our sin has separated us from God. As a result, we are left with a deep 'Father hunger' that won't go away.

     So what do we do? We look for love in all the wrong places. We can illustrate this using a pen and a piece of paper. Draw a cliff on the right side of the paper and label it 'God.' On the left side draw another cliff and label it 'Us.' Label the gap in between with the word 'Sin.' That's the problem we all face. We're on one side, God is on the other, and our sin stands between God and us. Something deep inside tells us we belong on the other side with the God who made us. So we set out to build bridges across the great chasm.

     Now draw lines that start on the 'Us' side, ending each line somewhere in-between the two cliffs. Each line represents a human 'bridge' we build in our attempts to find our way back to God. One bridge is labeled 'Money,' another 'Education,' another 'Good works,' another 'Sex,' another 'Power,' another 'Science,' another 'Success,' another 'Approval,' another 'Relationships,' and another 'Religion.' You can make as many bridges as you like, but they never seem to reach the other side. Each one ends somewhere in the middle, illustrating the truth that you can never find God by starting where you are. No matter which road you take, you fall into the great chasm and end up being broken on the jagged rocks of reality.

     That's what I mean by searching in all the wrong places. Nothing in this world can satisfy our longing because nothing in this world can lead us back to God. The answer we need must come from outside this world...

     Here is our problem in a nutshell. We were made by God to know God. There is a 'God-shaped vacuum' inside each person that causes us to seek after the One who made us. Solomon reminds us in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that God 'has put eternity in their hearts.' Because we search in all the wrong places, we can never find Him. Our eternal longing for God is not fulfilled." Ray Pritchard, An Anchor for the Soul


Those of us who have made this journey and come out on the other side, now seated with Christ at God's right hand, know this to be true. 

Yet, many people accede no Godly foundation to this earth or any living being in it and therefore, are not inclined to give any thought to what to them are trivial and banal matters. 

Many more are still sure that they can live according to a personally-defined god. 

To them, Jesus is a mockery, or, as one relative of mine put it, a "fairy tale." The chasm, for them, remains.

Jesus says, in Matthew 11:6, "blessed is he who does not take offense at Me."

Peter, in 2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

Then, after denouncing the cities in which most of his miracles were done because the people did not repent, Jesus says, in Matthew 11:27-30,

"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." 

Jesus bridges the chasm.