Living at The Intersection Point

As a young man I attended several different evangelism programs - Campus Crusade, Navigators, Southern Baptist, etc. Many of them use some form of the "Bridge Illustration." A diagram of a chasm spanned by a cross is used to show that we are separated from God by sin, and that the Cross is the bridge over the chasm of sin that allows us to be reconciled to God. All of the above is true - thank God! However, it is also incomplete as a presentation of the Gospel.

The one major weakness to this illustration and metaphor is the unspoken implication that once we cross over the bridge we are done with the experience of the cross and therefore the cross is not relevant to daily Christin living.

I propose an expanded model - the Intersection Point. The cross is not just a bridge we cross over to get to salvation and to come into relationship with God. The cross is also the place we live existentially, moment by moment. The cross is the intersection point - the place where heaven meets earth and righteousness overcomes sin. The Cross of the Crucified and Resurrected One is the intersection point of reality, where righteousness overcomes sin, where the Divine is reconciled with the human, where heaven meets earth, where the future invades the present, where sin and guilt are absorbed and overcome by righteousness.

We should be constantly experiencing the great exchange - passing our guilt, shame, woundedness and hurt to Him and receiving back His grace , righteousness and healing. it’s the only place and the only way to live.

What are the practical implications for daily life?

• The only way to God is through the Cross of Christ- It is the only bridge over the chasm of sin.
• The Cross is not just for the penalty of sin but to also overcome the power of sin.
• The Cross is not just a message for unbelievers but also a message for believers.
• Jesus died once in history, but the benefit is timeless and eternal- experiential. No Mass or re-sacrifice
• In Christ we experience a great transference, the great exchange, not just once in new birth, but moment by moment.
• Like the Kingdom, the Cross is already but continuing and not yet.
• The Cross is not just a bridge we cross, but a bridge we live on.